Guess the Artist

Your clues this week are:

• The artist was born in a small settlement on an island in the Cyclades archipelago. The island was known in antiquity as both Ophiussa and Hydroessa, and as İstendil under Ottoman rule. It is ≈ 50 miles southeast of Athens (as the crow flies), about the same distance due north of what's left of Santorini, and has generously produced a disproportionate number artists.
• In 1850, the artist began attending classes at the Athens School of Fine Arts. Unfortunately, the first four years did not count for credit because the minimum enrollment age was 12, and our artist was a mere eight years old when he embarked on his studies.
• After officially studying in Athens for 10 years, the artist gained admittance to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and became the leading figure in the so-called "Munich School." Our artist's supply of new works never met the German public's demand so, with the exception of two trips back to his native country, the artist lived, worked, taught and prospered in Munich for the next 36 years ... at which point he died. In Munich.

And


• The charming sitter (named in this painting's title) was the daughter of the artist's first wealthy supporter, and became the artist's wife and mother of his four children. However, her married surname was different from her husband's and not due to current Greek law, under which married women retain their paternal surnames. Greek male surnames -- nominative, masculine proper nouns -- traditionally end in -s. Mrs. Artist, a female, had no need for a terminal -s.

Please email me your guesses over the coming week. I'll post the winner and correct answer with next week's guessing game. Good luck!

Last Week's Answer:

Your clues were about sculptor Chaim Jakob "Jacques" Lipchitz (1891-1973), who was born in Lithuania and died on Capri. As a member of the Montparnasse circle of the elastic School of Paris, Lipchitz became well acquainted with salon hostess-with-the-mostess Gertrude Stein (1874-1946). It was her likeness that he cast in bronze and sold to Stein's friends, sisters Claribel (1864-1929) and Etta Cone (1870-1949) of Baltimore, Maryland. (Anyone else immediately get crab cakes on the brain when you hear the word "Baltimore?") Beth in Washington, DC, sent the first email with the correct answers. Kudos to you, Beth, and thanks to everyone who participated!