Masters of Human Expression

I have been listening to John Ruskin's The Two Paths.  He talks about the aim of different schools of art and I was particularly drawn to his description of the Florentine school as that is what I seek in my own work:

Well, there you have the truth of human expression proposed as an aim. That is the way people look when they feel this or that--when they have this or that other mental character: are they devotional, thoughtful, affectionate, indignant, or inspired? are they prophets, saints, priests, or kings? then--whatsoever is truly thoughtful, affectionate, prophetic, priestly, kingly--that the Florentine school tried to discern, and show; that they have discerned and shown; and all their greatness is first fastened in their aim at this central truth--the open expression of the living human soul. 
 
This made me think of a print we got when we visited the Museo del Prado in Madrid.  Antonio Gisbert was the first director of the Prado in 1868 and was part of the Spanish eclectic school of painters.  He finished El fusilamiento de Torrijos y sus compañeros en la playa de Málaga ("The Execution of Torrijos and his companions at Málaga Beach") in 1888.

Antonio Gisbert, El fusilamiento de Torrijos y sus compañeros en la playa de Málaga, Museo del Prado

When I saw this in the Prado (it is huge, it covers an entire wall) it stopped me in my tracks.  It is truly breathtaking.  Each figure is life sized I believe.  In this work Antonio Gisbert achieved a masterpiece of "the open expression of the living human soul."  Look at the painting at full resolution here and examine the varying expressions and attitudes of them all.

Here is another splendid example of human expression:

Walter Langley, Waiting for the Boats, private collection

I first saw this painting on the Art Renewal Center's website.  It is extraordinary and I was quite surprised to learn it was painted in watercolor and pencil.  I was not familiar with Walter Langley (1852-1922) before, and he is now one of my favorite artists.  His work reminds me of David Kassan's.  I was extremely fortunate to see Mr. Kassan work at a Portrait Society conference and view some of his work in person there and in New York City. 

All of them are absolute masters of human expression.