I am the son of a professional artist and the husband of another. My parents' house looks like a museum. My mom was mentored by artists such as Joe De Yong and Grace Harvey. She taught art at the LA Art Institute with Grace.
I was always fascinated by a lot of Joe's early western character mock ups for movie sets.
He was a true cowboy and hung out with the likes of Tom Mix, Gene Autry, Charles Russell, and Wyatt Earp. I only met Joe once in the early 70s shortly before his death. But just sitting around listening to him talk about the old west and early Hollyweird was fascinating. He had some great photos and artwork that became my mom's on his passing. My mom also helped with the illustrating of his biography.
I personally have always been a big Toulouse Lautrec fan. I'm not even really sure why. Maybe just the gritty nature of the way he captured people.
My wife loves Van Gogh. We had the opportunity to go to the Van Gogh exhibit at the Getty several years ago and as a bonus for me, they had a couple Lautrecs on exhibit. My wife's favorite Van Goghs are Irises and Sunflowers. I'd post pictures but I think everyone has seen them many times.
Here are a couple of my mom's pieces:
And my wife's:
