Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890) was a Dutch post-Impressionist painter whose work is recognized for its emotive beauty and vibrant color. He painted with a sense of urgency and bold brush strokes, creating over 2,000 artworks in just a decade. In the years before his tragic suicide, van Gogh lived in southern France and was periodically hospitalized for mentall illness. There he created his most renowned works such as The Starry Night and Sunflowers. Virtually unknown while alive, his sister-in-law published his letters after his death, and the public became fascinated with his work.

Gustav Klimt (1862 - 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and prominent member of the Vienna Secession movement. While he gained early notoriety as a painter of architectural decorations, he became renowned for his portraits and sensual images of the female body. Klimt was inspired by Byzantine art, Mycenaean metalwork, Persian rugs and miniatures, Ravenna mosaics, and Japanese screens, and many of his best known pictures feature luminous gold-leaf. 

Henri Rousseau (1844 - 1910), French post-impressionist painter, is celebrated for his lush, fanciful scenes of jungle animals and dreamy figures. He was also known as Le Douanier (the customs officer) in reference to his day job as a tax collector. A self-taught artist, Rousseau was inspired by traditional genres of portraiture and landscape, but approached them with a distinctive and experimental style. Though initially overlooked, Rousseau’s work considerably influenced later artists, including Pablo Picasso, Robert Delaunay, and the Surrealists.