Franz Marc was an influential German Expressionist artist, widely respected for his emotional and tender paintings and portraits of animals. He was a co-founder of the Der Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider) school of painting, which emphasised the emotionally charged colours and distorted pictorial forms that would inspire the Expressionist movement. In addition to his reputation for landscapes, Marc's most recognisable work is his animal themes, which he painted with great energy expressed in vibrant colours.

Expressionism is an artistic movement that developed between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Its main characteristics are the emphasis on emotions and internal psychological states, the expression of often complex ideas and the search for deeper meanings in simple things. Expressionist art is said to be "the search for inner truth" and to break away from sometimes limited representations of reality.

Paul Cézanne is widely regarded as one of the most influential artists in history. His contribution to 19th century art is so significant that he has been called the "father of modern art". A key figure in the Impressionist movement, Cézanne's work often reflects his love of nature and its unparalleled beauty.

The Impressionist art movement originated in France at the end of the 19th century and aimed to challenge the traditional approach to the representation of reality through painting. In general, Impressionist works emphasise light and colour and often feature free brushstrokes, fragmented perspectives and never-before-seen subjects.

Claude Monet was a famous 19th century French Impressionist painter, known for his radical use of light and colour to create beautiful compositions centred on nature. Born in 1874, he began painting at a young age, selling his first works as he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in 1869. He met other painters who would soon become known as Impressionists, such as Paul Cézanne and Vincent Van Gogh, often joining them in plein air (painting in the open air) for inspiration and reference material.