Nicolas-Didier Boguet's oil painting Paysage de sous-bois: a shaded avenue of tall trees with a fountain, and a woman in a red shawl walking with a child. Julian O. Davidson's oil painting of the USS Congress burning under fire from the ironclad CSS Virginia, sailors swimming in the foreground. Sir William Beechey's oil portrait of Elizabeth Thicknesse Woodington Dickenson: a young woman with curled dark hair, a coral necklace, a white Regency gown and a red shawl. John Severinus Conway's oil painting Reclining Nude in a Landscape: a nude woman lying back on dark green grass beneath trees at dusk. Alexandre Couder's oil painting Interior Scene, 1845: a studio crowded with a carved table, a draped silk cloth, a globe, a blue-and-white vase, armour, a violin and open books. Max Schödl's oil painting Mein Atelier, 1906: his Vienna studio crowded with porcelain, marble statuettes, a suit of armour, framed pictures and a chandelier. Guido Maestosi's oil painting of the Sala di Giove in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence: a red-walled gallery hung floor to ceiling with paintings, a marble statue at its centre.

Ben Kurland

Nashville, b. 1992

Previously co-founded BillFixers, which saved people more than $50 million on their bills and subscriptions. That got acquired by Experian where I did strategy, partnerships, and M&A.

Now I'm mostly retired, and do a little investing and consulting to pay for old paintings and books until the next startup. I'm in East Nashville if you want to chat or need NYE plans.

Shown: Nicolas-Didier Boguet (1755–1839), Paysage de sous-bois. Oil on canvas.