The Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, Alice Maude Fanner; oil on canvas, 25 x 32 in. ( 64 x 81 cm). Image is from a Christie’s autcion in 2013; I assume the painting is currently in a private collection.

British painter Alice Fanner, who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was noted for her landscapes, coastal scenes and cityscapes.

In this painting of the Luxembourg Gardens, she gives us an inviting view down the colonnade of trees along the green of the garden lawn, highlighted by a fountain in dappled shade and the sculptures that adorn it.

I love the turtles in the water, the way the fall colors of the trees splash into the fountain along with the blue of the sky and the lacework of tree shadows on the edge of the fountain. The view pulls us back into the distance so rapidly that we almost don’t notice the people out for a stroll under the trees at right.

The entire painting is wonderfully loose and painterly while retaining an academic rigor in its accurate perspective.

Still Life, Walter Dexter; oil on canvas; 14 x 18 inches (35 x 46 cm), in the colection fo the King’s Lynn Town Hall.

Engliah painter Walter Dexter was active in late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was known for his landscapes in oil and watercolor. He also painted other subjects, including still life; and this one just caught my attention.

I love how controlled and subtle this is. The colors of the fruit in the foreground look bright, but are actually quite muted. It’s the values and colors of the area surrounding them that makes them appear bright.

The shadows are handled wonderfully, and particularly so the platter that’s almost lost in the shadow around it.

I don’t know about you, but when I first looked at this image, my eyes went directly to the highlight area of the vase. Only then did they curve around through the bottle and the arrangements of fruit.

If I think of it this way, almost every major shape in the composition points at the jug in a way. The curve of the shadowed platter aims right down into the vase. The angle of the bottle points to the jug, as do the lines of the fruit and the triangular shape of the bunch of grapes. Even the negative space behind the jug can ne interpreted as a kind of arrow pointing down. Am I seeing too much in this?

Wonderful textures in the fruit, the wicker wrap on the bottle, the woven mat, and the loose strands at the lower right.