Oil Paintings Reproductions

About The Artist - El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) (1541 - April 7, 1614)

El Greco was a famous painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance period.

About The Painting - View of Toledo

The View of Toledo is also known as Toledo in a Storm, because of the dramatic lightening effects of the sky. The View is only one of the two surviving landscapes painted by El Greco; the second landscape if called View and Plan of Toledo and is on exhibit at the Museo Del Greco, Toledo, Spain.

The View of Toledo, along with van Gogh's The Starry Night and a few other landscapes by Joseph Turner, is considered amongst the most elucidating depiction of the sky by any Western artist. The main highlight of this painting by Greek artists El Greco is the striking contrast between the hills and the sky above. Though Greco's work is categorized as Spanish Renaissance, many believe his painting were more Mannerist or Baroque in style. The artist took liberties with the actual subject matter (in this painting he has shown some buildings in positions different that their actual location) to ensure that he has a free-flowing and well-crafted picture.

The reconfiguration of the city monuments and the dramatic and expressionistic style of his painting clearly indicate that El Greco (The Greek) did not belong to any conventional school of artistic thought. Considered as a precursor of both the Cubism and Expressionism movements, El Greco's work and his personality have been constant sources of inspiration for creative individuals such as poets and writers such as Rainer Maria Rilke and Nikos Kazantzakis.

The View of Toledo is one of El Greco's best works and clearly shows the artist's preference for unnaturally tall and slender figures and drawn out compositions that gave him the freedom to express his subjects while ensuring the final product still looked appealing. Highly imaginative and intuitive manner, in which El Greco characterized his subjects, helped him create a niche of his own. He once said, "I hold the imitation of color to be the greatest difficulty of art," and believed that grace is the ultimate quest of good art.