John Peter Russell

Due to a large inheritance from his father, Russell had no interest in making money from art and rarely exhibited his works during his lifetime.¹

Russell painted with Claude Monet at Belle Île in 1886; Monet highly praised Russell's seascapes and the two developed a close friendship.¹

In 1886, Russell painted the first oil portrait of Van Gogh, who became a lifelong friend; the portrait was a favorite of Van Gogh himself and is now held at the Van Gogh Museum.¹

He settled on Belle Île, Brittany, establishing an artists' colony in a home he designed himself, which locals called 'Le Chateau de l'Anglais.'¹

He taught Henri Matisse impressionist techniques and color theory in the 1890s, leading Matisse to later credit Russell as his teacher who explained color to him.¹

After his wife Marianna died in 1907, a grief-stricken Russell destroyed an estimated 400 of his oil and watercolor paintings.¹

He returned to Sydney in 1921 and died in 1930 from a heart attack suffered while lifting rocks to build a wall outside his cottage.¹