100 Artists Who Changed the World (Art eBook)

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Boston Public Library
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Barbara Krystal
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World Almanac^ Library
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Krystal, Barbara.
1 00 artists who changed the world / Barbara Krystal.
p. cm. — (People who changed the world)
Includes index.
Summary: Brief biographies of 100 artists, from ancient Greece to the present
day, who played significant roles in the development of sculpture, painting, and
photography.
ISBN 0-8368-5469-1 (lib. bdg.)
1. Artists — Biography— ^Juvenile literature. [1. Artists.] I. Title: One hundred
artists who changed the world. II. Krystal, Barbara. 1 00 anists who shaped world
history. III. Title. IV. Series.
N42.K79 2003
709'.2'2—dc21
[B] 2002033153
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Santa Barbara and is a freelance writer and editor.

INTRODUCTION 7 13 R.\PHAEL 20
1. PHIDIAS 8 1483-1520
490 B.c.?^30 B.C. 14. CORREGGIO 21
2. PRAXITELES 9 1489?-1534
390 B.c.?-330? B.C. 15. BENVENUTO CELLINI 22
3. CIMABUE 10 1500-1571
1240?-! 302 16. TINTORETTO 23
4. DONATELLO 11 1518-1594
1386?-1466 17. GIUSEPPE ARCIMBOLDO 24
5. JAN VAN EYCK 12 1527?-1593
I390?-144I 18. SOFONISBA ANGUISSOLA 25
6. GIOVANNI BELLINI 13 1535?-1625
I430F-1516 19. EL GRECO 26
7. HUGO VAN DER GOES 14 1541-1614
I440?-1482 20. LAVINL\ FONTANA 27
8. BOTTICELLI 15 1552-1614
1445?-! 5 10 21. CARAVAGGIO 28
9. LEONARDO DA VINCI 16 1573-1610
1452-1519 22. PETER PAUL RUBENS 29
10. ALBRECHT DURER 17 1577-1640
1471-1528 23. ARTEMISL\ GENTILESCHI 30
11. MICHELANGELO 18 1593-1652?
1475-1564 24. SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK 31
12. MATTHL\S GRUNEWALD 19 1599-1641
1475?-1528 25. DIEGO VELAZQUEZ 32
1599-1660
6. 11. 16. 21.

7. 12. 17. 22.
8. 13. 18. 23.
4. 9. 14. 19. 24.
3. 5. 10. 15. 20. 25.
»» >1» »1>~> 1600 AD

TABLE OP CONTENTS
26. REMBRANDT 33 39. JULL\ CAMERON -^(J
1606-1669 1815-1879
27. ELISABETTA SlRANl 34 40. ROSABONHEUR 47
1638-1665 1822-1899
28. JEAN-ANTOINE WATTEAU 35 41. MATHEW BRADY 4S
1684-1721 1823?-1896
29. WILLIAM HOGARTH 36 42. GUSTAVE MOREAU 49
1697-1764 1826-1898
30. CANALETTO 37 43. DANTE ROSSETTI 50
1697-1768 1828-1882
31. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS 38 44. CAMILLE PISSARRO 5/
1723-1792 1830-1903
32. THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH 39 45. EDOUARD MANET 52
1727-1788 1832-1883
33. FRANCISCO DE GOYA ^0 46. JAMES WHISTLER 53
1746-1828 1834-1903
34. ELISABETH VIGEE LEBRUN 41 47. EDGAR DEGAS 54
1755-1842 1834-1917
35. WILLL\M BLAKE ^2 48. PAUL CEZANNE 55
1757-1827 1839-1906
36. WASHINGTON ALLSTON 43 49. AUGUSTE RODIN 5<^
1779-1843 1840-1917
37. JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 44 50. CLAUDE MONET 57
I785-I851 1840-1926
38. HONORE DAUMIER 45 51. BERTHE MORISOT 58
1808-1879 1841-1895
43.
44.
40. 45. 48
29. 31. 34. 41. 46. 49
26. 27. 28. 30. 32. 33. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 42. 47. 50
Y Y YY YYYYYYVVYY
»1#
1601
»» 1»1 > isao
52. AUGUSTE RENOIR 59 65. ROBERT HENRI 72
1841-1919 1865-1929
53. HENRI ROUSSEAU 60 66. WASSILY KANDINSKY 73
1844-1910 1866-1944
54. MARYCASSATT 61 67. GUTZON BORGLUM 7^
1844-1926 1867-1941
55 PAUL GAUGUIN 62 68. HENRI MATISSE 75
1848-1903 1869-1954
56 VINCENT VAN GOGH 63 69. GEORGES ROUAULT 76"
1853-1890 1871-1958
57, GEORGES SEURAT 64 70. PAULKLEE 77
1859-1891 1879-1940
58. GRANDMA MOSES 65 71. PABLO PICASSO 78
1860-1961 1881-1973
59. FREDERIC REMINGTON 6^6^ 72. UMBERTO BOCCIONI 79
1861-1909 1882-1916
60. PAUL SIGNAC 67 73. GEORGE BELLOWS SO
1863-1935 1882-1925
61. EDVARD MUNCH 68 74. GEORGES BRAQUE 81
1863-1944 1882-1963
62. HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC 65 75. EDWARD HOPPER 82
1864-1901 1882-1967
63. CAMILLE CLAUDEL 70 76. IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM 83
1864-1943 1883-1976
64. ALFRED STIEGLITZ 71 77. MAXBECKMANN 84
1864-1946 1884-1950
62. 73.
51. 53. 60. 63. 66. 74.
52. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 61. 64. 65. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 75.
YYYrYYYYYyyyY YYYY
>»1 »1
i8ai
>
1882
TABLE OP CONTENTS
78. DIEGO RIVERA 85 91. SALVADOR DALI 98

1886-1957 1904-1989
79. MARCEL DUCHAMP 86 92. WILLEM DE KOONING 99
1887-1968 1904-1997
80. MARC CHAGALL 87 93. DAVID SMITH /W
1887-1985 1906-1965
81. GEORGL\ O'KEEFFE 88 94. FRIDAKAHLO 101
1887-1986 1907-1954
82. MAN RAY 89 95. HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON 102
1890-1976 b. 1908
83. NAUM GABO 90 96. FRANCIS BACON 703
1890-1977 1909-1992
84. JOAN MIRO 91 97. JACKSON POLLOCK 104
1893-1983 1912-1956
85. STUART DAVIS 92 98. ROBERT CAPA 105
1894-1964 1913-1954
86. NORMAN ROCKWELL 93 99. LEONARD BASKIN 106
1894-1978 b. 1922
87. RENEMAGRITTE 94 lOO.ANDY WARHOL 707
1898-1967 1930P-1987
88. ALEXANDER CALDER 5^5
1898-1976 TRIVL\ QUIZ 108

89. HENRY MOORE 96 SUGGESTED PROJECTS 109
1898-1986 INDEX 110
90. ISABEL BISHOP 97
1902-1988
79. 87.
80. 82. 85. 88. 91.
76. 77. 78. 81. 83. 84. 86. 89. 90. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100.
YTYtTtTyyyYYvty yy
>»1 »1^ 1928

y
ALPHABETICAL
BLE OP CONTENTS
Allston, Washington DaH, Salvador (91) p. 98 O'KeefFe, Georgia (81) p. 88
(36) p.43 Daumier, Honore (38) p. 45 Phidias (1) p. 8
Anguissola, Sofonisba Da Vinci, Leonardo (9) ....p. 16 Picasso, Pablo (71) p. 78
(18) p. 25 Davis, Stuart (85) p. 92 Pissarro, Camille (44) p. 51
Arcimboldo, Giuseppe de Kooning, Willem (92) .p. 99 Pollock, Jackson (97)' p. 104
(17) p.24 Degas, Edgar (47) p. 54 Praxiteles (2) p. 9

Audubon, John James Donatello (4) p. 11 Rapheal (13) p. 20
(37) p.44 Duchamp, Marcel (79) p. 86 Ray, Man (82) p. 89
Bacon, Francis (96) p. 103 DuRer, Albrechc (10) p. 17 Rembrandt (26) p. 33
Baskin, Leonard (99) p. 106 El Greco (19) p. 26 Remington, Frederic (59) .p. 66
Beckmann, Max (77) p. 84 Fontana, Lavinia (20) p. 27 Renoir, Auguste (52) p. 59
BelUni, Giovanni (6) p. 13 Gabo, Naum (83) p. 90 Reynolds, Sir Joshua (31) -p. 38
Bellows, George (73) p. 80 Gainsborough, Thomas Rivera, Diego (78) p. 85
Bishop, Isabel (90) p. 97 (32) p. 39 Rockwell, Norman (86). ...p. 93
Blake, William (35) p. 42 Gauguin, Paul (55) p- 62 Rodin, Auguste (49) p. 56
Boccioni, Umberto (72) ...p. 79 Gentileschi, Artemisia Rossetti, Dante (43) p. 50
Bonheur, Rosa (40) p. 47 (23) p. 30 Rouault, Georges (69) p. 76
Borglum, Gutzon (67) p. 74 Goya, Francisco de (33). ...p. 40 Rousseau, Henri (53) p. 60
Bottiicelli (8) p. 15 Griinewald, Matthias (12) p. 19 Rubens, Peter Paul (22) ....p. 29
Brady, Mathew (41) p. 48 Henri, Roben (65) p. 72 Seurat, Georges (57) p. 64
Braque, Georges (74) p. 81 Hogarth, William (29) p. 36 Signac, Paul (60) p. 67
Calder, Alexander (88) p. 95 Hopper, Edward (75) p. 82 Sirani, Elisabetta (27) p. 34
Cameron, Julia (39) p. 46 Kahlo, Frida (94) p. 101 Smith, David (93) p. 100
Canaleno (30) p. 37 Kandinsky, Wassily (66) ...p. 73 Stieglitz, Alfred (64) p. 71
Capa, Robert (98) p. 105 Klee, Paul (70) p. 77 Tintoretto (16) p. 23

Caravaggio (21) p. 28 Lebrun, Elisabeth (34) p. 41 Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de
Cartier-Bresson, Henri Magritte, Rene (87) p. 94 (62) p. 69
(95) p. 102 Manet, Edouard (45) p. 52 Van Der Goes, Hugo (7) ..p. 14
Cassatt, Mary (54) p. 61 Matisse, Henri (68) p. 75 Van Dyck, Sir Anthony
Cellini, Benvenuto (15). ...p. 22 Michaelangelo (11) p. 18 (24) p. 31
Cezanne, Paul (48) p. 55 Miro, Joan (84) p. 91 VanEyck,Jan (5) p. 12
Cimabue (3) p. 10 Monet, Claude (50) p. 57 Van Gogh, Vincent (56). ..p. 63
Chagall, Marc (80) p. 87 Moore, Henry (89) p. 96 Velazquez, Diego (25) p. 32

Claudel, Camille (63) p. 70 Moreau, Gustave (42) p. 49 Warhol, Andy (100) p. 107
Correggio (14) p. 21 Morisot, Berthe (51) p. 55 Waneau, Jean-Antoine
Cunningham, Imogen Moses, Grandma (58) p. 65 (28) p. 35

(76) p. 83 Munch, Edvard (61) p. 68 Whistler, James (46) p. 53
PHIDIAS
(490?-430 B.C.)
The classical period was characterized by an struction of the entrance to the Acropolis,
awareness of the role of the individual in deter- known as the Propylaea (pro-pi-LEE-a), where
mining human destiny. Phidias (FID- Greek council members met to discuss govern-
ee-us), a Greek sculptor of the classical period, ment affairs. He also supervised and probably
was known for his style of perfection in designed the construction of the Parthenon,
reproducing ideal beauty of the human form. the temple of Athena and the epitome of Greek
Born in Attica, Greece, Phidias was fortu- ideals. Phidias's own contribution to the
nate. Pericles (495^29 B.C.), the head of Parthenon was the gold-and-ivory statue of
affairs in the Athenian state, commissioned Athena, which was over 40 feet (12 m) in
Phidias's entire artistic career, beginning with height. The Athena is a standing figure; in her
the creation of a bronze group of national left hand she holds a lance, while a shield rests
heroes for Athens. Pericles later made Phidias along her left side. Her extended right hand
superintendent of all public works, which holds the ancient Greek goddess of victory.
allowed him privileges not usually allotted to The shield, pedestal, helmet, and sandals were
artists, who were regarded as merchants. decorated with scenes from Greek legends. The
Phidias invented new ways of combining fig- gold on the statue was detachable to ward off
ures on foot and on horseback to increase the vandals. Detailed descriptions of the statue by
impression of movement in sculpture. ancient authors have preserved its classical
Phidias exerted a large artistic influence beauty.

during the era and was the guiding force In studying sculptures in the monuments of
behind the development of the classical style. Greece, we can see it is almost certain that
The classical style is a term referring to the Phidias completed the famous gold-and-ivory
principles of Greek art that emphasize struc- statue of Zeus at Olympia afi:er he worked on
ture and form. He is credited with the con- the Parthenon. The statue depicts the god seat-
ed on a dais, holding a scepter in his left: hand,

while his right hand rests on the relief figure,
the "Nike."
In both these works {Athena and Zeus at
Olympia) Phidias employed a technique
known as chryselephantine (kris-EL-e-fan-
TEEN), in which a core of wood is overlaid
with ivory to represent flesh, and gold inlaid
with enamel is used for the drapery.

The events of Phidias's last years are disput-
ed. Some accounts say that he was imprisoned
until his death after being accused by the ene-
mies ok Pericles of embezzling gold that had
been set aside for the completion of the statue
of Athena. Another account says that he was
acquitted of the charges of embezzlement but
was condemned for blasphemy after putting
his own portrait on the shield of the goddess

Phidias in his study
Athena.
8
PRAXITELES
I (3907-330 B.C.)
At a time when sculptors were simply entre-
preneurs operating shops in the marketplace

like any other vendor, Praxiteles (prak-
SIT-e-lees) emerged as an extraordinary'
artist. He elevated art above the simple
notion that a sculptor was just another
businessperson selling wares.
Praxiteles, the son of the sculptor
Kephisodotus, was considered the
leader of the Attic school of art.
Concentrating on marble statues, he set
the precedent for style and content that

others would soon follow. Praxiteles was
one of the become aware of the
first to
translucent nature of marble, which
enabled him to create more lifelike
images.
Renowned for his humanization
of Greek art, Praxiteles used the less-
er-known deities, such as Aphrodite,

the goddess of love, and Hermes, the
messenger to the gods, for his work. His
disillusionment with communit)' values and
concern for life came about as a result of the
constant fighting and wars among the Greek
city-states. These conflicts turned his artistic
Praxiteles
taste toward the view that mankind's well-
being and happiness in this lifetime are prima- Praxitelean curve. His most celebrated work,
ry, and the good of all humanity' is the highest the marble statue of Aphrodite, which survives
ethical goal; thus, his portrayals of divinities do as a Roman copy in the Vatican Museum in
not possess the superhuman qualities of earlier Italy, was the first nude statue of the goddess
Greek works. and one of the earliest Greek statues of a female

It is possible that one of his original works nude. This demonstrates the change in the sta-
still exists. Hermes Holding the Infant Dionysos tus of women and Praxiteles's role as an artist to
was found during the excavation of the Temple convey that change openly in tangible form.
of Hera in Olympia, Greece, in 1 877, where He is especially celebrated for his satyr; the best
the author Pausanias had described seeing it known is the Resting Satyr, of which a Roman
more than 1,700 years before. Although the copy exists in the Capitol Museum in Rome,
find may be only a good Roman copy, it lends Italy. A sat>'r is a god of the woods with the
insight to Praxiteles and the manner in which head and body of a man and the legs, ears, and
he expressed himself His signature pieces all horns of a goat. It was immortalized in 1860 in
contained a languid curve to the figure, resem- the book The Marble Faun, by author
bling the letter "S," and so termed the Nathaniel Hawthorne.
CIMABUE
(1240?-1302)
3
in material that he uses, or from insuf-
ficiency of the instrument with which

he works, he would instantly abandon
that work, however costly it might be."
Cimabue was an influential painter
who broke away from the formalism of

Byzantine art, characterized by rigid
and fictitious representations of nature.

He introduced a lifelike treatment of
traditional religious subjects by replac-
ing conventional design with a more

vital manner of painting based on his
observations of real things. His signa-
ture mark is a partly angular, partly
curved structure that conveys move-
ment and energy and was a precursor of
dimension in art. It is speculated that
Cimabue earned the title of "wall
painter" for his expansion of the style of
monumental scale painting of his older
contemporary, Coppo di Marcovaldo. His
Cimabue most noted work is the Madonna Enthroned
The art of painting had fallen into decay in (1285?), which is over 12 feet (7 m) high; it
Italy during the thirteenth century. Cimabue was certainly a feat for a time that focused on
(che-ma-BOO-a), a Florence-born painter, res- small canvas paintings. Cimabue is generally
urrected the art by painting from living mod- placed by art historians at the beginning of
els, which was considered a new thing at the modern art and as the probable teacher of
time. Documents show that his real name was Giotto (1266-1337), a Florentine painter who
Bencivieni di Pepo, or, in modern Italian, achieved a representation of space without
Benvenuto di Giuseppe. At the time, it was using a system of perspective common in the
common to adopt nicknames and use them Byzantine formula of art. Cimabue is known
throughout one's lifetime. "Cima" has two to have visited Rome in 1272, and he was per-
meanings; the noun means summit or head, haps influenced by the classical current in art
and the verb means The suffix

to shear or cut. that was prevalent there at the time. Cimabue
"bue" means ox. Thus, his name would signify is recorded in historical documents for the
an "ox head," a bold and stubborn man. The commission of the painting Crucifix (1260?)
name suited him, as pointed out by Dante for the hospital church of St. Chiara, Pisa,
(1265-1321), author of the book The Divine Italy, and as a master workman on the mosaic
Comedy. Dante wrote: "Cimabue, a painter of oi St. John (1301?) at the Pisa Cathedral. Many
our time, is a man so arrogant and proud with- frescoes have been attributed to him, although
al, that if any discovered a fault in his work, or modern scholars accept only a few as authentic.
if he perceived one in himself, as will often The majority of his works are located in the
happen to the artist who fails from the defects Church of St. Francesco at Assisi, Italy.
10
DONATELLO
(13867-1466)
4,
Renowned for creating sculptures that bronze head made for a Florence merchant
exemplified the qualities of the Renaissance who objected to the price. The merchant
period, such as experimentation, invention, argued that Donatello had spent only a month
and creativity. Donate di Niccolo di Betto on the project, therefore he was entitled to a
Bardi, knov^n as Donatello, was recognized in typical month's wage. Donatello was outraged
his early twenties as a prolific artist. He is that his work was measured in terms of hours
regarded as the founder of modern sculpture spent and destroyed the sculpture.
due to his innovation He created free-stand-
in optical illusion. ing figures, fountains,
Donatello's technique and animals. He used
made the eye actually see clay, bronze, or marble.
what was there, instead of He also varied scale.
the viewer imagining Donatello's career is
what seemed to be there. normally divided into

His technique was to cut three periods. The first
into the clay, using pro- period comprises the

trusions to reflect light or time between seventeen
shadow to produce the and thirty-nine years of
effect of proximity or dis- age and is characterized
tance to the eye. by the influence of
Born in Florence, Italy, Gothic sculpture, refer-
the son of a wool comber, ring to a style invoking

Donatello began an art the effêct of mystery. His
career at age seventeen as famous work of this
an apprentice to the time was St. John the

Donatello
sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti Evangelist (1415), made
(1378-1455). He assisted in decorating the for the facade of the Florence Cathedral. The
doors in the baptistery of San Giovanni, second period dates from the years
Florence. The work brought him into associa- 1425-1435, in which Donatello made trips to
tion with the architect Filippo Brunelleschi Rome. The bronze David (1435) is considered
(1377—1466), who gave Donatello the oppor- the first life-size, free-standing nude statue of
tunity to visit Rome between 1408 and 1412 the Renaissance. In his third period, Donatello
to study the ancient sculptures. emphasized realism and the portrayal of dra-
Donatello's career marks the transition from matic action. His sculpture Judith and
medieval sculpture, which was overtly religious Holofernes (1461) shows the integration of two
in context and created in the service of the figures in a single sculpture.
church, to sculpture that glorified man as a Donatello emphasized art as a reproduction

youth, warrior, and saint. Based on the study of of reality; for example, he created the drapery
human anatomy and movement, Donatello for the figure of Judith by dipping a real cloth
was able to show emotion in his sculptures, into wax. Believing that an artist must be able
emphasizing the poses of his figures and the to "feel deeply and translate those feelings into
space around them. concrete form," Donatello had the ability to
A story is told of Donatello destroying a create a sense of life in his work.
11
JAN VAN EYCK
5 (1390M441)
Jan van Eyck (van-IKE), a Flemish painter, with reality in common, everyday scenes. He
is the founder of the style known as ars nova proclaimed that the novelty of Flemish art lay
(new art). Uncertainty regarding van Eyck's in the belief that humans, nature, and social
early training exists. There has been debate and daily life were fascinating subjects when com-
speculation among scholars regarding the posed in a spiritual unity.
authenticity of some of his paintings, creating Van Eyck was the first to use the optical
a rumor that van Eyck's brother Hubert had a phenomenon known as atmospheric perspec-
hand some of the more problemat-
in creating tive. Atmospheric perspective is a perception of
ic and detailed of the paintings. Van Eyck's space and the limit of visibility, serving to add
greatest masterpiece, the Ghent Altarpiece continuity to a painting. The Italian humanist
(1432) for the Cathedral of Saint Bavon, Bartolomeo Fazio called van Eyck the "prince
Ghent, was commissioned by the mayor of of painters of our age." In 1422, he entered the
Brugge, Belgium, Jodocus Vyt. The work con- service of John of Bavaria, count of Holland, as
sists of two superimposed rows of painting, official court painter. After John's death in
bearing an inscription that indicates that the 1425, van Eyck became valet de chambre to
piece was begun by Hubert and completed by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. By the
Jan. Hubert died in 1426, and it is presumed time he was thirty-five, he had already earned
that Jan van Eyck took many of Hubert's the title of master, which was unusual for
unfinished works and completed them. someone that young. He was both painter and
Jan van Eyck was born in Maaseick, in the trusted diplomat to Philip. Van Eyck partici-
province of Limburg, Belgium. His ground- pated in many long and secret journeys for
breaking work combined fantasy and illusion Philip, including a trip in 1428 to Portugal to
negotiate a marriage between Philip and

Princess Isabella, daughter of King John I.
Van Eyck represented the new artist — the

artist as an intellectual and master of other arts.
In 1430, he settled for good in Brugge, where

he began to sign and date his work for the first
time. Van Eyck was also a chemist of sorts, and

he is credited with the invention of a type of oil
paint that allowed him to develop precise tech-
nical skills. These skills earned him the reputa-
tion as "king of painters" by fellow citizens well
into the sixteenth century.

Although controversy exists as to the
authenticity of much of his work, van Eyck's
name is noted in history as the great pioneer of
Flemish realism. Nine paintings by van Eyck
are still in existence, all carefully signed and
dated between 1432 and 1439. Five are por-
traits. The other four depict religious subjects,
including the Madonna with Canon van der
Jan vaji Eyck
Paele (1436).
12
GIOVANNI BELLINI
(14307-1 51
6 6)
Giovanni Bellini, the Italian painter from

the city of Venice, belonged to an artistic fam-
ily. He was born out of wedlock to the painter
Jacopo Bellini (1400?- 1470), who emphasized
the Renaissance style of perspective, landscape,
and classical beauty. Bellini was the younger
brother of the painter Gentile Bellini
(1429—1507), renowned for his portraits and
his skillful arrangement of crowds standing
before detailed architectural structures.
Another major influence on Bellini was
his brother-in-law Andrea Mantegna
(1431-1506), a painter whose work is noted
for its illusion of realistic depth.
Bellini began his artistic career by assisting
his father in the family workshop. By twenty-

nine years of age, he had ventured out on inde-
pendent projects and opened a workshop of his
own. Bellini was famous for religious paint- Giovanni Bellini
ings. His perception of color and light, rather
than emphasis on line, defined his sensitivity

to minute details. Bellini's immense talent, confusion concerning the origin of different
connections, and family reputation gained him works.
immediate success. His first works as an inde- Bellini did not travel, yet he exerted an
pendent artist were Agony in the Garden ( 1 460) international influence. Students journeyed
and Man of Sorrows (1460?). At this point, across the European continent to apprentice
Bellini's work emphasized the use of light, with him and then returned to their homes
facial expressions to convey emotions, and taking Bellini's style with them. It was during
body language to dramatize the scene. In 1480, his time as chief painter to the Venetian
he was given an annual salary when he was Republic that he adopted a technique of oil
appointed chief painter to the Venetian painting that lessened the distinction between
Republic, a position he maintained until his solids and space. A gradual transition of light
death. Bellini's duties included executing offi- and shadow replaced lines. The works that
cial portraits of court personages and portray- depict these changes are St. Francis (1480) and
ing historical events. As official painter of the Madonna of the Trees (1487). Gradually,
court, he was not paid an extra commission for Bellini's style was built entirely in forms of
his work. Simultaneously, Bellini maintained solid objects, where three-dimensional space
his own studio and a large workshop of pupils, was emphasized. The style is represented in the
which included the famous painters Titian altarpiece The Virgin and Child and Four Saints
(1487-1576) and Giorgione (1476-1510). (1483), where the illusions of depth are promi-
Bellini's signature OP. lOH.BELL. became the nent. Bellini's ideal was to produce images
trademark of the shop as well as of the paint- composed entirely in terms of color, rather
ings he created on his own. This later led to than line.
13
HUGO VAN
I (1 440'?-! 482)
vices of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy,

and his wife. Princess Isabella of Portugal,
in 1473.
Despite his worldly success, he retired to the

Red Cloister monastery near Brussels as a lay
brother at thirty-five years of age, but he main-
tained considerable privileges normally not
allotted to members of the monastery. Having
given all his worldly possessions to the
monastery, he was allowed to continue paint-
ing. He also drank wine at the table and enter-
tained visitors and patrons of royal esteem. He
was permitted to travel outside the walls of the
monastery for brief periods of time. He was a
deeply religious man, but his fame and extrav-
agant life were incompatible with his ideal of
achieving humility. This incompatibility later
caused him to experience a severe mental col-
lapse, followed by an attempt at suicide in
1481.
Hugo van der Goes Unable to concentrate and believing that he
was going to leave his paintings in an imperfect
Regarded as one of the greatest fifteenth- state on Earth, he continued to decline men-
century Flemish painters, Hugo van der Goes tally until his death.
introduced emotional intensity and deep senti- Van der Goes's paintings are not numerous,
mentality into his religious subject matter. Van but all of his paintings are marked by disor-
der Goes was born in Ghent, Belgium. He dered feeling and rich colors. The most firmly
painted there and entered the artists' guild at dated of his works is the Portinari Altarpiece
age twenty-seven. At age thirty-four, he (1476). At over 8 feet (2m) tall and 19 feet
became dean of the guild. The earliest works of (6 m) wide, this piece was considered enor-
his career are The Fall ofMan (1467?) and the mous by Flemish standards. It was received
Lamentation (1468?), which are regarded as his with disdain because of its size. The entire
official induction into the art world. In 1468, composition of the portrait centers around the
on behalf of the guild, he went to Brugge, figure of Christ, where the light is concentrat-
Belgium to aid in decorating the city for the ed. It also displays an emotional intensity not
marriage of Margaret of York and Charles the seen in previous Flemish paintings. The action
Bold. From this experience, he earned an of the shepherds entering the scene and the
esteemed reputation that enabled him to gaze of Christ's mother, Mary, creates a feeling
attract patrons from among the prominent cit- of tension in the piece. The painting was com-
izens of Brugge, as well as continual employ- missioned by the Medici, the ruling family of
ment from Margaret and Charles. At the same Italy, and brought van der Goes fame in
time, van der Goes created paintings for the Florence, placing him prominently in the his-
church of St. Pharahildis for the funeral ser- tory of Italian painting.
14
—
BOTTICELLI
(1445?-! 510)
8
AJessandro Filipepi, known where value is placed on intellect
as Sandro Botticelli (bot-e- and morality.
CHEL-ee), was born in As part of the artistic
Florence, Italy. As one circle at the court of

of the leading painters Lorenzo de Medici
of the Italian renais- (1449-1492),
sance, his paintings Botticelli was influ-
reflected the popular enced by philoso-

thought that the soul phers and other
gains ultimate knowl- inhabitants of the
edge and truth by court. Through this
withdrawing into itself influence, he recon-

He was the youngest of ciled classical pagan
five sons of Mariano and Christian
Filipepi, a tanner. It is pre- views. The
sumed that he received his most famous
nickname Botticelli, mean- depiction of
ing "little barrel, " from the this experience is
name of the goldsmith to The Birth of

whom he was first appren- Venus (1482?),
ticed. Botticelli later served which symbolizes
an apprenticeship with the both positions on
Sandro Botticelli
painter and monk Fra Filippo love. The painting
Lippi (1406-1469). Lippi is depicts the goddess
famous for his altarpieces and is Venus emerging from a seashell.
credited with helping Botticelli Proportions of anatomy are ignored, as the

develop his personal st\'le, which body is elongated and the length of the arms
emphasizes line, detail, and a sense of and legs are exaggerated. This style invokes a
melancholy. feeling of movement that is free from control
By the time Botticelli was fifteen years old, and appears to be under the natural influence
he had his own workshop. He spent almost all of gravity. The weight of the body is distrib-
of his life working for the great families of uted unequally, so the figure conforms to a sin-
Florence, especially the Medici, the ruling fam- gle continuous curve.
ily of Italy. For the Medici, he painted por- In 1481, Botticelli was chosen to travel to
traits.The Adoration of the Magi (1477) is rep- Rome to paint the three frescoes The Youth
resentative of the influence of the circle of the of Moses, The Punishment of the Sons of Corah,
Medici family. Although the work was not and The Temptation of Christ as well as papal—
commissioned by the Medici, a vast number of portraits. It was during this time that Botticelli
figures contain likenesses of personages of the underwent a religious awakening, manifesting

royal court. The painting depicts figures pan- itself in a devotion to the church and the paint-
tomiming in animated poses, detracting from ing of religious subjects. Mystic Nativity (1 501)
the focus of the central subject. The piece and Stories of St. Zenobius (1505?) both
expresses Botticelli's desire to create a world expressed his enthusiasm for the church.
15
LEONARDO DA VINCI
(1452-1519)
9
struct catapults, make cannons, and build
armored vehicles, he entered the world of roy-
alty around 1482, where he remained for sev-
enteen years. It was at this time that he devel-

oped his style and labored on his masterpiece.
The Last Supper (1495). Incorporating drama

into the depiction of Christ's disciples receiv-
ing testament that Christ was to die, the paint-
ing was elaborately calculated to capture the
reaction of each disciple individually and as a
group in a chain reaction of shock. He grouped

the figures in units of three, framing the figure
of Christ, who is presented as the only calm
Leonardo da Vinci subject.
In 1502, Leonardo returned to Florence and

Celebrated as a painter, sculptor, architect, was employed as chief architect and engineer
engineer, and scientist, Leonardo da Vinci (da- by Cesare Borgia, Duke of Romagna. During
VIN-chee) was truly the quintessential his employment with the duke, Leonardo
Renaissance man. His talents characterized the painted his most celebrated portrait, the
ideals of ingenuity and creativity. For world-famous Mona Lisa (1506), also known
Leonardo, there was no authority greater than as La Gioconda. The painting is famed for da
the eye, which he characterized as the "window Vinci's mastery of technical innovations, as
of the soul." well as for the mysterious smiling woman who

He was born out of wedlock in Vinci, a is the subject. Leonardo used the background,
Tuscan village, to a wealthy Florentine notary, an imaginary landscape of mountains and val-
Piero da Vinci, and a peasant woman identified ley, as a psychological reference to the woman
only as Caterina. At age fourteen, Leonardo in the forefront. His unique style in the paint-
was apprenticed as a garzone, or "studio boy," ing gives the impression that the solidity of an
to Andrea del Verrocchio. Verrocchio taught object is diminished as it recedes into the dis-
Leonardo the fundamentals of painting and tance. The work incorporates the method
introduced him to the task of completing known as sfumato, the Italian word for
works for altarpieces and panel pictures. He "smoke," which is the subtle transition
also introduced Leonardo to the creation of between color areas to create an atmospheric
marble and bronze structures. By the time haze. The painting also incorporates
Leonardo was twenty, he was indoctrinated chiaroscuro (kee-ar-e-SKYOOR-o), a tech-
into the painters' guild and became an inde- nique of defining forms through contrasts of
pendent master six years later. light and shadow.
His first large painting, The Adoration ofthe In 1507, Leonardo became court painter to
Magi (1481), was left: unfinished but stands King Louis XII of France, who was residing in
apart in its organized rhythm, excellent draw- Milan, Italy at the time. Nine years later,
ing, and sentiment. Leonardo went to France to work in the royal

Having written the Duke of Milan a letter court of King Francis I, where he spent the last
claiming he could build portable bridges, con- three years of his life.
16
;i471-1528)
Artists of fifteenth-centun' Germany either a deeply religious man, the artist was a vessel of
followed their fathers into a profession or were God because he was the recipient of the gift of
apprenticed to friends of the family in similar creating art.
fields. Third-born in a line of eighteen children He also studied theor\' on the laws of nature
in Nuremberg, Germany, Albrecht Diirer had with the belief that "art lies hidden
hereditary talent and a father who introduced in nature; he who can wrest it from her pos-
him to an artistic career by teaching him the sesses art." The Fall ofMan (1504) is a synthe-
craft of a goldsmith. At age thirteen, he drew a sis of the natural world, accurate in the por-
remarkable self-portrait and said, "I drew trayal of animals and plants; however, the
myself while facing the mirror in the year figures of Adam and Eve show perfect propor-
1484, when I was still a child." tions of the human body. In painting, Diirer
Diirer was an engraver, draftsman, painter, was part intellect and part mystic, as he exam-
and theorist, often referred to as the northern ined the system of growth of a plant, the func-
Leonardo da Vinci (see no. 9). He received his tion of the body, and the use of clothing as
early training in art from the painter and expression.

woodcut designer Michael Wolgemut. Upon At fort\'-two years of age, his career cli-
leaving Wolgemut's studio, Diirer wandered maxed with the engraving Melencolia I
through Germany and Switzerland as a jour- (1514?), which questions the intellectual
neyman, working as a woodcut designer in virtues of science and art. Melencolia I
book-publishing centers. Returning to shows the figure of Genius surrounded by
Nuremberg at the age of rwenty-three, he a disarray of scientific instruments, signifying
established his own workshop as a painter that Genius is a condition of power and
and engraver on copper and wood. helplessness.
Diirer's fame derives from his depiction of

biblical events in human fashion, breaking the
limitations of an idyllic church conception.
The st}'le is apparent in the sixteen engravings
o£ Apocalypse of St. John (1498), of which one
plate depicts the battle of the archangel
Michael with a dragon, where the figures are
formless. As a painter, Diirer's aim was to ele-
vate art above the status of a manufacturing
business, to which it had degenerated. The
Adoration of the Magi (1504) is the most
devout of his works and includes a landscape
painted directly from nature.
Aware that he was handsome, Diirer had a
fondness for self-portraits, which also mani-
fested in his attempt to create a high position
for artists in society. In his time, self-portraits
existed only as an exercise using oneself as a

convenient model. In one self-portrait of 1 500,
Albrecht Diirer
Diirer compared himself to Christ. For Diirer,
17
MICHELANGELO
(1475-1564)
Pieta (1500), one of the few works he ever

signed, in St. Peter's Basilica. The work depicts
a young Mary, the mother of Christ, with
restrained emotion, rather than extreme grief,
while she holds the dead Christ in her arms.
Michelangelo further demonstrated his talent
for large sculpture with the marble David
(1504), 18 feet (5 m) in height, depicted as a
nude youth, muscular and alert. The intensity

of the facial expression on David, characteristic
of Michelangelo's work, is termed terribilita,
which means containing qualities that inspire
fear and awe. The same could be attributed to

Michelangelo's own personality. In 1505, after
the completion of David, Michelangelo was

called to Rome by Pope Julius II to paint the
Michelangelo
frescoes of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. From
During his long life-time, Italian sculptor, 1 508 to 1 5 1 2, lying on his back on scaffolding,
painter, and architect Michelangelo Michelangelo detailed the story of Creation on
Buonarroti was a friend of princes, most a ceiling over 5,800 square feet (539 sq m) in
notably Lorenzo de Medici (1449-1492), ruler size.The images demonstrate a close scrutiny
of Florence. He also knew cardinals, popes, of human anatomy and movement in the nine
painters, and poets. Michelangelo was the son scenes from the book of Genesis in the Bible,
of the governor of Caprese, Lodovico including God Separating Light from Darkness,
Buonarroti, who had connections with the rul- Creation ofAdam and Eve, Temptation and Fall
ing Medici family. At age thirteen, ofAdam and Eve, and Flood. The two greatest
Michelangelo began an apprenticeship with figures in the scenes are David and Adam,
the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio expressing Michelangelo's idea of "divine beau-
(1449-1494), who painted religious themes ty on Earth."
with bourgeois settings and details. In the first Michelangelo continued to contribute to
of the two years he spent with Ghirlandaio, the Sistine Chapel, executing the largest fresco
Michelangelo was involved in a fist fight with of the Renaissance with the portrait of the
a fellow student and received a blow to his nose Last Judgment (1541) on the altar wall.
that left it permanently flattened and crooked. Michelangelo portrayed all the figures nude,
Thought of as ugly, he was painfully aware but a decade later another artist, dubbed the
of his disfigurement and determined to glorify "breeches maker," was commissioned to add
the male human figure in sculpture. By the draperies to the figures.
time he was sixteen, he had produced the As chief architect to St. Peter's Basilica in
sculptures Battle of the Centaurs (1492) and Rome, Michelangelo was responsible for the
Madonna of the Stairs (1492), demonstrating final form of the dome. The dome became a
his development of a personal style. symbol of authority and a model for domes
Michelangelo ventured to Rome after the throughout the Western world, including the
death of Lorenzo de Medici and completed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
18
s
MATTHIAS GRUNEWALD
(14757-1528)
12
The technique of the German painter with hallucinating minds transformed their
Matthias GriinewaJd is still thought to be hysteria into glory.
unsurpassed. The genius of Griinewald is Educated as an architect and engineer, a
said to have been his ability to transform specialist in the design of fountains and
tragedy into something of respect and dignity. mills, he used these skills to support himself
The Renaissance had a liberating influence, after he was discharged from his position as
allowing him to work without theoretical a court painter due to his conversion to
foundations and rational standards, which Protestantism. Of all the masters of this period,
earned him the appellation of "a wild he was deliberately avoided by his contempo-
unpruned tree." This refers to Griinewald raries, since his career as a painter was cut short
tendency to work according to simple rules, when he became an antagonist to his patron
rather than theorized proofs. Albrecht of Brandenburg, who was upset by
Born in Wurzburg, Germany, as Mathis the fervent change in religious practices occur-
Gothardt Niethardt, he adopted the name ring in Germany.
Griinewald as a derivation to suggest godliness He was apparently torn between his sympa-
and dropped his surname of Niethardt, feeling thy with the peasants and his natural religiosi-
that it had implications of a strict and miserly ty, shown by the fact that after his death, two
person. Griinewald's earliest dated work is The rosaries were found in his luggage along with a
Mocking of Christ (1504). The painting illus- library of Lutheran literature.
trates Christ blindfolded and beaten by a
group of hideous-looking men. A colorful and

expressive piece, it demonstrates Griinewald's
use of distorted figures to portray violence.
His masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece
(1515), for the hospital church of the Order of
St. Anthony at Isenheim, was an expression of
Christian mysticism. It consisted of nine pan-
els mounted on two sets of folding wings with
three views; each panel is over 8 feet
(2 m) high. The drama of the scene symbolized

the divine and human nature of Christ
through the use of contrast between a vibrant
and light foreground to a dark sky and bleak,
low mountain landscape in the background.
When the wings of the painting are opened,
the scenes of the Annunciation, the Angel
Concert for Madonna, and the Resurrection are
revealed, demonstrating Griinewald's talent in
using light to invoke emotion and the use of

writhing forms to create movement. The hos-
pital for which he painted the portrait received
patients with mental disorders, and Matthias Griinewald
Griinewald's compassion for these individuals
19
i
RAPHAEL
(1483-1520)
13
and a staff The other half presents an
alluring woman offering the symbol of the
primrose, which signifies irresponsibility
and pleasure.
After learning what he could from his
teacher, Raphael left for Florence to study
the masters Leonardo da Vinci (see no. 9)

and Michelangelo (see no. 11). There he
developed his style of expressing light and
shade, anatomy, and dramatic action.
Raphael's first royal patronage came at a
time when the center of the art world was

shifting in Italy from Florence to Rome.
This shift occurred because the Church
wanted to demonstrate its wealth and
power in decorating the city of Rome.
When Raphael was twenty-six years old,
Pope Julius II commissioned him to exe-
cute four frescoes in the Vatican Palace.

These frescoes represented the personifications
Raphael
of Theology, Philosophy, Art, and Justice.
Raphael included his own portrait among the

Regarded as the central painter of religious famous personages pictured there, such as the
figures of the High Renaissance, Raffaello philosophers Plato (427-347 B.C.) and
Santi or Sanzio, commonly known as Raphael Socrates (470-399 B.C.)and the artist
(RAF-eye-el), was born in Urbino, Italy into a Michelangelo, who at the time was painting his
family of painters. He received his early train- famous Story of Creation on the ceiling of the
ing in art from his father, Giovanni Santi, a Sistine Chapel. At the death of Pope Julius and
painter and poet who died when Raphael was the accession of Pope Leo X in 1513, the
twelve. At age sixteen, Raphael became a stu- responsibilities increased for Raphael. He was
dent of the painter Perugino (1445-1523), made chief architect of St. Peter's Basilica in
who was renowned for his simplicity and har- 1514, and a year later, he was appointed direc-
monious symmetrical designs and whom tor of all excavations of antiquities in Rome.
Raphael imitated in style so closely that it is Raphael's death at the age of thirt)-seven
difficult to determine which paintings were was attributed to excessive indulgences. He had
completed by which individual. several romantic affairs and an active social life
Using this uncluttered style and emphasiz- not depicted in his works. It was noted that at
ing space, Raphael painted The Vision of a times he would not give his full attention to a
Knight (1504). The picture shows a knight project due to the distraction of the need to be
asleep under a tree. The scene is divided into with his mistress. He never married, stating
two parts, presenting a symbolism of choice. that "marriage was something that could wait
One side represents intellect and morality, until the proper combination of material
illustrated by the figure of a girl holding a book advantage and personal attraction came along."
20
CORREGCIO
(1 4897-1534)
14.
Antonio Allegri, known as Correggio for the Correggio's paintings serve as a guide to his
town in Italy where he was born and died, cre- personality, for there are no written records on
ated innovations in depicting space and move- his life. One story says he is the descendant of
ment in painting. He was considered the fore- an aristocratic family, while another states that
runner of the baroque style of art that empha- he was a man of simple background.
sized extravagant and flamboyant scenes. Numerous records exist either in his name or
Correggio's paintings are characterized by sen- on his behalf, but these contracts and pay-
suous nude figures, representing religious and ments do not include dates. His name also
mythological subjects. He enjoyed great popu- appears as a member of a board appointed to
larity in his town, but he had no disciples and study how to remedy structural failures in a
exerted little influence in art for a period of one church in Parma.
hundred years. He did find valuable patrons in As an artist, Correggio never made the dis-
Federigo Gonzaga and Isabella d'Este, both tinction between sacred and pagan subjects.
royal members of the court in Mantua, Italy. Each is painted in a sensuous pose, showing
Another important patron was Giovanna di mystical qualities. An official at the Cathedral
Piacenza, the headmistress of the convent of in Parma was offended by the painting
San Paolo in Parma, Italy. Correggio was com- Assumption ofthe Virgin because of legs floating
missioned to paint a set of frescoes for her liv- in the sky. He said that the work was "a frog's
ing quarters. He produced an allegory on the leg stew." The famous painter Titian, however,
pagan theme of Diana, goddess of the hunt. defended the work, saying, "If you turned the
This work is notable for his use of light and dome upside down and filled it with gold
shadow to enhance the illusionary technique. pieces they would not equal the worth of
In the dome of the Cathedral in Parma is Correggio's masterpiece." About forty of
Correggio's most famous painting, Assumption Correggio's paintings still exist. The most pop-
of the Virgin (1530). With its swirling clouds ular are Jupiter and lo ( 1 530?) and Jupiter and
and intertwined figures flying toward heaven, Antiope (1532^).
the painting demonstrates the vastness and
action that was to become an art movement.
He was thirty-two years old when he complet-
ed this work, and he was from then on consid-
ered a master. He developed an early interest in
art by watching his uncle Lorenzo, who was a
painter, grind and mix colors. Carreggio's

career differed from those of other painters of
the Renaissance period — not by the fact that
he had little if any formal training, but by the
fact that his art blossomed in one place.
Correggio did not travel but worked and lived

in his own small province of Parma. There is
no proof that Correggio ever visited Rome,

although his art seems to show an influence of
the ideas of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Correggio
and Raphael (see nos. 9, 11, and 13).
21
BENlfENUTO CELLINI
(1500-1571)
15
temper and instigating street brawls, at age
sixteen he was exiled to Siena but fled to
Rome.
Cellini wrote his autobiography (pub-
lished in 1728), 77?^ Life of Benvenuto
Cellini, which spanned the period roughly
between 1538 and 1562. In this book, he
provides accounts of his turbulent life and
his version of the daily political and social
atmosphere in the sixteenth century. It is
full of extravagant recordings of his

escapades, relaying a vivid picture of his
complex personality and stating his mas-
tery at using a sword as well as designing
one. He traveled to France in 1540, where
he was employed by King Francis I. There
he completed an elaborate gold salt cellar
sculpture in 1 543, depicting the figures of

the god Neptune and the goddess Cybele
and modeled after the style of
Michelangelo (see no. 11). Cellini was
compelled to leave France due to his con-
stant quarrels with the king's mistress.
Upon his return to Florence,he won the

Benvcnuto CELLINI, sculpteur el orfevre
support of Duke Cosimo de Medici and
ne en i^do. mcrt en 1571 a Florence
concentrated on making full-scale sculp-
G:uvres : Nymplie de Fontaineblenii, Persee,
jjirit. r Tnnivir.r ,'tC.
tures in the classical style.
His most important work during this
period was Perseus (1554), who holds the

head of Medusa in his hand. The niches on the
Benvenuto Cellini
base of the statue depict small figures of gods
and demonstrate the detail of his metal work.
Equally skilled as a goldsmith, sculptor, and Also of this period was the Bust of Bindo
metal worker of the High Renaissance, Aldoviti (1550?), completed in bronze and rep-
Benvenuto Cellini (chel-LEE-nee), born in resentative of a classic style in sculpture.
Florence, Italy, did not follow in his father's Remorseful of his fiery character, he entered a
profession as an architect. He acquired the skill monastery at age fifty-eight to take a respite
to make intricate designs on shields and swords from his exploits. But two years of peaceful
as an apprentice to the goldsmith Antonio di solitude were sufficient for him, and he then
Sandro at the age of fifteen. Although he is resumed his familiar lifestyle. At age sixty-four,
respected as a sculptor, the elaborate detail of he married his housekeeper, Pierra di Parigi,
his work was more appropriate for metal work and had two children, settling for a life of quiet
at the time. Renowned for possessing a fiery comfort until his death.
22
TINTORETTO
(1518-1594)
16
Jacopo Robusti was given the name Intense religiosity moved Tintoretto toward
Tintoretto, meaning "little dyer," in allusion to an expressive narrative style in art. He used dis-
his father's profession as a dyer of silk. tortions of normal relationships in space and
Essentially a self-taught painter, Tintoretto cre- between people to strengthen the importance
ated monumental religious murals, character- of the subjects and to convey meaning and
ized by exaggerated body movements and mood; the most famous example is Crucifixion
strong contrasts of light and shade. Tintoretto (1569). This painting shows a setting confined
was a Venetian mannerist painter who lived to a narrow strip, behind which a group of
and worked exclusively in Venice, Italy, for the bystanders, silhouetted against a darkening sky,
rulers and churches of that city. rise to view the body of Christ.
He began his career under the tutelage of On the occasion of the visit of King Henry
Titian (1487P-1576). He stayed for ten days, III of France to Venice, when Tintoretto was
but the constant arguments between the two fifcy-six years old, Tintoretto disguised himself
caused Tintoretto's expulsion from the studio. as one of the king's bodyguards to get close
Tintoretto found himself ostracized from the enough to make sketches for a portrait. Upon
art community after he left Titian's studio, and the portrait's completion, Tintoretto refused
he was therefore severed from the possibilit}' of the king's offer to make him a knight.
obtaining public and private commissions. Tintoretto continued to paint until his
Without formal training, Tintoretto death. The last completed painting was
searched for a srv'le and discovered diverse Entombment (1594).
sources of inspiration. Through the study of
Michelangelo (see no. and other Florentine
1 1 )
mannerist painters, he developed own
<^%
his
impression and created a sense of spontaneous

action. His developed a style focused on spatial
illusions and extravagant choreographic group-
S
ings to heighten the drama of an event. His
painting St.
a dramatic departure
Described
Mark
as
Rescuing a Slave
a
from
showman
tradition.
( 1
in
848) was
paint,
S^^^.-
^^^^'^ an
w M)
Tintoretto's bold colors and bizarre angles
made the majority of painters in Venice shun
him, forcing him to adopt aggressive methods
of self-promotion.
public attention
He brought
by seeking well-situated
his work to
^^^%
homes or business stalls and offering to paint
\
V
their front entrances for free.
sive character
had done
membership
with some
and gave
anyone who genuinely admired them. In
he accepted, as partial
for a monaster)^
as
who might
a way
payment
to
He had
his paintings
appreciate him.
for
admission to
an impul-
make connections
away
1
work he
to
549,
its
w^ Tintoretto
23
GIUSEPPE ARCIMBOLDO
5277-1 593)
17 (1
Maximillian II and Rudolph

II, for a total of twenty-six
years. Rudolph II greatly
admired Arcimboldo's work
and named him a Count
Palatine, which made him
responsible for designing
pageants and other festivities
of the court. As a servant of

the court, his duties also
included discovering antiques,
curious items, and freakish
animals for the collection of
the Hapsburg dynasty.
An entertaining artist,
Arcimboldo enjoyed immense

popularity during his lifetime.
He constructed fantastic heads
from masses of fruits and veg-

etables to produce double
images. For example, in the
painting Allegory of Summer
(1563), what appears to be a
nose in a profile portrait is
really a warty cucumber. In

Giuseppe Arcimboldo the same portrait, the cheek of
the figure is really an apple
combined with other fruits
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (ar-chim-BOL-do) and vegetables on a platter. A double image is
painted satirical portraits of court personages one that either shows the head and shoulders
and famous personalities of the past. He was of a person or just a pile of fruit, depending on
thought to be the foreshadower of twentieth how one views the piece. An ingenious indi-
century surrealist art, which emphasized the vidual who employed wit in his portraits,
unconscious, for his paintings of animals, flow- Arcimboldo was a visual Aesop (a sixth centu-
ers, fruit, and other objects composed to form ry B.C. Greek author of fables), creating morals,
human likenesses. Commencing an artistic such as the double image of a human forehead
career as a designer of stained glass and tapes- and a wolf, which implies that each is a symbol
try in Milan, Italy, the place of his birth, he of cunningness.
moved to Prague, Czechoslovakia, at age thir- His work observed analogies that were
ty-five, where he became the official painter of apparent and popular in his day and thought
the Hapsburg court. He began his service of as a science. He was regarded not as an
under Ferdinand I and remained a court eccentric, but merely as a brilliant man who
painter to that monarch's successors, had the abiHrv' to express humor and wit in art.
24
SOPONISBA ANCUISSOLA
(15357-1625)
18
The Renaissance placed emphasis on the She later married a Sicilian lord, Fabrizio de
development of the individual and allowed Moncada, and moved with him to Palermo,
women the freedom to expand their positions Sicily, but he died four years later.
and seek careers outside the domestic realm. The remainder of her long life was then
Sofonisba Anguissola was the eldest of six divided between Genoa and Palermo. In
girls and one boy born to the nobleman Genoa, she was visited by the artist Anthony
Amilcare Anguissola (1494-1573) in the van Dyck (see no. 24) in 1624, to whom she
northern town of Cremona in Italy. Her father gave artistic advice. He said she had a "good
subscribed to the theory that a proper educa- memory and a sharp mind." She was the first
tion should include Latin, music, and paint- woman artist to achieve international fame and
ing, so all his children were trained in the first by whom a large body of work still
the three disciphnes. Anguissola was one of exists. Her work exemplified a straightforward
the few artists in the history of western art to realism, creating a sense of conversation in her
come from nobility. From 1546—1549, she pictures. Her paintings had an expressive qual-
studied with Bernardino Campi, a local por- ity that made her subjects come alive, only
trait artist, who trained her so well that she was "lacking in speech," as wrote the author
able to teach her younger sisters the craft. Her Giorgio Vassari in his book Lives ofthe Painters,
first known work is Self Portrait (1554). Her Sculptors, and Architects.
study set a precedent in encouraging other
Italian painters to accept female students. Her
most popular work was Boy Pinched by a
Crayfish (1560), which her father sent to the
artist Michelangelo (see no. 11). Michelangelo
responded by sending Anguissola some of his
own drawings for her to reproduce.

Anguissola was a prolific painter, and more
than fifty signed works attributed to her sur-
vive. Like most women of her time, she spe-
cialized in portraiture. She painted a number
of self-portraits because images of her were
in demand; each varied in size and format. She
sometimes depicted herself as a religious
image; other times she was playing an instru-
ment or reading a book in order to illustrate
that she had an education and was proficient in
other arts and learning. While still in her twen-

ties, she was sufficiently well known to be
invited to join the court of Philip 11 of Spain.
She arrived in 1560 and stayed for ten years,
first as a lady-in-waiting to the queen, then as

official court painter to the king. While in
Sofonisba Anguissola
Spain, her fame was so great that Pope Pius IV
asked her to send him a portrait of the queen.
25
;i541-1614)
19
A prosperous man who received members of strating his move toward unconventional col-
the nobilir}' and intellectual elite into his ors, distorted groupings of figures, and elon-
home, Domenico Theotocopuli was a popular gated proportions of the body. His work is
entertainer and socialite, as well as a painter. defined by disorder of composition of the body
He was given the nickname El Greco (el- and ecstatic expressions and gestures in daz-
GRECK-o) by the Spanish. It means "the zling colors. It is presumed that he emigrated
Greek," in reference to his birthplace in Crete. to Spain because he was ostracized by the art
The Spanish thought of El Greco as a foreign- community in Italy, after suggesting that
er in Spain, even though he glorified the coun- Michelangelo's (see no. 1 1 ) Last Judgment in
try in his art. All his life he signed his work the Sistine Chapel should be torn down and
with his real name in Greek letters. that he could repaint it.
At twenty-five years of age. El Greco went El Greco did not emulate the religious
to Venice, Italy, and was employed in the work- painting style of Spain and was considered a
shop of Titian (1487?— 1576), remaining there rebel and eccentric by the standards of the
for eleven years. He then moved to Toledo, land. His unconventional domestic life also
Spain, to begin his first commission from the made him an outsider in religious Spain, which
Church of Santo Domingo, which marked the did not condone two people living together
turning point of his career. His first piece was and having children out of wedlock. His fees
the Assumption of the Virgin (1577), demon- were extraordinarily high, and several docu-
ments exist in his name pertaining to litigation
over payments where he took his patrons to
court for refusing to pay his price. In 1586, he
painted one of his greatest masterpieces. The
Burial of Count Orgaz, which portrays the
funeral of a fourteenth century nobleman
whose soul is rising to a heaven populated with
angels and contemporary political figures. The
work is indicative of his style of elongated
human forms and his technique of horror
vacui, or fear of unfilled spaces.
Spain was regarded as a declining society
compared with Italy, yet El Greco settled there
for thirty-seven years to become the

first of Spain's triumvirate of great artists,
including Diego Velazquez (see no. 25) and

Francisco de Goya (see no. 33).
It was difficult for El Greco to live in a
country where the government controlled all
freedoms, especially during the Inquisition,

when Spain attempted to rid itself of its
undesired citizens. The fact that he held a

respected position kept him secure in that
El Greco
dangerous time.
26
20 (1552-1614)
Lavinia Fontana, an example of women

artists who emerged from Bologna, Italy,
received much of her education from the for-
eign artists, architects, and scholars who visited
her father, Prospero Fontana, a successful
painter of the time. The city of Bologna took
on an exceptionally progressive attitude toward
its female citizens, which encouraged women
to seek professions in many fields.
Fontana was taught to paint by her father

and gained fame as a portrait painter at a
young age. The fashionable ladies of Bologna
admired her talent to depict the truth in a flat-
tering manner, with special detail paid to their

jewels and adornments.
The minute attention paid to elaborate cos-
tumes is best demonstrated in her famous
of a Lady with a Lap Dog (1 580). The
Portrait
background she employed when depicting
women was plain, while her portraits of men
incorporated backgrounds that alluded to their
professions.
Lavinia Fontana
She received her first authoritative commis-
sion in 1572 from Pope Gregory XIII and was
summoned to Rome at the height of her grow- Zappi, who studied at her father's studio but
ing reputation. An oversize portrait she made was considered untalented. In what was a role
of the Stoning of St. Stephen (1603.'') for the reversal for an Italian couple of the time, her
altarpiece of the church of St. Paul was not suc- husband took over the household while she
cessful. Women were prohibited from using continued with her career.
nude models, and Fontana found it difficult to Lavinia Fontana expanded the role of
represent the musculature of the male body women as artists by taking commissions to
without one. do altarpieces and religious paintings for
However, Fontana was in great demand in churches. Shortly before her death, a medal
Rome as a portrait painter. She was elected to was struck in her honor, one side showing
the Roman Academy, a rare honor for a her in profile as a gentlewoman, the other side
woman, and this allowed her to charge a large showing an artist at work in a frenzy
fee for her work. with hair in disarray. At least 135 works have
Fontana received many marriage proposals, been attributed to Fontana, proving her to
yet she was hesitant because she did not want be a productive artist. No female artist before
to disrupt her career. She said that she "would her enjoyed the success she did. It was said that
never take a husband unless he were willing to when she passed the Lord of Sora and Vignola
leave her the mistress of her beloved art." She at the Roman Academy, he rose to meet her, an
eventually married in 1577, to Gian Paolo honor usually bestowed only upon royalty.
27
CARAVAGGIO
(1573-1610)
21
^
commission, the three St. Matthew paintings
for the Contarelli Chapel.
Caravaggio had an inclination for low-class
4^ environments and was constantly humanizing

holy and miraculous figures into
form. He rendered realistic interpretations
common
of
^^fe^^^ religious scenes and biblical characters
regarding reverential poses and using contrasts

by dis-
of light and shade to bring the figures to the
%^ '/^l
^>^^^jA
forefront of the painting so that they could not
be ignored.
as a stocky
He painted the St. Matthew figure
ting with crossed legs

—
man a simple rough peasant sit-
and bare feet with a
^^v^ Caravaggio
female angel at his
his
spiritual reverence.
for common people;

side. He was
work, depicting the saint with the usual
forced to redo
Caravaggio intended his

however, these people
art
were the ones most offended by it. Common

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (cahr-a- people were conditioned to believe that rever-
VODGE-o) obtained his surname from the ence for saints had to be glorious. Instead, his
town of his birth. He was an Italian painter patrons were cultivated men who felt elevated
whose life was as dark, colorful, and violent as at seeing saints depicted as ordinary men.
his paintings. Although his father, Fermo Caravaggio was an angry young man, prone
Merisi, was a master mason and architect, to street fights. From 1600 to 1606,
Caravaggio was apprenticed at the age often to he is mentioned in police records for wounding
a painter near Milan, Italy. By age seventeen, a captain, assaulting a waiter by throwing an
he left for Rome, where he turned from the artichoke at him, throwing stones at the police,
prevalent taste for the classics to using everyday insulting a corporal, and more.
common people as models for his paintings of After a brawl over money he lost in a game,
mythological figures and saints. Caravaggio killed his opponent, then fled to
While interested in naturalistic painting, he Naples, Italy, to await a pardon from the Pope.
could not afford models, so he began to paint Caravaggio visited Malta, where he was
mirror images of himself His aim was to paint received with honor into the Order of Malta as
the human figure in its exact replica. The a cavalier, but he quarreled with one of his
moods in his pictures vary from mischief to superiors and was jailed.
anguish. He used his own face on the portrait In 1610, Caravaggio received a pardon from
o( Medusa (1594), with an expression of com- the Pope and set off for Rome, but he was mis-
edy in the figure. takenly arrested and detained, thus missing his
He was discovered at age rwenty-seven by boat, where all his belongings and paintings
Cardinal del Monte. The cardinal allowed were stored. In despair after his release, he
Caravaggio to paint the way he preferred and began to run in the direction of the departed
gave him housing. The cardinal was instru- ship and collapsed, dying a few days later of
mental in obtaining Caravaggio's first great malignant fever.
28
PETER PAUL RUBENS
n (1577-1640)
Peter Paul Rubens, a Flemish painter whose which he completed the initial sketches and
style became internationally famous, made a final touches, but his apprentices did all the
lasting impression on many artists, including intermediary steps. He kept meticulous records
Jean Antoine Watteau (see no. 28) in the eigh- and was very explicit as to how much of a par-
teenth century and Auguste Renoir (see no. ticular painting was executed by his own hand.
52) in the nineteenth century. Rubens was In 1622, Rubens visited Paris and was com-
born at Siegen, Westphalia (now Germany). missioned by King Louis XIII to do a series of
His father, Jan Rubens, a prominent lawyer, paintings. At the same time, Rubens was a spe-
had converted from Catholicism to Calvinism cial agent in peace negotiations among the
and was forced to leave Antwerp, Belgium, Netherlands and the countries of Spain,
with his family due to religious persecution. In England, and France. His contemporaries
1587, after the death of his father, Rubens and thought of him first as a diplomat and then as
his family returned to Antwerp, where he a painter, as he performed international nego-

began to study the classics in a Latin school. tiations at the highest level and was entrusted
Not yet fifteen years old, he became a court with state secrets. In painting, Rubens is best
page to Lady Margaret of Ligne. He then represented by The Judgment ofParis {\Gy7) In .
decided to become a painter, although painting this work, voluptuous goddesses pose against a
was considered a less respectable profession. green landscape, both elements representing
He attained the rank of master painter of the the greatness of creation. This painting culmi-
Antwerp painters' guild at the age of twenty- nated Rubens' lifelong concern to paint what
one. Described as a precocious painter because he considered to be the most beautiful things
of his bold brush stroke and luminous color, in the world.
Rubens created vibrant art, involving the ten-

sion between the intellect and the emotion, the
classical and the romantic.
He left Antwerp in 1600 for Italy, where he
was employed by the Duke of Mantua,
Vincenzo Gonzaga. He stayed with the duke
for nine years, also serving as the duke's emis-
sary to King Philip III of Spain. His time with

the duke gave him the financial means to trav-
el and study the works of Michelangelo (see
no. 11) and Caravaggio (see no. 21).
After formulating the first innovative

expressions of the Baroque sryde in Italy,
Rubens returned to Antwerp and was

employed by the burgomaster, or mayor. His
major works of time were Elevation of
this
the Cross (1610) and Descent from the Cross

(1614), demonstrating realism and dynamic
movement, which were typical of his style.
The demand for his work was so great that Peter Paul Rubens
Rubens established an enormous workshop in
29
ARTEMISIA CENTILESCHI
(1593-1652?)
23
Artemisia Gentileschi was said to have to harm Tassi's reputation, even though he was
advanced the development of the style of found guilty of the crime.
Caravaggio (see no. 21), which was character- Gentileschi married Pietro Antonio de
ized by theatrical depictions of the human Vincenzo Stiattesi a month after the trial, and
figure and the humanization of spiritual and they settled in Florence, where she enrolled in
holy entities. Her importance to Italian art the Academia del Disegno. At twenty-three
in this style was second only to that of years of age, she was made a member of the
Caravaggio himself Florence Academy.
Gentileschi was the first child of Orazio From the beginning of her career, she con-
Gentileschi, who was a court painter to King centrated on full-scale compositions of figures.
Charles I of England. She was known more for An early painting of hers is Judith with her
the scandal in her life, rather than her contri- Maidservant (1611), which reflects a popular
butions to the Baroque style of art in Italy. In Old Testament theme in Baroque art.
1612, Gentileschi's father accused his friend Gentileschi frequently depicted this scene as a
and colleague Agostino Tassi, hired to teach reflection of the assault she suffered and the
Artemisia perspective in art, of assaulting his humiliation she underwent as a result of her
daughter. A trial ensued and she was subjected trial. Her work expressed vigorous realism,
to torture by thumbscrews — used as a kind of while the poses of her figures stressed the
lie-detector test — before a court of law to assess psychological drama of the scene, rather than
the validity of her testimony. The trial was a the physical charm of the female subject. In
source of gossip for the public and did nothing 1638, she joined her father in England at the
court of Charles I and assisted in painting nine
canvases that were set into the ceiling

of the Queen's House in Greenwich.
During the Baroque period, female painters
were prominent, and Artemisia Gentileschi
was the most remarkable. Her power of expres-
sion and her dramatic intensity, usually
thought of as male characteristics, surpassed
most of her contemporaries. Other aspects of

her life, such as the affairs she was supposed to
have had with a variety of men, added to her
scandalous reputation.
The women she portrayed in her paintings
reflect a basic hostility toward men. A recur-
rent theme in her work is the female heroine as
a powerfiil and sensuous person. As an early
feminist, Gentileschi revealed the

subject from the female perspective. Her
work was also unique in the approaches she
used, such as stopping the action at the
climax of the event rather than after the action
Artemisia Gentileschi has occurred.
30
SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK
(1599-1641)
24.
Anthony van Dyck (van-

DYKE), the son of a rich silk mer-
chant, was apprenticed to the
Flemish historical painter Hendrik
van Balen at age eleven. He
became a professional artist with a
private studio and pupils at age
sixteen. By the time he was nine-

teen, van Dyck was considered
one of the most brilliant colorists
in the history of art, and he was

admitted into the St. Luke guild of
painters in Antwerp, Belgium, the
place of his birth. A week after his
twenry-first birthday, van Dyck

was signed on as a chief assistant
to Peter Paul Rubens (see no. 22)
in a contract to decorate the

Church of St. Charles Borromeo.
After its completion, van Dyck
left for Italy, where he remained
for six years. He was in great
demand as a portraitist, due to his
developed mix of colors, unsur- Sir Anthony Van Dyck

passed by any other artist. The
Romans dubbed him the "knight-
ly painter" because he demanded paint everything but the faces in portraits. Van
equality between himself and his patrons. Van Dyck was unique as a painter for his style of
Dyck considered himself a painter only and adding tension to the visual likeness. Each por-
rejected the notion of the artist as a super trait depicts fine-boned, slender figures with
craftsman or an exceptional person whose gifts full lips and curly hair, as if all the
made him or her acceptable in society. subjects descended from the same lineage.
In 1632, van Dyck settled in London, In 1635, he painted his masterpiece, Charles
where his reputation for creating incredible I in Hunting Dress, a standing figure represent-
likenesses of the English aristocracy earned ing the haughty grace of the monarch. He
him a position as chief court painter to King established new styles in Flemish art and
Charles I of England. He was later made a founded the English school of painting, which
knight of the court. He received a town house gave him artistic heirs such as Sir Joshua
and an annual pension above the payments he Reynolds (see no. 31) and Thomas
received for executing portraits of the king and Gainsborough (see no. 32). In 1640, he
queen. By virtue of his popularity and the returned to Antwerp, Belgium, where he was
number of portraits he was commissioned to made dean of the painters' guild. He
do, vanDvck was forced to hire assistants to died in England a year later.
31
599-1 660)
25 :i
Along with El Greco (see no. 19) and Magi (1619), he painted his family in the guise
Francisco de Goya (see no. 33), Diego de Silva of biblical figures.
y Velazquez (ve-LAHSS-kez) forms the tri- At age twenty-two, he made his first trip to
umvirate of famous Spanish painters. Madrid to search for a position as a court
Velazquez was born in Seville, Spain, in painter, returning without success. But leaving
1599, the oldest of six children, to parents again a year later, he executed a portrait of the
of minor nobility. king and was named official painter and
His first instruction in art came from courtier to King Philip IV of Spain. At that
Francesco Pacheco, whose daughter he later point in his career, mythological subjects occu-
married. As a painter, Velazquez recorded the pied his time, although he always maintained
world around him directly as he saw it —with- his style of realism. An example of this is in the
out false illusions of beauty or grandeur. He portrait of the wine god Bacchus (1629), where
took an interest in realistic subject matter, por- the god is portrayed drinking with ordinary
traits, and religious scenes, which characterize men in an open field.
his work between 1617 and 1623. The most Velazquez was said to be a socially conscious
famous painting of this period is the Water man who had a desire to be a noble. He felt
ofSeville (1620). Here, the effect of light

Seller that to be a companion to the king was as out-
and shadow combines with the direct observa- standing a prize as being a famous painter.
tion of nature, and the work is compared to While in service to Philip IV, Velazquez had
that of Caravaggio (see no. 21). Velazquez's the opportunity to meet with the painter Peter
religious works incorporate models drawn Paul Rubens (see no. 22). He was also inspired
from the streets of Seville or from his own cir- to visit Italy and travel through its cities. While
cle of friends. In the picture Adoration of the in Italy, he produced his notahXt Joseph's Blood-
stained Coat Brought to Jacob (1630), which
combines the chiaroscuro style of using light-
and-shadow techniques to create drama.

Velazquez returned to Spain in the 1630s and
resumed his duties as court portraitist, produc-
ing a series of equestrian portraits of the king
and queen and the heir Don Baltasar.
Attacked by critics for his "tasteless embrac-

ing of low subject matter," Velazquez was a
realist who was Irank and intimate in his paint-
ings. In the work Surrender of Breda (1635),
Velazquez portrays a heroic action incorporat-
ing human sympathy. The scene presents inat-
tentive troops and a horse whose back is turned
to the surrender and in fact is lifting its leg in a
gesture of impudence; the battlefield smokes in

the distance, while the attention is locused on
the meeting of the two generals, creating a
Diego Velazquez feeling of closeness between the observer and

the subject.
32
(1606-1669)
26
Born in Leiden, Netherlands, Rembrandt
van Rijn, a Dutch baroque artist, ranks as one
of the greatest painters in the histor)' of Western
art. The son of a miller, his parents had high
ambitions for him, and at the age fourteen, they
him at the University of Leiden. But
enrolled
Rembrandt dropped out that same year and
apprenticed at the studio of Jacob van
Swanenburgh. At age seventeen, he went to
Amsterdam, Netherlands, and studied with the

historical painter Pieter Lastman. After six
months, he had mastered all he had been taught

and returned to Leiden to establish himself as
an independent painter. This period marks his
style of dramatic subjects, crowded arrange-

ments, and contrasts of light and shadow.
When Rembrandt was twenty-five, he
returned to Amsterdam and remained there.
Rembrandt created over six hundred paintings, Rembrandt

of which roughly sixty were self-portraits. His
early paintings, such as the Portrait of a Man arrangement of the figures, creating a natural
and His Wife (1633), demonstrate his preoccu- balance.

pation with the features of the figure and the In 1641, Rembrandt was commissioned for
details of clothing and furniture. the group portrait The Company of Captain
No other artist subjected himself to the Frans Banning Cocq, the actual title for the
scrutiny and self- analysis that Rembrandt lent work that is generally referred to as The Night
himself He never attempted to hide his home- Watch. The painting, which is 12-feet- (3.7-m-
ly features, although deep shadows cover his ) high and 14-feet- (4.3-m-) long, depicts the
face in many portraits. The self-portraits of this organization of the civil guard. Rembrandt had
style may have been done to show his finesse of dramatized an imaginary scene where the civil
chiaroscuro (the dramatic employment of light guard was called to arms. He introduced fig-
and darkness) to invoke emotion. Biblical sub- ures for the sake of composition and placed
jects account for one-third of Rembrandt's several members in shadows while vividly
works. He used the flamboyant baroque style illuminating others.
to express a sense of drama, which was unusu- Despite his success as an artist, teacher,
al for Protestant Holland in the seventeenth and art dealer, Rembrandt's luxurious life-style
century, where religious works were not highly forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1656. His
regarded. production of paintings, however, did not
Rembrandt's first major public commission in decline. He continued to work, producing
Amsterdam was The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph (1656) and
Tulp (1632). The piece depicts the regents of a self-portrait. Portrait of the Painter in Old Age
the Guild of Surgeons assembled for a dissec- (1659?), where he depicts himself in a
tion and lecture. Rembrandt used a pyramid sarcastic mood.
33
ELISABETTA SIRANI
(1638-1665)
2]
Some believe that her father was a tyrant
and prevented her from marrying for fear of

losing her financial support. Others believe
Sirani chose to remain single for the sake of
her art.
She painted portraits, religious works, alle-
gorical themes, and, occasionally, stories from

ancient history. Her style is characterized by
the sentimentality of the subject. Extremely
particular about the distinct facial expressions
of her subjects, she used deep colors and shad-
owed eye sockets to suggest depth of feeling.
Although her art idealized the features of the
subjects, it also reflected the inadequacy of
training allotted to women because they were
prohibited from studying nude figures.
Sirani worked with such incredible
speed and was so productive that she
was accused of having others paint the
portraits. One hundred and fifty
paintings have been substantiated

as Sirani originals. Her speed was
said to have been attributed to
the pressure of her father. To
prove her abilities, on May 13,
1 664, she invited a group of dis-
tinguished persons to view her paint
a portrait of Prince Leopold of Tuscany,
Elisabetta Sirani
which she completed in one sitting.
An important teacher, she established a

Displaying an early artistic talent, Elisabetta painting school for women and taught her sis-
Sirani, born in Bolgna, Italy, began studying ter Anna Maria (1645-1715) to paint. Anna
art under her father, the painter Giovanni Maria also became a professional artist.
Andrea Sirani. A family friend, the Count At the young age of twenty-seven, Sirani
Cesare Malvasia, noticed Sirani's abilities and died of suspicious causes. Sirani's father
persuaded her father to take her on as a pupil. accused the maid of killing her, but the maid
Her early education also included Bible study, was acquitted after a lengthy trial. Sirani was
Greek and Roman mythology, harp, and voice. given a large fimeral by Bologna's prominent
Despite her passion for art, she did not allow it citizens. An enormous domed catafalque (a
to interfere with her home duties. Elisabettas temporary structure representing a tomb
artistic success made her family financially placed over the coffin) was made for the
dependent on her commissions and fees from occasion, in which a life-sized sculpture of
art lessons. Sirani at her easel was placed.
34
JEAN-ANTOINE WATTEAU
(1684-1721)
28
Regarded as a forerunner of nineteenth-cen-
tury impressionism, Jean-Antoine Watteau
(wat-TOE) was born in Valenciennes, a
Flemish town that had come under French
possession. The second son of a master roofer,
he lived in a region ravaged by recurrent war-

fare, and with a father who exhibited violent
behavior and did not approve of his son's ambi-
tion to become an artist. At age fourteen,
Watteau began to study painting under the
tutelage of an obscure local painter specializing
in religious subjects.
By the time he was eighteen, Watteau was

disowned by his family for his continual pur-
suit of an artistic career. He went to Paris,
where he found a job copying paintings of

saints in exact replica for a merchant who sold
souvenir religious paintings. To alleviate his
boredom at work, Watteau would sketch the
variet}^ of beggars, peddlers, and tradespeople
around the market place.
After two years, he became an apprentice to Jean-Antoine Watteau

Claude Gillot, a painter of theatrical scenes.
Gillot influenced Watteau's interest in the the- towards a boat, and it is symbolic of having
ater, which was become the main subject of
to taken a journey to an ideal world that must be
his work. At age twenty-four, he became an left behind. The figures in the painting were
assistant to the decorator Claude Audran. most probably friends of his, dressed in cos-
Audran was also the curator of the Luxemburg tumes, whom he used as models and superim-
palace, which held a collection of paintings by posed onto backgrounds painted from nature.
Peter Paul Rubens (see no. 22). Watteau stud- Watteau's genius was his use of body language
ied the works of Rubens, whose use of rich col- in his work. The painting was the beginning of
ors influenced Watteau's style. Studying the his styXe labeled as fete gallantes. The term
series of Rubens's paintings inspired Watteau refers to his common theme of yearning for
to compete in the art contest Prix de Rome. simpler times and his creation of surroundings
His entry failed to win, and he returned to his with figures that didn't belong there.
home town for a while and painted the soldiers Shortly before his death from tuberculosis,
there. Watteau painted Christ on the Cross (1721?). It
Watteau returned to Paris soon after and reflected his concern at the time about life after
won official recognition with admission into death. Later, a friend, Jean de Julienne, com-
the French Academy, a government-sponsored piled Watteau's works into a book entitled
institution for artists, with the painting Recueil Julienne. The compilation brought
Embarkation for Cytherea (1717). This work Watteau to a larger audience than he ever had
shows a garden scene where couples walk while he was living.
35
VflLLIAI
29 (1697-1764)
A London-born painter and engraver Hogarth's first work was a series of six paint-
who satirized the foUies of his age, WilHam ings engraved in a book, A Harlot's Process
Hogarth, the son of a school teacher, was (1732). Along with some text written by
apprenticed to a silversmith at the age of fif- Hogarth, the book contained detailed paint-
teen. There he learned how to make coats of ings of furniture and clothing and told the
arms, family crests, design plates for book- story of a country girl who ventures to the city
and more. At the age of twenty-three,
sellers, and the adventures she encounters. Falling in
he established himself as an independent with bad company, the country girl finally dies
engraver and also illustrated books. He first in poverty, a fitting end for what Hogarth
became known in 1726 for his illustrations for termed "the modern moral subject." The book
the satirical poem Hudibras (1726), by fellow was immediately popular and was followed by
Englishman Samuel Butler. A Rake's Progress (1735), a narrative of eight
At the same time, Hogarth enrolled at St. pictures. This work followed a foolish young
Martin's Academy to learn the basics of paint- man through a career of gambling, carousing,
ing and drawing. He detested the manner bankruptcy, imprisonment for debt, marriage
and style professed by the school's director. for money, and more. Although virtue was not
Sir James Thornhill, and did not apply it to his always rewarded in Hogarth's scenes, vice was
work. always punished.
Hogarth began painting portraits, gods, and Hogarth is renowned for his satires of mar-
heroes at age thirty-one. He had little success at riage for money and his opinions on social val-
it and turned to painting occurrences of every- ues of the upper class. Hogarth hoped to bring
day life in London. He used publicized scan- about social reform by depicting the ills of
dals of the day as his inspiration and became society. His work was often plagiarized, which
known as a social critic using pictures instead led him to assist in the passage of copyright
of words. laws in 1735 that later became known as
Hogarth's Act.
Never compromising in his factual accounts
of life, he once painted a historical piece show-
ing soldiers drinking and acting foolish.
Hogarth gained permission to present the

painting to King George H, who was angered
by the work.
Hogarth's career began to decline. He
attempted to regain favor by publishing his
aesthetic principles of art titled The Analysis of

Beauty (1753). This book details his analytical
approach for organizing the subjects in his
paintings. The book was criticized as being

dull. During the last five years of his life,
Hogarth was engaged in political feuds with

the British political reformer John Wilkes
(1727-1797), whom he had often satirized
William Hogarth in engravings.
36
CANALETTO
30 (1697-1768)
Born in Venice, Italy, Giovanni Antonio

known was renowned
Canal,
his vedute,
as Canaletto,
or views, of the city. Canaletto

for
^S:^^-
received his instruction in painting and per-
spective from his father, Bernardo Canal, who
was a painter of theatrical scener)'. After a trip
to Rome when he was twenty-two years old,
Canaletto became heavily influenced by land-
scape painters, especially Giovanni Paolo
Panini, and established himself as a painter
of landscapes and cit)' views. At the time,

city views were relatively new and rare in
art. Returning to Venice soon after, he was

influenced by the artist Luce Carlevaris
and began to depict views that were topo-
graphically accurate and unique in the
precise rendering of architectural
structures.
Canaletto's work is marked by strong

contrasts of light and shade to depict the
drama of the landscape. This is most evi-
dent in his painting Stone Mason's Yard

(1730). In his works, he used luminous
light combined with glowing color in deli-
cate detail to depict a storm developing in

the sky, such as in Piazza San Marco (1740).
His principal patrons were English aristocrats,
Canaletto
for whom the scenes of the cit\' and its festivals,
such as the annual celebration of the Marriage

of Venice to the Sea, were pretty souvenirs to familiar themes. His popularity did not waiver
take back to their homes. Success came quick- in spite of the criticism. Canaletto returned to
ly, and he soon met Joseph Smith, a merchant, Venice in 1755 and began producing
art collector, and British consul at Venice, who capriccii — imaginary scenes that incorporated
later became his agent. actual architectural subjects from a variety of
When the War of the Austrian Succession places. Extremely popular, he was imitated in
interrupted travel, Canaletto lost his main style during his lifetime in both Italy and
patronage and moved to England in 1746; England. Canaletto's agent sold the majority of
except for a few visits to Venice, he remained his works to King George III (1738-1820) of
there until 1755. There he painted English England. Upon Canaletto's death, his nephew,
landscapes, such as the River Thames, and var- Bernardo Bellotto, adopted his style and
ious country houses. While Canaletto was in brought it to Central Europe. Artistic followers
England, critics said that his style had become of his style in England included William
too linear and mechanical in repetition of Marlow and Samuel Scott.
37
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
(1723-1792)
31
art to be a business and adopted
social pretenses to align himself with
the aristocracy. He became an elitist
and snob and tried to distance him-

self from his humble beginning. He
is credited with over two thousand
portraits which epitomized London
society of his day.
The portraits by Reynolds are
distinguished by a serene dignity of
the subject, allusions to classical fig-
ures in history, vibrant color, and

realistic portrayal of character com-
bined with a keen understanding of
human nature.
In England in 1764, Reynolds
founded the Literary Club, which
included essayist Samuel Johnson
(1709-1784), actor David Garrick
(1717-1779), and statesman
Edmund Burke (1729-1797), to
name a few. When the Royal

Academy of Arts was instituted in
1768, Reynolds was elected presi-

dent, later made a knight, and given
an honorary degree from Oxford
Sir Joshua Reynolds College. This represented a step for-
ward in the way in which society
The son of a clergyman, Sir Joshua treated and viewed artist.
Reynolds was the first English painter to A year later, Reynolds delivered his first dis-
achieve social recognition for his artistic course to the students of the academy on the
achievements. Born in Plympton, Devonshire, idealistic principles of academic art, entitled
Reynolds first learned portraiture from the Discourses, which also stressed the importance
painter Thomas Hudson in London. At the of grandeur in art and rigid academic training.
time, portraiture offered stability and respect. At the same time, he exhibited his greatest por-
In 1749, he sailed to the Mediterranean and trait, The Tragic Muse (1784), for which the
spent three years traveling in Italy, where he English actress Sarah Siddons (1755-1831)
worked at becoming a gentleman and was the subject. Other of his famous works
improved as an artist. While in Italy, he was include Honorable Augustus Keppel
heavily influenced by the use of warm colors {\7 5 A), William Robertson (1772), and Duchess
and clarity he viewed in the work of the Italian of Devonshire and her Daughter (1786), which
painter Tintoretto (see no. 16). demonstrates the use of a subtle brush stroke to
Reynolds was a shrewd man who considered invoke a sense of dignity.
38
Thomas Gainsborough
(1727-1788)
32
The youngest of nine children
born to a cloth merchant in Sudbury,
Suffolk, England, landscape painter
and portraitist Thomas Gainsborough
demonstrated a talent for drawing at an
early age. At age fourteen, he went to
London, where he studied etching

under Hugh Gravelot and painting
under Francis Haymon at the St. Martin
Academy.
Returning to his home in 1746, he
married Margaret Burr, who was sixteen,
and began to paint "conversational
piece" portraits. These were intimate
paintings that included landscapes of
the English countryside. The works
showed the influence of seventeenth-
century Dutch landscape painting, espe-
cially that of Jacob van Ruisdael.
Six years later, he moved to Ipswich
and built up his practice. In order to

find more subjects and make money,
he later moved to the more prosperous
city of Bath. In Bath, he concentrated on the Thomas Gainsborough
full-scale portrait and was influenced by the
works of Anthony van Dyck (see no. 24) and
the rich colors of Peter Paul Rubens (see no. painter, whose subjects did not appear rigid,
22). The painting Mr. William Poyntz (1762) and "a master at handling paint." His most
even depicts men dressed in clothing similar to famous piece is Blue Boy (1779), notable for its
that worn by van Dyck's subjects. cool blue colors, as opposed to the reds used by
While in Bath, Gainsborough occasionally Reynolds.
exhibited his work at the Society' of Artists By 1780, he had gained the favor of- King
in London. He became well known and was George III and painted many portraits of the
invited to be among the original members of royal court. At this time, he also began to paint
the Royal Academy of Arts in London, estab- in another manner, which he called "fancy pic-
lished by King George III in 1768. tures," characterized by darker landscapes and
By 1774, Gainsborough was extremely imaginative figures that dominated the paint-
prosperous and moved to London, where he ings. The best known is the Country Girl with
remained for the rest ot his life. It is speculated Dog and Pitcher [179,5).
that he moved there to compete with Gainsborough left no immediate heirs to his
Sir Joshua Reynolds (see no. 31) for portrait artistic style, but his st\-le later influenced
commissions. In contrast to Reynolds, artists Richard Westall (1765-1836) and

Gainsborough was described as a spontaneous Thomas Barker (1813-1882).
39
FRANCISCO DE COYA
(1746-1828)
33
ed the techniques of Diego Velazquez (see no.
25). The Duke of Osuna (1785) typifies his
change of style, featuring luminous back-

grounds and stark simplicity in the subject.
In 1792, Goya became ill and was left
almost completely deaf The episode turned
Goya's work from quaint to tragic and analyti-
cal, based on his observations of everyday life.
His work was then characterized by bold and

swift brush strokes and colors of gray, black,
brown, and touches of red.
Goya's celebrated work, showing his mockery

of corruption in the aristocracy, is a set of
eighty etchings titled Los Caprichos
(1794-1798). The city life motif, emphasizing
satire and parody, reflected his conception of a
society held together by a loose structure of

conventions that were ready to snap. His pop-
Francisco de Goya ularity grew, and in 1795, he was elected pres-
The son of a painter and guilder of altar- ident of the Royal Academy, a government
pieces, Francisco Jose de Goya was born in the sponsored art institute. Four years later, he was
small town of Fuendetodos, Spain. He began named First Painter to the king.
his formal artistic training at age fourteen, In 1808, Spain underwent a political crisis
apprenticing with a local painting master, Jose as Napolean tried to impose his sovereignty.
Luzan (1710—1785). Goya's acceptance into Goya witnessed the horrors of warfare. He cre-
the art world came in 1 77 1 when he

, won sec- ated a series of paintings known as Disasters of
ond place in a painting competition in Parma, War (1808-1814), using political allegory to
Italy, representing Fiannibal the Conqueror portray the degradation of man killing man.
looking down on Italy from the Alps. One noted work from the series. The Second of
Returning to Spain, he met the painter May 1808 (1814), depicts an uprising in the
Francisco Bayeu (1734-1795), who influenced street in which citizens armed with sticks
his early baroque style. He later married attack soldiers.

Bayeu's sister. Goya's first commission in Spain Goya also created the series known as
was in 1774 with forty-three cartoons, illus- Los Proverbios or The Follies (1813-1818).
trating the life of the people at that time, for These paintings are marked by dark moods
the tapestries for the Royal Factory of Santa that reveal a world of nightmares. In Saturn
Barbara. One famous cartoon from the tapes- Devouring His Children (1820), rapid, expres-
try was The Crockery Vendor, noted for its real- sionist brush strokes, showing contrast of light
ism and vivid human characterization. and shade, are evident.
By the time he was thirty-nine years old, In Goya

1824, settled in France, where
Goya had became an official painter to King his work softened in tone and color. One
Charles III (1716-1788) of Spain. It was at such painting from this period is called the
this time that he broke with Bayeu and adopt- Milkmaid of Bordeaux ( 1 827).
40
ELISABETH VIGEE-LEI
(1755-1842)
34,
A celebrated artist in her own time, government sponsored art institute. Another
Elisabeth Louise Vigee-Lebrun developed an famous piece was the Portrait ofthe Marquise de
interest in drawing during her years in board- Jaucourt{\7?,^).
ing school, which she attended from the ages of Due to her close relationship with the
six to eleven. Born to the painter Louis Vigee Queen, Vigee-Lebrun was forced to escape
in Paris on April 16, 1755, she received draw- Paris during the French Revolution' in 1789.
ing and painting lessons from Gabriel Doyen Leaving her husband, she lived in exile in
and from others who visited her father's studio Europe for twelve years. She had already estab-
when she was home during her holiday visits. lished an international reputation and contin-
At the young age of twelve, she began a pro- ued to paint.
fessional career and supported her mother after Before her death, she wrote an account of
her father died in 1767. Her wit and beaut)' her life and of European society in the late
attracted patrons as much as her talent did. eighteenth and early nineteenth century.
Remarkable as a portrait painter, she paint- Entitled Souvenirs, the book was first published
ed in oils and depicted the personalities of her in 1835.
clients in her work, and she was always inven-
tive with poses and settings. Her paintings
would exaggerate the charms of her subjects
and gloss over their imperfections. Among her
patrons were Count Schouvalofif of Russia,
whom Vigee-Lebrun painted in exact detail
wearing a fur-edged jacket adorned with two

decorations. He also wore bands of silk ribbons
across his waist to mark other honors. Lebrun
shows his body turned to the left while he
looks out to the right. The averted gaze was

meant to give him an aura of reserve indicative
of the aristocratic class.
At age twent)', she hesitantly married the art
dealer and painter Jean-Baptise Pierre Lebrun.
He took her money and insisted she give art
lessons to supplement her income. Yet he was

also well connected in the art world and intro-
duced her to upper class people and exposed

her to prominent art.
Her fame was soon acclaimed by royal
members of the court. In 1779, she was called

on to paint Queen Marie Antoinette, after
which she was named the official painter to the
queen and completed twenty portraits of her.
The most famous was Marie-Antoinette and

Her Children (1787). The Queen facilitated
Elisabeth Lebrun
her acceptance into the Academie Royale, a
41
WILLIAM BLAKE
(1757-1827)
35
English poet, engraver, and painter William intuition and a trust in the imagination when
Blake was born on November 28, 1757, in creating art, and he did not want to follow an
London, to a father who sold stockings. When academic system. At twenty-five years of age,
he was four years old, Blake stated that he had he married Catherine Boucher. Two years later,
seen a vision of God. This visionary power he set up a print shop that failed after a few
remained his source of inspiration throughout years. He then returned to engraving and illus-
his artistic career. trating.
A nervous child and sensitive to punish- The death of his brother, Robert, in 1787,
ment, Blake only went to school until the brought a new mysticism to Blake's life. It was
age of ten, then entered the drawing school at this time that he developed a technique of
of Henry Pars. His parents purchased prints of illuminated printing, an elaborate combina-
famous artworks for him to copy. tion of engraving and hand-tinting, which
By the time he was fourteen, he was appren- allowed him to fuse art and poetry. Although
ticed to the engraver James Basire the technique is not completely understood, it
(1730—1802). After completing his seven-year is believed he drew on copper plates the pic-
term, he studied at the Royal Academy, but he tures for the poems he wrote, using a liquid
rebelled against the doctrine of its president Sir impervious to acid. He then applied acid to
Joshua Reynolds (see no. 31). Blake believed in burn away the rest of the plate, leaving the
words and pictures in relief The work was then

given a color wash and later finished by hand
in water color. He used this technique to pub-
lish his Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of
Experience (1794). The theme of these books
was the struggle between reason and imagina-
tion.
Blake's paintings focused on religious sub-
jects, the most famous being illustrations of the

Book ofJob (1825). Blake's style was a precur-
sor to modern art. The use of rigid geometric
patterns and the emphasis on line and color as
a means of expression were inspirational in a

time that favored realism in art. Other works
include Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793)
and M/?o« (1810?).
Constant quarrels and a refusal to subjugate
himself and conform to his patrons' desires lost

him many commissions, and he was left poor
and depressed. In an attempt to earn money
and raise his reputation, he held his own art
exhibition, charging an entrance fee and adver-
tising the event with the motto "Fit audience
find tho' few." The stunt met with bad reviews,
William Blake
and he failed to achieve his goals.
42
WASHINGTON ALLSTON
1 (1779-1843)
Regarded as America's first major land-

scapist, Washington Allston introduced to
the United States the artmovement known

as romanticism. Romanticism emphasized
nature and atmosphere, arising in opposition
to classical formalism and rationalism. He was
born in Georgetown Count\^ South Carolina.
Upon graduation from Harsârd University in
Massachusetts at age twenty-one, he sold his
portion of the family estate to study painting
in London, England. He immediately enrolled
at the Royal Academy, where he studied under
Benjamin West (1738-1820) and was also
inspired by the works of romantic painter

Henry Fuseli. At that time, his paintings
showed his subjective interpretation of
nature and his fondness for the marvelous and
mysterious.
After two years, he left to travel throughout
Europe, visiting Italy, where he met the English
romantic poet Samuel T. Coleridge
(1772-1834). While in Italy, he acquired the Washington Allston
title of "the American Titian," in reference
to the Italian painter Titian (1487?-1576), intellectualism through his writings and lec-
famous for his color schemes. tures. His essays titled Lectures in Art revealed
Allston broke from the prevalent thought in his classical viewpoints and were published
the United States that color and light were after his death. He also wrote poetry, making
minor elements in painting. His landscapes typical analogies between the moods of nature
emphasized ambiguous shapes, and he used and the moods of man. In 1813, hisbook of
texture and color to express feeling. Allston was poems The Sylphs of the Seasons and Other
also famous for his under-painting to Poems was published.
give more light to his works. Four years later, he began painting
Always torn between his conflicting feelings Belshazzar's Feast, which remained unfinished,
for the United States and Europe, he travelled but attempted to combine his ideas of logic
continuously between the two. On one trip to and classical views with romanticism. He also
Europe in 1811, he took one of his art stu- began to paint in a simpler, dreamlike fashion
dents, Samuel E B. Morse (1791-1872), who and often used women in dim landscapes as his
later invented the telegraph and Morse code. subject. The delicate tones of his painting are
Allston's first work of importance was most evident in Moonlit Landscape (1819).
The Dead Man Restored to Life by Touching Samuel T Coleridge wrote to him once, say-
the Bones ofElijah (1813), which combined the ing, "To you alone of all contemporary
classical form and romanticism. painters does it seem to have been given to
Allston was also at the center of American know what nature is."
43
JOHN JAMES AUDUBON
(1785-1851)
3]
ed him financially while he travelled and paint-
ed. Two years later, he left for Kentucky to try
his fortune as a merchant and a speculator in
real estate.
He declared bankruptcy in 1819 and

was imprisoned for his unpaid debts. After
his release, he moved to Ohio and made a
living teaching and doing crayon portraits.
At thirty-five years of age, he exhibited

his bird drawings at the Western Museum in
Cincinnati, Ohio, and was received with

laudatory reviews. The reception he received
convinced him that he should travel across the
United States and paint birds in their
natural habitats.
Without money or experience, Audubon
established himself in New Orleans, Louisiana,
John James Audubon and began to collect specimens, painting more

than one thousand subjects. Trying to establish
Born on April 26, 1785, Jean Jacques himself as an artist, he learned to wire the bod-
Fougere Audubon was born out of wedlock ies of different kinds of birds into natural posi-
to a chambermaid and the sea captain Jean tions of flight, feeding, or battle, painting each
Audubon, who was temporarily docked in bird in its exact size. He emphasized the beau-
Haiti, then known as Santo Domingo. His ty of the contours by using natural lines with-
mother died soon after his birth, and his father out distortions. To reproduce color and
brought him to France to live with his wife and texture, he used a combination of watercolor,
other children. As a boy, Audubon began draw- pastels, and tempera, a painting technique in
ing pictures of birds on his own, without which a mixture of water and egg yolk is used
instruction. He was a temperamental child as a binding medium to add sheen to areas.
who did not do well in school, and his father After meeting with disappointment in his
sent him to the United States at age eighteen to first showing, where scientists questioned the
save him from military service and make him natural science of his work, he sailed for
a more responsible and serious person. England with a portfolio of 240 paintings. His
While in the United States, Audubon work impressed the critics there; they called it
resided in an estate of his father's near "an expression of wild abundance in America."
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, Audubon In 1838, he completed 435 life-sized engrav-
told his neighbors that he was the son of Louis ings titled The Birds ofAmerica. From 1831 to
XVI and Marie-Antoinette and had been taken 1839, he collaborated with William
out of France as a child to save him from death MacGillivray to write an accompaniment to
by the guillotine during the French the paintings. Entitled Oriiithological
Revolution. Biography, it was a biographical account of his
He continued to draw birds, and in 1808, fascination with birds, describing their flight
he married Lucy Bakewell, who later support- behavior, their habits, and their cries.
44
HONORE DAUMIER
(1808-1879)
38
A French caricarurisr, painter, and sculptor the time he wrote, "I'm getting four times as
and a notable political and social satirist, much work done in my new boarding house as
Honore Daumier (doe-me-YAY) devoted I did at papas.'
his paintings to even-day themes and social Upon his release, he again returned to
protest. The son of a glazier, he was born on satirizing bourgeois socierv' in the journal
February 26, 1808, in Marseille, but he moved Le Charivari. He also began to satirize political
to Paris with his family as a boy. subjects during the Revolution of 1848 in
As soon as Daumier was old enough to France, enjoying enormous popularity with his
know his way around, he began to work as series Robert Macaire. The law courts were sat-
a messenger for the bailiff of the law courts. irized in the series Parliamentary Idylls, while
During that time, he began to draw and take the hardships of the poor were depicted in The
lessons from a friend of his father's, Alexandre Representatives Represented.
Lenoir. At nineteen, he was supporting himself Deeply interested in people, his paintings
as a lithographer, and he studied for a brief were satirical portrayals of everyday life. He did
period of time at the Academie Suisse. Fie not include decorative elements in his works,
began his artistic career by making drawings and the colors in his paintings were compared
for advertisements. Fie became member
a staff to those in Rembrandt's works (see no. 26).
of the comic journal La Caricature and made a Daumier's style was labeled baroque, and he
reputation for himself as a bold, satirical artist, never made a commercial success of his paint-
becoming the most feared political cartoonist ing. Daumier's most celebrated work is The
in France. Fiis manner of Third Class Carriage
drawing was sponta- (1862?), which depicts
neous and the contour of a group of travelers on
the figure gave subjects a a train. The painting
sense of nervous energ)'. was created simply,
One of his carica- utilizing minimal lines,
tures, published in 1832, where the hands of

depicted King Louis passengers are reduced
Philippe (1773-1850) to mere outlines while

as Gargantna, a gigantic the bodies are solid.
creature from romance Upon Daumier's

conjured by author death on February 11,
Rabelais (1494-1553). 1879, his coffin was
The caricature showed layered with flowers as
the king gorging on bas- a substitute for tradi-
kets of gold taken from tional velvet cloth. The

the poor, and Daumier local church refused to
was imprisoned for six drape the coffin of a
months as a result. Fie man who professed a
was allowed to spend humanitarian love for

half his sentence in a his fellow peers over
sanatorium and the the love of the
other half in prison. At Honore Daumier Christian God.
45
JULIA CAMERON
39 (1815-1879)
English photographer Julia Margaret and settled in London, England, in 1848.
Cameron made a series of photographic por- She was almost fifty years old when she
traits of the great men of her day, including the began to be a serious photographer. She was
Darwin (1809-1882), Alfred
writers Charles presented with a camera as a gift from her
Lord Tennyson
(1809-1892), Henry daughters in order to begin a hobby. She con-
Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), and verted her garden greenhouse into a darkroom
Robert Browning (1812-1889). She also and studio and worked for ten years straight.
photographed the astronomer Sir John Friends, family, servants, and even passersby
Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871). were coerced into modeling for pictures.
She was born on June 11, 1 8 1 5, in Calcutta, Her photographs were notable for their
India. She was the third daughter of James extreme close-ups, suppression of detail, and
Prattle, a high civil servant from England in dramatic lighting. Her technique for drawing
the East India Company. James Prattle raised out the expression of the person, rather than
his daughter on strict Victorian principles. At a mere reflection, was regarded to have been
the age of twenty-three, she married Charles ahead of her time.
Hay Cameron. Charles was then forty-three Although sometimes criticized for poor
years old, and he was a member of the Supreme focus and pictures smeared with fingerprints,
Council of India. The couple had six children she said that she was "interested in spiritual
depth, not technical perfection." Her
photographs were influenced by
the romantic Pre-Raphaelite paintings
of the time. These paintings reflected
the materialism of industrialized
England and imitated the style of Italian
painters prior to Raphael (see no. 13).
Her friend and mentor, George Frederic
Watts, also inspired her to create beauty.
Among her works were Annie, My First
Success (1864), Sir Joshua Herschel

(1867), and Mrs. Herbert Duckworth
(1867).
At the request of the writer Lord
Tennyson, she illustrated his book, Idylls
of the King, with her photographs. The

book was published in 1874, as was her
autobiography Annals of my Glass House.
Cameron's photographs were brought
to the limelight when they were discov-
ered by photographer and art dealer
Alfred Stieglitz (see no. 64). Legend
holds that she continued to photograph
until her death on January 26, 1879,
Julia Cameron and her last word was "beautifiil."
46
ROSA BONHEUR
(1822-1899)
teens to be able to roam about freely. She

found the attire convenient and continued to
dress like a man in her adult years.
By the time she was seventeen, she was earn-

ing money selling copies of paintings she com-
pleted at the Louvre and found the' direction
of her art with her portraits of animals.
Concerned about the anatomical correct-
ness of her art, she obtained limbs of animals
trom butcher shops to dissect and study. She
also visited horse fairs and cattle markets to
observe and sketch from life. Rosa described
her art and herself as "matter of fact in every-
thing." Her work demonstrates a strong sense
of movement and lyrical effects of light to lend

a romantic feeling to her paintings.
As her fame grew, admirers throughout
Europe sent her animalparts to draw. Her first
appearance at the annual Paris exhibition in
1841, with the paintings Goats and Sheep and
Two Rabbits was well received. In 1849, her
picture Plowing in Nivernais, a pastoral scene
taken directly from nature studies in the coun-
try, was purchased by the government for its
permanent collection at the Luxembourg

Caller)'.
Rosa Bonheur
Her greatest reward came when she won the
Specializing in animal subjects, painter first-class medal for her picture Horse Fair
Marie Rosalie Bonheur (bon-URR), known as (1853?). It is remarkable for its dynamic move-
Rosa, was the first woman to receive the Cross ment and the use of light to add energ)' to the
of the French Legion of Honor. She was born painting and the ten life-size horses. In 1864,
on March 22, 1822, in Bordeaux, France, to she received the Cross of the Legion of Honor
artistic parents. Her mother, Sophie Marqui, from Empress Eugenie, who was acting as a
was a student in the drawing class of Rosa's representative for her husband, Napolean III.
father, Raymond Bonheur. Rosa's philosophy of art was the verse

The family moved to Paris when she was written bv her favorite author, George Sand
seven years old, and there she visited the art (1804-1876), "Art for art's sake is a vain word.
galleries where she copied the works of the Art for truth, art for the beautiful and the
great artists. good, that is the religion I seek for." A techni-
She quit school at age twelve when her cal perfectionist, Bonheur would often allow
mother died, and she helped to raise her sib- two years for drying the thick underpainting
lings, spending her free time sketching animals she applied to her pictures. She died on May
in the fields. She often dressed like a bov in her 25, 1899.
47
MATHEW BRADY
(18237-1896)
He perfected the daguerreotype method of

photography, in which a direct positive image
on a silver plate, exposed to sunlight, could
record a sharp image in half an hour. He was
notable for inventing a number of the tricks of
successful photography, probably through trial
and error, such as rubbing a freckled face until
it was bright red, because without a uniform
appearance, any spots could appear blotchy.
He also raised or lowered the camera to correct
a distorted face or long neck, insisted that
gloves be worn by women with long fingers,
and so on.
At the outbreak of the American Civil War,
Brady invested $100,000 to record the event in
photographs. Brady assumed the government

would buy his photographs after the war
ended. He hired men to cover the territory and
take pictures. Brady paid the photographers
$35 a week, taking the credit for the actual
shot. He was intent on making the only com-
plete pictorial history of the Civil War. He
Mathew Brady began to ignore his accumulating bills for pho-
tography chemicals and glass plates. Brady per-
sonally photographed some battles, such as the
Mathew Brady, best known for his pho- Battle of Bull Run (1861), the Battle of
tographs of pohticians and the American Civil Antietam (1862), and the Batde of Gettysburg
War (1861-1865), was a native of Warren (1863).
County', New York. No records of his birth or A Brady Civil War photograph was posed
childhood have been discovered, but around and grandiose. Brady would take charge of a
1844, he opened his own business, Brady's scene, asking a general to stand in a favorable
Daguerrean Miniature Gallery, and set out to position for the camera, or telling a wounded
photograph the famous and wealthy in man to remain still, or ordering gun batteries
American society. He felt that he would be into different positions to improve the compo-
serving history by documenting its great fig- sition. He created a technique of presenting the
ures in photographs. During Brady's fifty years war in dramatic appeal.
as a photographer, he photographed the U.S. The government showed no interest in his
Presidents, from John Quincy Adams to photographs, and Brady declared bankruptcy
William McKinley, the sixth through the nven- in 1873. The War Department later purchased
ty-fifi:h presidents. (The only exception was his photographs at a public auction for $2,840.
President William Henry Harrison, who died a Brady died on January 15,1 896, from a kidney
month after his inauguration, so Brady never problem, alone, poor and forgotten at
got a chance to photograph him.) Presbyterian Hospital, New York.
48
CUSTAVE MOREAU
(1826-1898)
42
A French symbolist painter who emphasized Rouault (see no. 69).
the morbid side of life and death, Gustave Moreau's vision appealed to symbolist
Moreau exemplified the term "decadent." Born writers, such as the novelist J. K. Huysmans,
on April 6, 1826, in Paris, Moreau, the son of who pursued similar feelings in their works.
an architect, enrolled at the government-spon- He also held a strong attraction to the surreal-
sored art school Ecole des Beaux-Arts, at the ist artists whose works emphasized dream
age of twenty. He was first taught by the neo- imagery and the unconscious.
classical painter Francois-Edouard Picot, but In 1898, Moreau left his estate and eight
Moreau's mature style was not formed until thousand paintings to France to create a
1850, when he came in contact with Theodore museum. His former student, Rouault, became
Chasseriau. the first curator of the collection.
Moreau was dominated by the
desire to represent the legendary and
divine in art. He painted literar)' and
m)T:hological subjects in an imagina-
tive way, using rich colors, which he
heightened in tone by using wax
when mixing the colors.
His landscapes were often depict-
ed with steep and rocky cliffs and
twisted trees, set against light distant
backgrounds. He found inspiration
in the Koran, the bible of Muslim
prophecy, as well as Egyptian, Greek,
and Oriental mvaholog)'. He often
combined details from each book to
depict universal concerns in fairy tale

form.
His famous pieces that demon-
strate the dark hues and subject mat-
ter include Oedipus and the Sphinx
(1864) and The Young and Death
(1865). After receiving hostile criti-
cism, he withdrew from exhibiting at

the official Salon from 1869 to
1876, and in 1880, he stopped

exhibiting altogether and closed
himself off Irom societ\'.
In 1 892, after years of solitary life,
he became a professor at the Ecole

des Beaux-Arts. He was a teacher who cultivat- Gustave Moreau
ed the individual talents of his students, among
them Henri Matisse (see no. 68) and Georges
49
DANTE ROSSETTI
43 (1828-1882)
Romantic religious painter Dante Gabriel with the medieval past and a rejection of mate-
Rossetti was born in London, England, on rialism of the industrialized world. The past
May 12, 1828. His father, the Italian poet was conceived to be a time of harmonious
Gabriel Rossetti, was living in exile from Italy union between the individual and
for his liberal views. Rossetti's artistic educa- society. For Rossetti, the ambiance of the
tion began at age nine, with drawing lessons at Middle Ages allowed chivalry and love to flour-
King's College, which he attended until age fif- ish. His subjects were influenced by the writ-
teen. He then took private lessons from the ings of Dante Alighieri, author of The Divine
painter Ford Madox Brown (1821-1893) and Comedy.
also enrolled at the Royal Academy, where he Love was the main theme in Rossetti's
was described as rambunctious with an imper- paintings. He painted only one type of woman,
tinent tongue and a flamboyant appearance. known as the Rossetti girl. Her face was sad
At the academy, Rossetti met the painters and vacant, suggesting sensuality. She had a
Sir John Everett Millais and Holman Hunt and long neck, a flowing weight of hair, and dark
with them founded the Pre-Raphaelite protruding eyes. The only distinguishable fea-
Brotherhood. This movement imitated the ture among each of the women was the color of
style of Italian painters prior to Raphael (see her hair.
no. 13). The movement also was preoccupied The woman he most immortalized in his
paintings was Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal, whom

he married in 1860. The most notable of these
works were Mary Magdalene at the House of
Simon the Pharisee (1858?) and Beata Beatrix
(1863). Other renowned paintings include
Monna Vanna (1866) and Prosperine (1874).
Elizabeth committed suicide in 1862 after con-
tracting tuberculosis and giving birth to a still-
born son.
Rossetti was also renowned as a poet. At
Elizabeth's funeral, he placed the only copy of
his unpublished poems in her coffin. In 1869,
however, he had the coffin raised to retrieve his
work.
When he was in his mid-thirties, he alienat-
ed himself from society. At this time, he was
living in an apartment with a private collection
of birds and a kangaroo, among other animals.
In 1872, he collapsed due to an addiction to
chloral hydrate, which he used as a sleeping
pill. He recovered temporarily and continued

to paint and write poetry, but he maintained
his addiction. In 1881, at the age of fifty-three,
he had an attack of paralysis and died on
Dante Rossetti April 9, 1882.
50
CAMILLE PISSARRO
(1830-1903)
44,
A French impression- incorporated a sponta-

ist painter of landscapes neous quality with a
and river scenes, Camille light brush stroke that
Jacob Pissarro lived by viewed nature in a sym-
his own motto: "One pathetic manner.
must have only one mas- In 1874, Pissarro exhib-
ter —
nature." Born in St. ited in the first impres-
Thomas, Virgin Islands, sionist show and was the
he showed an early inter- only artist to exhibit in
est in drawing and paint- all eight succeeding

ing, despite his fathers impressionist exhibits.
belief that art was not As the oldest member of
serious learning. Pissarro the group, he servêd as a
worked at his father's mentor to Paul Cezanne,
store until he was twelve Mary Cassatt, and Paul
years old, then left for Gauguin (see nos. 48, 54
France to complete his and 55).
education. Homesick Camille Pissarro At fift^'-six years of
and unable to concen- age, Pissarro, even
trate on his studies, he though he himself was
covered his books with drawings of banana considered an impressionist painter, joined a
trees, plantations, and other memories of the revolt with the pointillist artists, who were
tropics. When Pissarro was seventeen, he against the brush stroke of the impressionist
returned to the island upon his father's demand painters. Pointillist artists instead used dabs of
that he assist with the family business. At twen- pure color to produce intense color effects.
ty-two, he ran away to Venezuela with a fellow After ten years, Pissarro realized that pointil-
painter, Fritz Melbye, whom he met sketching lism was too restrictive for him, and he
on the docks. Three years later, he returned to returned to impressionism. At this time, he
Paris to pursue the study of art. finally achieved some recognition for his work.
He first attended the government-support- The painting Bather in Woods (1895) demon-
ed art school Ecole des Beaux-Arts and then strates his use of light to invoke feeling.
studied at the Academie Suisse. It was at the him to

Failing health at age sixt)'-five forced
Academic that he first met the impressionist paint indoors. From windows, he painted Paris
painter Claude Monet (see no. 50), in 1859. cit}'scapes. Figures and carriages moved
That same year, he had a picture accepted into through the street, displaying life and energy;
the Salon, the nationally supported art gallery. trees against the buildings were depicted in
Pissarro had approached the painter Jean- large scale; and the skies were filled with light
Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796—1875), whom and clouds. Pissarro's genius was his ability to
he idolized, and obtained his permission to portray life and order, movement and stabilit)',
name him as his teacher in his submission to and change within constancy in nature. In
the Salon. Although Pissarro exhibited at inter- 1 898, Pissarro painted his series of the Avenue
vals in the Salon, he was rejected by Corot, de rOpera, which consisted of eight views of
who found his technique too "free. " His style the street from the Theatre Franâis.
51
EDOUARD MANET
(1832-1883)
45.
He refused ro label his style of work, but ing and the development of modern art. Manet
others think of Edouard Manet (mah-NAY) as used bold brush strokes when he painted, in
the forerunner of French Impressionism. He order to accentuate realism in his subject mat-
was born in Paris on January 23, 1832, to a ters. His subject matters included common
high government official, and Manet was people, including beggars, street urchins, and
expected to follow his father in a legal career. cafe characters. Typically, his figures maintain
After finishing his studies at College Rollin, in an alert glance and stare directly at the viewer,
1848, he went to sea as an apprentice cadet to always giving the feeling that both the artist
avoid going into the legal profession. and the subject are observing one another.
In 1850, when he failed the entrance exam Manet used the technique known as peinture
to the navy, Manet's father allowed him to pur- claire, whereby the subject of the painting is
sue an art career at the studio of Thomas lighted from the front, illuminating shadows.
Couture. He studied with Couture for six His most famous painting, Le dejeuner sur
years, then travelled throughout Europe, visit- I'herbe (1863), portrays a picnic scene, where a
ing the galleries and museums to copy the nude female is attended to by two fully dressed
works of the masters. young men. The work was attacked by critics
His portrayal of everyday subject matter as indecent, which in turn made Manet a
would prove to be influential to French paint- leader in the dispute between the academic and
the rebellious art factions of his time. The
painting Olympia (1865?) also made him the
focus of controversy. This portrait of a nude
female in a modern setting was accepted into
the official Salon, but it met with bad reviews.
Manet's idea of success was measured by his
acceptance into the government-sponsored
Salon, even though he rejected the principles
for which it stood.
Manet was a pivotal figure in the controver-
sy on the judgment of art that finally discredit-
ed the French Academy, the official judges. He
created an uproar in a country whose artists
were closely tied to government, by participat-

ing in the Salon des Refuses. The works reject-
ed by the Salon were to be displayed, and the

public was given the opportunity to decide
whether the jury had been right or wrong in
rejecting the paintings.

Throughout his career, Manet was a painter
of contemporary life. A year before his death,
he was nominated for the Legion of Honor for
his contributions to the technical style of
Edouard Manet
nineteenth-century art. He died in Paris on
April 30, 1883.
52
JAMES WHISTLER
(1834-1903)
46
James Abbott McNeill Whistler embodied
the image of the cosmopolitan artist. He was
born on July 11, 1834, in Lowell,
Massachusetts. His father was a distinguished
militar\' engineer. At age nine, his family
moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he
attended the Imperial Academy. His father
died when Whistler was fifteen years old, at
which point he returned to the United States.
Two years later, he was admitted to the U.S.
Military Academy at West Point. His own

tastes were not military, however, and his stud-
ies suffered. He was dismissed from the acade-
my three years later. He then made an unsuc-
cessful attempt to enter the navy and finally
obtained a position as a draftsman in the Coast

Survey Department in Washington, D.C.,
which was established to map the United States
coastlines for militar}' purposes. It was there
James McNeill Whistler
that he learned etching. The tediousness of the
work soon tired him, and in 1855, he left for Black and Gold: Falling Rocket, in which globs
Paris, where he studied painting under Charles of paint represent embers floating down
Gabriel Gleyre. through a dark sky. The painting shocked audi-
Through Gleyre, Whistler obtained unlim- ences with its revolutionary style, and critic
ited access to the Louvre museum and the priv- John Ruskin accused Whistler of "flinging a
ilege to set up an easel and copy the artwork. pot of paint in the public's face." ^Xliistler sued
Whistler was talented in his combination of Ruskin and won.
techniques acquired from past masters. He Moving to England, Whistler was regarded
learned how to silhouette a figure against a as arrogant, witr\', satirical, and an expert in
bland background to create a full-length por- The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, the title of
trait and was noted for his avoidance of bril- the only book he wrote. The book consisted of
liant color and absence of detail. From recordings of his quarrels with art
Japanese prints, he acquired the skill of creat- associations and was published in 1890.
ing shapes, and from Oriental ceramics, he He also devoted much time to lithography,
borrowed the flowing decorative techniques. which he brought to perfection. As an etcher,
His work emphasized a relationship between he was second only to Rembrandt (see no. 26).
color and music, and he used musical terms, He completed roughly 150 lithographs and
such as nocturnes, harmonies, and sym- over 400 etchings, which he exhibited at the
phonies, to describe his paintings. Fine Arts Societ}' in London. In 1886, he was
^"histler loved scandal, welcoming it as a way elected president of the Societ)' of British
of gaining fame. In 1863, his painting White Artists. When he and his friends left the soci-
Girl achieved notoriety at the Salon des ety in 1888, Whistler remarked that "the artists
Refuses. In 1875, he exhibited Nocturnes in had come our and the British had remained."
53
(1834-1917)
4?
Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (deh-GAH) Failing eyesight led Degas to devote more of
was the oldest of five children. He was born his attention to sculpture. Through sculpture,
into a wealthy family in the banking business as in his painting, he captured the action of
in Paris, France, on July 19, 1834. He visited movement; his female figures, notably ballet
the Louvre museum often while he studied law. dancers, are depicted in poses that demonstrate
When he was twenty years old, he decided to the physical exertion of dance.
become a painter. He enrolled at the Ecole des Believing that a painter could have no per-
Beaux-Arts, the government-sponsored art sonal life, he never married, explaining that
school, but two years later, he left for Italy to "there is love and there is work, and we have
study the masters. but a single heart." Degas spent the last twen-
While in Rome, he visited relatives and ty years of his life in seclusion and died on
completed the portrait The Bellelli Family September 27, 1917, in Paris.
(1859), which is noted for its acute perception

of four personalities. His paintings were
characterized by movement and conti-
nuity of lines. He returned to Paris in
1861 and was commissioned to com-
plete a series of paintings for the govern-
ment-sponsored Salon. In 1870, with
the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian
War, Degas enlisted in the artillery.
While recuperating from the experience,

he decided never to exhibit at the Salon
again.
After a trip to New Orleans,
Louisiana, in 1872, where he first
became aware of losing his eyesight, he

returned to Paris where he discovered a
new subject — the female form and the
ballet. Known as the "painter of
dancers," Degas sketched from live
models in his studio, where he could

control the factors of form and composi-
tion. He combined different poses into
groups that depicted dancers on stage,
either stretching or performing.
In 1873, Degas was among the
founding members of the impressionist
group, who are known for their direct
observation of nature. Other impression-
ist painters include Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas
Claude Monet, and Auguste Renoir, (see
nos. 44, 50, and 52).
54
PAUL CEZANNE
48, (1839-1906)
During the greater part of his Hfe-

time, Paul Cezanne (say-ZAHN), who
initiated the revolution in modern art
by shifting the emphasis from realism

to abstraction, was largely ignored and
worked in isolation.
Cezanne was born in the town of

Aix-en-Provence in southern France,
on January 19, 1839. His father,
Louis-Auguste Cezanne, was a wealthy
banker who disapproved of Cezanne's
early artistic interests, but allowed him
to study drawing at the Aix museum.
At the same time, Cezanne received a
classical education at the College
Bourbon. He did not have any com-
when he
panions until age thirteen,
met Emile Zola (1840-1902), who
was to become a prominent author.
The two remained friends until 1886,
when Cezanne became bitter over
what he assumed to be a reference to
his failures in one of Zola's novels and Paul Cezanne
estranged himself from his oldest
friend and supporter.
At age twenty-three, after a number of bit- disinherit him for his choice in a bride, he kept
ter family disputes, Cezanne was given a small her existence from him for years.
allowance and sent to study art in Paris. He Cezanne had a way of imparting density to
never had any formal training but worked by the structure of individual objects; covering the
copying the models at the Academic Suisse. entire canvas, he conveyed the illusion of space
Cezanne represented contemporary life. He by overlapping planes and painting in patches
painted the world he observed rather than of color. Although he painted from nature, he
painting an idealized version of his still lifes, would distort shapes or change colors of
landscapes, and portraits. The most significant objects to give more depth to the work. Always
influence on work was Camille Pissarro (see
his regarded as an eccentric, Cezanne never sold a
no. 44), who gave Cezanne the encouragement painting in his lifetime. His most famous work
he needed. Pissarro also introduced Cezanne to was House of the Hanged Man, Auvers (1874).
new impressionist techniques and encouraged Other works that express forms in space were
him to lighten his colors and break away from The Kitchen Table (1890) and The Card Players
his brooding moods. (1892).
In 1869, Cezanne met the model Hortense On October 15, 1906, he was painting in
Piquet, whom he formed a relationship with the fields and was caught in a storm. He died a
and later married. Afraid that his father would week later.
55
AUCUSTE RODIN
(1840-1917)
49
Sculptor Francois Auguste Rene Rodin (roe- Leaving the monastery when he was twenty-
DAN) is distinguished for his reaHsm as well as four years old, he met the seamstress Rose
for conveying both the positive and negative Beuret,who became his life companion and a
aspects of humanity, such as beauty and anxi- model for many of his works. That same year,
ety, in his work. he submitted his work Man with a Broken Nose
The son of a police official, Rodin was born (1864) to the government-sponsored Salon; it
in Paris, France, on November 12, 1840. He was rejected initially and later accepted under
began studying art at age fourteen by attending the title Portrait of a Roman. The success
the Petite Ecole, a school of decorative arts, inspired him to travel to Italy, where he was
and visiting the Louvre museum. On three influenced by the work of Michelangelo (see
occasions, he attempted and failed to gain no. 11). He came back to Paris and created his
admittance to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Age of Bronze (1877). The work depicted a
At eighteen, in order to earn a living, he male nude figure and showed extreme realism.
began to work for other sculptors, including It created a controversy and caused accusations
Ernest Carrier-Belleuse. When he was twenty- that Rodin had made plaster casts from living
two, the death of his sister Maria traumatized models. The episode brought him more fame
him so greatly that he joined an order of than harm.
monks. Rodin had the ability to convey feeling
through facial expression and individual parts
of the body. He cut the hollows of the face
deeply to create strong shadows, while his tex-
tured surface heightened the sense of life and
movement, a technique not seen in the imper-
sonal smoothness of classical sculpture.
Rodin considered beauty to be a truthful
representation of inner states. Thus, he did not

distort the anatomy of his sculptures.
In 1880, he was commissioned by the
French government to design a pair of doors
for a museum of decorative arts that was to be
built. The project, known as The Gates of Hell,
absorbed Rodin for the remainder of his life,
although it was still unfinished at his death. He

collaborated on the project with Camille
Claudel (see no. 63) with whom he had a rela-
tionship. Rodin always worked in grand scale,
and most of his works depicted human suffer-
ing, such as The Thinker (1888) and The

Prodigal Son (1885).
At seventy-six years old, Rodin donated his
works to the French government. Still placed as

Aug^ste Rodin
Rodin set them, they are in the Musee Rodin
at the Hotel Biron in Paris.
56
CLAUDE MONET
50 (1840-1926)
The French impressionist painter Claude

Monet (moe-NAY) was born in Paris on
November 14, 1840, but spent most of his
childhood in Le Havre, where his father owned
a grocer)' store. At fifteen, he was selling his
own drawings on the street, and four years
later, he had committed himself to a career as a
painter and moved to Paris to study at the

Academie Suisse. Forced to complete military'
service soon after, he returned to Paris in 1 862

and studied under Charles Gleyre. While at
Gleyre's studio, he befriended Edouard Manet

(see no. 45) and Auguste Renoir (see no. 52).
Monet was noted for extreme detail, using
loose brush strokes, bold colors, and the
changing effect of light in his studies of nature.
His first success was the acceptance of the por-
trait of his mistress Camille, The Green Dress
(1866), in the official Salon. After that, he was
continually rejected. He became too poor to
buy painting supplies and resorted to soliciting
his friends for money.
Monet and his friends, Camille Pissarro,
Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne (see nos. 44, 47,
and 48), and others, formed their own exhibi-

tion in 1874 that they hoped would have more
prestige than the Salon des Refuses.
Impressionism is characterized by a direct

observ'ation of nature. The word impression-
ism is derived from the title of Monet's paint-
ing Impression, Sunrise (1873). A critic said the
painting reminded him of wallpaper because Claude Monet
the work appeared sketchy and unfinished.
In 1880, a year after his wife's death, his to Alice Hoschede. Together, they settled in
painting was accepted into the Salon. Monet Giverny, France. It was in Giverny that he
was not pleased with the position the painting began painting the series Water Lilies
was given and refused to exhibit there again. (1900—1926). These large canvases show a
Six years later, he began to gain recognition rhythm of the brush stroke, appearing abstract
and painted the two series Haystacks and in pattern, which could stand on its own with-
Poplars, which depict a single scene painted out the focus of the subject, but is combined
numerous times with variations of light, with visions of water, light, and foliage to
shadow, and season. translate a simple pond into a visual spectacle
At the age of fifry-two, Monet remarried of paint.
57
BERTHE MORISOT
(1841-1895)
51
Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875),
who became her teacher. Her early style
was characterized by subtle color har-

monies.
At twenty-three, she debuted at the
official Salon with two landscapes and

was accepted regularly to exhibit for the
next ten years.
At twenty-seven, she was introduced
to Edouard Manet (see no. 45), who
became her mentor, a major influence
on her work, and her brother in-law.
Morisot also posed for many of Manet's

paintings. Under Manet's guidance,
Morisot's brush stroke became fast and
loose, using broad strokes to depict
planes. Details were eliminated from
her paintings, and her colors were bold-
er. She focused on representing the
changing effects of light. Her work con-
veyed a sense of spontaneity, as in The
Sisters (1869), which shows two figures
seated in a parlor, representative of a
common scene in everyday life. She
often painted women in outdoor or
domestic settings. In 1873, she exhibit-
Berthe Morisot ed her painting The Cradle, and her for-
mer teacher, Guichard, wrote a letter to
Berthe Morisot's (MOR-e-so) career and her mother saying that the work was that of a
success as an impressionist painter, character- "madman."
ized by a direct observation of nature, were NXTien she was thirty-three, she abandoned
remarkable in that she was one of the first showing at the Salon, choosing to exhibit with
women to challenge the established art circles. the impressionists. That same year she married
She was the youngest of three daughters of an Eugene Manet.
upper-middle-class family, born in Bourges, In 1892, her first one-woman show was
France, on January 14, 1841. Her father had held at the Boussad and Valadon Gallery.
studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts before Two years later, the French government
becoming a government official. bought her work Young Woman Dressing for
Morisot began to draw as a child, taking a Ball (1884?). The freshness of her style and
lessons seriously at age seventeen with Joseph- the intimacy she captured in her work made
Benoit Guichard, whom she persuaded to her a significant artist in the rebellion against
allow her to paint outdoors. Two years later, the factions that dominated the art world at
she was introduced to the painter Jean- the time.
58
AUGUSTE RENOIR
(1841-1919)
52
Unlike other impressionist painters, Pierre- Other works of this period were Madame
Auguste Renoir (ren-WAHR) was interested in Charpentier and Her Children (1878), Two
painting the single human figure or family Little Circus Girls (1879), and The Luncheon of
groups more than landscapes. Born to a tailor the Boating Party (1881).
on February 25, 1841, in Limoges, France, At forty, he travelled to Algeria and Italy,
Renoir began an artistic career as a child. He where he was influenced by the -works of
painted designs on china in a Paris porcelain Raphael (see no. 13) and began a more classi-
factory. At seventeen, he copied paintings from cal style of painting. He painted in strictly
pictures at the Louvre museum onto fans, defined forms, as evident in Bathers (1887).
lampshades, and blinds. By the time he was Nine years after his travels, he married Aline
twenty-one, he had begun to study painting Charigot and had three sons, whom he paint-
formally at the academy of Charles Gleyre in ed in many works.
Paris. There he met Claude Monet, Camille During the last twenty years of his life,
Pissarro and Paul Cezanne (see nos. 50, 44, Renoir was crippled by arthritis and unable
and 48). Together they formed the impression- to move his hands freely. He continued to
ist group. paint by adapting his sr\'le to looser brush
Noted for his radiant and intimate paint- strokes and painting with the brush strapped to
ings, usually portraying sensual figures of his arm.

women, he used harmony of lines and
briUiant color to express mood. In
1874, Renoir led the first impression-
ist exhibition. He had a personal exhi-
bition five years later, organized by

the publisher Georges Charpentier,
for whom Renoir painted family por-
traits.
After the first impressionist show,

Renoir was torn between maintaining
the theme of painting outdoors and
his true passion to paint in the studio.
Renoir's masterpieces of the time

demonstrate his conflict of interest.
The painting The Swing (1876)
was painted in his garden and depicts
a young girl on a rope swing while an
admirer stands idly by. The painting
was said to lack the spontaneous
vision he captured in his famous
Moulin de la Galette (^1876), painted
in the studio. That work showed a
group of dancers, carefiilly organized

to appear as if the group were cap-
Auguste Renoir
tured at a fleeting moment.
59
HENRI ROUSSEAU
(1844-1910)
53
no proof exists to substantiate this.
Rousseau did not begin to paint until
he was almost forty years old and was

completely self-taught. When he was
forty-nine, he accepted early retire-
ment so that he could devote himself
entirely to painting. To supplement
his small pension, he gave drawing
and music lessons.
Rousseau's imaginative paintings

were characterized by fantastical sub-
jects and disproportions of the fig-
ures. A lack of training in anatomy

and perspective gave his paintings a
sense of innocence.
He is best known for his jungle
scenes, most notably Surprised!

Tropical Storm with a Tiger (1891)
and Sleeping Gypsy (1897). These
imaginative paintings were exotic,
detailed perceptions of animal and
plant life, which were derived from
his visits to the zoos and botanical
gardens of The last of these
Paris.
works. The Dream (1910), culmi-

nates the magical quality of his
scenery.
Rousseau exhibited regularly at art
shows organized by experimental

artists. Although he was often
Henri Rousseau ridiculed by critics and the public, he
interpreted their sarcastic remarks as
Henri Rousseau (roo-SO), known as Le praise. His work showed an irrational configu-
Douanier in reference to his former position as
ration of object and form, which was adopted
a minor inspector with the Paris Customs by surrealist artists.
Office, was the most celebrated of "naive" work was discovered by
In 1908, his
artists, a term used to classify untrained Pablo Picasso no. Picasso bought
(see 71).
painters. The son of a dealer in tinware, born Rousseau's paintings and attended many ol his
on May 21, 1844, Rousseau served in the army gatherings. Recognition of Rousseau's art
for four years prior to obtaining a post at the
opened the way for other untrained artists to
customs office in 1871. He claimed that he
to gain acknowledgement.
had visited Mexico while in the army, which he Rousseau died on September 2, 1910, in
said influenced the subject of his paintings, but
Paris, France.
60
(1844-1926)
54.
In spire of the fact that she was an impressionism to the United States and in per-
American, Mary Cassatt was welcomed into suading American collectors to invest in the
the group of European impressionist painters, work of her colleagues in the group. In 1904,
who emphasized hght and color in their depic- she was awarded the Legion of Honor, a medal
tions of nature. The fifth of seven children of confirming her success as an artist, which was
Robert and Katherine Cassatt, born in notable in a time when the profession was
Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, on May 22, dominated by men. She suffered from the dete-
1844, Cassatt was a descendant of a wealthy rioration of her eyesight in later years and was
family and had the opportunity to travel to forced to stop painting in 1914. She died
Europe as a young child. Inspired by artists' twelve years later of tuberculosis in Paris, where
exhibitions in Paris as a young girl, she was she spent most of her life and where she was
determined to become a painter. She began first inspired to paint.
studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine
Arts at age seventeen, then in Paris at age twen-
ty-one under the tutelage of Charles Joshua
Chopin.
Her work was accepted in the Salon, the
government-sponsored museum in France,

before she joined the impressionist movement,
or "independents" as she preferred to call
them, upon the invitation of Edgar Degas (see
no. 47). The impressionists were in defiance of

the jury system that selected paintings to be
displayed in the Salon. They also wanted to
elevate their status above the admittance to the
Salon des Refuses, which did not discriminate

against any artists. Cassatt exhibited with the
impressionists in 1879, 1880, 1881, and 1886.
She developed a lifelong friendship with
Degas, who also painted her portrait.
Cassatt's paintings focus on the objective

reality of the subject, mostly women or chil-
dren involved in everyday activities. Capturing
reality through patterns of light and color, she
was influenced by Degas in her precise drawing

and casual arrangement of her subjects. She
began to emphasize line after viewing an exhi-
bition of Japanese prints in 1890. This is evi-
dent in the Bath (1892). Other important

works include The Boating Party (1892?), The
Letter (1893?), and Mother Feeding her Child
(1893?).
Mary Cassatt
She was instrumental in introducing
61
PAUL GAUGUIN
(1848-1903)
55
The French post-impressionist painter classes at the Academic Colarossi. Developing
Eugene Henri Paul Gauguin (go-GAN) was an interest in impressionist art, he became an
born in Paris on June 7, 1848, but moved to avid art collector and made acquaintance with
Lima, Peru, when he was three years old. Camille Pissarro (see no. 44) and Paul Signac
Gauguin lived there until he was seven and was (see no. 60). His first success came in 1876,
greatly influenced by the open, carefree culture when the painting Landscape at Viroflay
of South America. (1875?) was accepted at the Salon, the govern-
He returned to Paris to begin his education, ment-sponsored art gallery. It was impressive
and at seventeen, he joined the merchant for a first attempt.
marines as a navigation cadet, working his way In 1883, Gauguin abandoned his job as
into the navy at age twenty. When he was a stockbroker to devote himself to painting.
twenty-three, he returned to Paris to begin a Due to a lack of income, he was forced to move
career as a stockbroker, and two years later, he toDenmark to live with his in-laws. Leaving
married Mette Sophie Gad. his wife in Denmark, he returned
He took up painting as a hobby, beginning to Paris in 1885. Two years later, he travelled to
Martinique in the West Indies
where he became enamored with
the exotic tropical country. The
trip was influential in moving
Gauguin's style away from impres-
sionism and towards bright color
and primitive art. He painted
Jacob Wrestling with the Angel
(1888) using his new style, termed
synthetism. Synthetism is charac-
terized by large, simplified forms,
abstract shapes, and brilliant col-
ors.
Continuing to travel, he settled

in Tahiti from 1891 to 1893 and
created the painting Aha Oe Feii
(1892). On another stay in Tahiti,

from 1895 to 1901, he painted
Holiday (1896) and Two Tahitian
I
Women (1899), which demon-
^ \
strates his flat planes
drawing of figures.
and abstract
1 He longed for freedom from

^ European constraints in artwork,
and his work characterized that.

His health began to deteriorate,
and he died on May 8, 1903, on
Paul Gauguin
the Marquesas.
62
rn VIHCENT VAN COGH
\}\}^
(1853-1890)
Vincent van Gogh (van-GO), a Dutch post-

impressionist painter, represents the epitome of
emotional spontaneity in painting. The oldest
of six children, born to a Protestant minister in
Groot Zundert, Holland, on March 30, 1853,
he was characterized as a moody, restless, and
temperamental person throughout his life. He
was also articulate and well read, with a wealth
of knowledge that he displayed in his more

than seven hundred letters to his brother Theo.
The letters were published in 1911 and consti-
tute a record of van Gogh's life.
At sixteen, van Gogh was sent to The

Hague, Holland, to work for his uncle, a part-
ner in an international firm of art dealers.

There he studied painting with Anton Mauve.
Failing to appeal to the clients, he was trans-
ferred to the London branch, then sent from

uncle to uncle, until he alienated everj'one
with his preaching on the vulgarity and excess-
Vincent van Gogh
es of the rich. He enrolled in evangelical train-
ing in Belgium, which he soon abandoned to print makers such as Hokusai (1760-1849).
work as a lay preacher among the coal miners Relocating to Paris in 1886, he abandoned
there. At the age of twenty-seven, he found his the bold brush stroke and moralistic realism.
true calling — to be an artist. He adopted brilliant colors to express symbol-
Moving back to Holland, he painted his ism in his scenes of fields, trees, and rustic life,
most famous piece of the period, which kept such as Night Watch (1888) and Starry Night
with his humanitarian views. The Potato Eaters (1889), which he painted in the countryside of
(1885), dark and somber, expressed the misery Aries, France. He had gone to Aries to rest and
and poverty of the people. Van Gogh wrote invited the painter Paul Gauguin (see no. 55)
about the work, "I have tried to emphasize that to join him. It is rumored that the two painters
those people, eating their potatoes in the lamp- argued vehemently, and one evening, van
light, have dug the earth with those very hands Gogh threatened Gauguin with a razor. The
they put in the dish." same night, feeling remorse for his actions, van
That same year, he relocated to Antwerp, Gogh cut off his own ear. The event was com-
Belgium, where he enrolled at the Academy of memorated by van Gogh in Self Portrait with
Art. He entered the drawing class wearing his Bandaged Ear (1889). Van Gogh went to an
signature round fur cap, which would become asylum at St. Remy, France, producing 150
famous in many self-portraits. The teacher felt paintings in one year. His depression became
van Gogh's strokes to be "too heavy," and van more acute, and he shot himself on July 27,
Gogh left academy the second day. While
the 1890, dying two days later. Van Gogh sold
in Antwerp, he was influenced by the works of only one painting in his lifetime, Red Vineyard
Peter Paul Rubens (see no. 22) and by Japanese at Aries {\^m-
63
GEORGES SEURAT
(1859-1891)
51.
Georges Seurat (soo-RAH) originated tlie at the local municipal drawing institute.
scientific technique of pointillism, also known The training prepared him to enter the
as divisionism, one of the techniques in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts four years later, where he
French school of neo-impressionism. In received a rigorous and standardized art train-
pointillism, solid forms are built up through ing. At that time he was influenced by
the application of many small dots of contrast- Rembrandt (see no. 26) and Francisco de Goya
ing color on a white background. (see no. 33).
Combining science and art, Seurat spent his Seurat was interested in discovering an
life studying color theories and the effects of "optical formula" for art. He always drew from
different line structures. He was born on life and stressed the importance of a painting's
December 2, 1859, in Paris. His father, ability to transmit moral views. In 1879, he left
Chrysostome Antoine Seurat, was a legal the Beaux-Arts for mandatory enlistment in
ofFicial, and his mother came from a family the military. He maintained his artistic inter-
of jewelers. ests by drawing in a notebook. His military

Seurat began drawing as a child, and, at experience forced him to look for his subject
age fifteen, he left regular school to enroll matter in the world around him and further
influenced his style of creating large composi-
tions with small dots of color. This is most evi-
dent in his painting Man Leaning on a Parapet

(1881).
He was first accepted to exhibit at the Salon
in 1883 with the dvi^^fmg Aman-Jean (1882?),
but the next year his painting Bathing at
Asnieres (1882?) was refused.
Seurat and several other artists, including
Paul Signac (see no. 60) then founded the
Societe des Artistes Independants in 1884. The
exhibit allowed artists of all calibers to show
their work regularly without the scrutiny of the
jury system. The first show was chaotic, but it
led to the establishment of a permanent resi-
dence for art outside the Salon. Thereafter,

Seurat never submitted work to the Salon.
Seurat's subjects all revolve around a central

figure acting out a role in society, since he felt
felt that people in Paris were posing or per-

forming at living. He is famous for his meticu-
lous attention to detail, and his high reputation

among artists was cemented with his paintings
The Bathers (1884), a scene of boys bathing in
the river, and the world-famous A Sunday

Georges Seurat Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
(1886), representing Sunday strollers.
64
GRANDMA MOSES
(1860-1961)
58
Without formal art training
and largely self-educated,
American painter Anna Mary
Robertson Moses, better known as
Grandma Moses, spent most of

her life as a farmer's wife in
Washington County, New York.

She dropped out of school at age
twelve to work on neighboring

farms. At seventeen, she married
Thomas Moses, and together they
moved to Virginia. The couple
returned to New York in 1905,
and Moses painted her first picture
in 1918, on the fireplace in her
parlor. Two years later, she painted
a picture on the panels of her pull-
out table, which was later to Grandma Moses

become her easel. landscape and the subjects she focused on,
Upon her husband's death in 1927, such as a bridge or an automobile. She pre-
Grandma Moses moved to Vermont, where she ferred to paint from memory.
stayed until 1935, when she again settled in Her work, such as Thanksgiving Turkey
New York. In her seventies, she began to sub- (circa 1943), Sugaring Offi\945), and Out for
stitute painting for embroidery, as it was less the Christmas Tree (1945), began to be repro-
painful to her arthritic condition. Her first duced in postcards, books, and greeting cards
paintings were copies of postcards she received. around the nation. In 1949, President Harry S.
Then in 1938, she began composing original Truman presented her with the Women's
works. A group of her paintings shown in a National Press Club Award for outstanding
drugstore window was noticed by the art col- accomplishments in art. She was also presented
lector Louis Caldor, who succeeded in showing with two honorary doctorates, from Russell
three of her paintings in the show Sage College and Moore Institute of Art. It was
Contemporary Unknown American Painters at not until she was ninety years old that her work
the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City, toured Europe, gaining her an international
in 1939. reputation.
Caldor brought her work to the attention of As a painter, Grandma Moses was a realist
the art dealer Otto Kallir. Kallir gave Grandma who depicted life as she lived and saw it. Her
Moses her first solo exhibition at the Galerie pictures always maintained a positive outlook.
St. Etienne in 1 940, titled WTiat A Farm Wife She once stated that she would not paint any-
Painted. That same year she was awarded the thing she knew nothing about. She wrote her
New York State Prize at the Syracuse Museum memoirs, entitled My Life's History, in 1952.
of Fine Arts for her work The Old Oats Bucket Her one-hundredth birthday was declared
(1939?). Her uniqueness and primitive realistic Grandma Moses Day by then New York
views of life created a relationship between the Governor Nelson Rockefeller.
65
FREDERIC REMINGTON
(1861-1909)
50
American painter, sculptor, and writer in Massachusetts and then Yale in 1878, where
FredericRemington is famous for his depiction he studied art.
of the American West. He was the son The academic study of art did not interest
of Clara Sackrider and Seth Remington, a him, and he began to do journalistic cartoons
newspaper publisher. Remington was born for the Yale newspaper Courant.
in Canton, New York. His father enlisted in He left school and then spent much of his
the Union Army during the Civil War, when time travelling across the United States on
Frederic was only a baby, and returned home a horseback, working as a hired cowboy,
colonel when Remington was four years old. prospecting for gold, and holding other odd
His father's constant tales and exploits always jobs. He recorded the lifestyle in art. He began
fascinated him. submitting his drawings to magazines in 1882,
He began sketching at age ten, and the next when he was accepted by Harper's Weekly,
year, his family moved to Ogdensburg. There which encouraged him to become a pictorial
his interest in drawing increased as he por- historian of the American West.
trayed frontier clashes between the Cavalry and His second picture of the West was not pub-
American Indians. At fourteen, he painted an lished until 1885, and he then moved to New
account of Roman warfare, copied from one of York to establish an art career. Many editors of
his schoolbooks, on a discarded window shade. magazines were reluctant to print pictures of
He attended the Highland Military Academy the Wild West, preferring to give their readers
the impression that the country was a peaceful
respite from city life. Harper's Weekly accepted
a third picture from him in 1886 and ran it on
the cover, the first to appear exclusively as his
own. His other submissions were re-drawn by

a "professional" on staff at the magazine.
He then received recognition by the conser-
vative National Academy of Design with his
work The Courier's Nap on the Trail (1887?).
Remington began to create clay models of his
subjects in 1895. Bronco Buster (1895) demon-
strates his unique technical skill of suspending
figures on slim supports, such as a person on a
horse, which is supported by its hooves. In
1896, he got a job as an artist and correspon-
dent in Cuba with the New York Journal,
owned by William R. Hearst.
Always ambitious, Remington began to
write and published the illustrated books Pony

Tracks, Men with the Bark On, and The Way of
an Indian. Remington received a note from

then-colonel Theodore Roosevelt stating, "You
come closer to the real thing with the pen than
Frederic Remington
any other man in the Western business."
66
PAUL SIGNAC
(1863-1935)
The son of a saddle shop owner,

Paul Signac (SEEN-yock), born on
November 11, 1863, was a leading
figure in the neo-impressionist
school known for the technique
pointillism, also referred to as divi-
sionism. Signac took an early inter-
est in art while visiting the various
art dealers along the avenue on his
way to school. It's been told that
once he was sketching an Edgar
Degas (see no. 47) painting at a
gallery and was thrown out of the
gallery by Paul Gauguin (see no. 55)
for doing so.
Signac's taste was always for

impressionism, which favored bright
colors and painting directly from
nature. To overtly express his views,
he named his boat Manet-Zola-
Wagner for the three most controver-
sial names in art, literature, and
music of the time. In Signac's opin-
ion, an impressionist painter strove to become Paul Signac
a "non-conformist, revolutionary, and make a

virtue out of enjoying life." was the most serious period in his life, and he
In 1884, he met the pointillist painter considered abandoning the fight of the impres-
Georges Seurat (see no. 57), with whom he sionists. Recovering, he married Berthe Robles,
formed a close friendship. He then participat- a relative of the painter Camille Pissarro (see
ed in the founding of the Salon des no. 44). He later published his views of the art
Independants, organized by artists rejected world in the book titled From Delacroix to Neo-
from exhibiting at the official Salon in France. Impressionism (1899).
Signac then developed his own style of By 1900, Signac had adopted the use of
pointillism, described as a juxtaposition of dots small squares of color in painting to produce a
using pure color. The dots created an effect mosaic effect, best depicted in the work View
similar to that produced by the refraction of of Port Marseilles (1905). From 1908 to 1934,
light through a prism or a rainbow, lending his he went on to become president of the Salon
paintings the impression of glittering sunlight. des Independants and exhibited the works of
He depicted nature and landscapes, most cubist artists and controversial fauves, a term
notably river scenes, and his most famous work meaning "wild beast" and applied for the
is Port St. Tropez {1889). fauves' use of bright colors.
Seurat's death in 1891 was a severe shock to Signac's life was spent opposing convention-
Signac, who thought of Seurat as a mentor. It al rules. He died on August 15, 1935.
67
EDVARD MUNCH
(1863-1944)
61
studied under Christian Krohg. He was
then awarded a state grant to study in
Paris when he was twenty-two years
old. While in France, he was influenced
by impressionist works, especially those
of Paul Gauguin (see no. 55) and Henri
de Toulouse-Lautrec (see no. 62). At
that time, Munch became associated
with a new lifestyle, labeled as bohemi-
an. In 1892, Munch was invited to
exhibit at the Union of Berlin Artists
in Germany. The exhibit opened and
closed within a week, due to the con-
troversy created by the violent emotion
depicted in Munch's work. The
"Munch Affair" was debated in the
press and further raised unanswered
questions about artistic freedom of
expression.
Simultaneously, he painted stage sets
for several of Ibsen's (1828-1906)
plays. Henrik Ibsen was among the sev-
eral writers included in Munch's circle
of friends. Between 1892 and 1908,

Mimch travelled frequently between
Edvard Munch
Paris and Berlin. He continued to paint
frantically, and he also began to make
At the age of seventeen, Edvard Munch prints using etching and woodcuts, showing
(MOONK) began to paint pictures to express the anxiety of human existence.
his personal grief after the death of his mother The emotional power of his works made
and older sister from tuberculosis. His father him one of the most noted figures in the early
and brother also died when he was young, and development of modern art. His most celebrat-
another sister was institutionalized in a psychi- ed painting, the world-famous The Scream or
atric hospital. He resolved to paint the states of The Cry (1893), is typical of the expression of
mind of "living people who breathe and feel isolation and fear included in his works.
and suffer and love." The spectacle of death Pessimistic in his portrayal of misery, illness,
was a principal theme in his work, such as The and death, such as in the works Dead Life
Sick Child (1886) and 77?^ Death Chamber (1900) and Dead Mother (1900), Munch chal-
(1892). lenged conventional views of life and death by

Born on December 12, 1863 in Loten, invoking a sense of passion in natural causes.
Norway, Munch showed an aptitude for draw- He spent his last years in solitude, painting in
He attended the School of
ing at an early age. a more colorful and less pessimistic manner
Art and Handcraft in Oslo, Norway, where he with an increased interest in nature.
68
HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC
(1864-1901)
62
Known in his family as the "Uttle treasure" figure is all that counts." He lived enthusiasti-
because of his spirited nature, Henri de cally in the Montmarte section of Paris. There
Toulouse-Lautrec (too-LOOSE-low-TREK) he would visit cafes, dance halls, cabarets, and
was energetic and passionate about life, even the theater, sketching his surroundings, then
aficer two accidents crippled him for life. A expanding them into bright color paintings. It
fall on a polished floor when he was fourteen was also at this time that he was inspired by the
years old caused him to break a leg, while a fall art of James Whistler (see no. 46), and he was
in a ditch in 1879 caused him to break his taught by Edgar Degas (see no. 47) to paint "as
other leg. The falls left his legs weak, and they if he were looking through the keyhole," so
stopped growing. As an adult, he was only four that the model appeared unaware of the pres-
and a half feet tall. Born on November 24, ence of the artist. His passion for the eccentric
1864, in Albi, France, Henri-Marie-Raymond and ostentatious led him to drink heavily,
de Toulouse-Lautrec came from a family that which eventually affected his health. In 1891,
claimed descent from nobility, but the story he produced the first of many posters. La
was a myth. Toulouse-Lautrec's mother, Adele Goulue at the Moulin Rouge, demonstrating
Tapie de Celeyran, was first cousin to his his affection for flamboyant scenes. Since his
father, Count Alphonese, as he called himself death on September 9, 1901, the collection
His father was a gambler and flirt with a pas- of Moulin Rouge posters have been in
sion for colorful and flamboyant clothing, high demand.

whom Toulouse-Lautrec depicted in an unflat-
tering way in many portraits.
In addition to his short stature, Toulouse-

Lautrec was also inflicted with a speech imped-
iment, which made him pronounce the "s"
sound like a "t" sound. Although he had some

physical challenges, he made caricatures of
himself in a humorous way.
His earliest memory of drawing was at age
three, when he signed the register at a christen-
ing in a church with a picture of an ox. At age

sixteen, he began to draw seriously, especially
horses and everything associated with them.

He possessed a natural skill to depict move-
ment. His family encouraged his artistic pur-
suit and engaged a family friend to instruct
him. In 1882, after the divorce of his parents,
he went to live with his mother in Paris and

became a student of Leon Bonnat, who was an
accredited portrait painter of statesmen and
philosophers.
Interested in painting the artificial, orna-
mental, and the spectacular, he had an aversion
to painting landscapes, stating that "the human Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
69
CAMILLE CLAUDEL
(1864-1943)
03
49), who was forty years old at the
time. Exhibiting natural talent, she
eventually became a collaborator of
Rodin and assisted him in a variety
of projects, including the famous

Gates ofHell (1880). Soon after, she
became his mistress. Her work was
intertwined with his, concentrating
on busts and naked figure groups in
contorted poses. Demonstrating

her lyrical and sensitive style, she
also continued to do her own work,
including a famous bronze statue
Young Girl with a Sheaf (1890).
Continuing to live with her par-
ents, who disapproved of her rela-
tionship with Rodin, she eventual-

ly moved to her own apartment in
1888, near Rodin's studio. Four

years later, her relationship with
him began to deteriorate. Having
contributed whole figures and parts
of figures to Rodin's projects, she
felt used by him — especially as his
reputation grew and she remained

relatively obscure.
From 1892 on, she worked on

her own and refused to exhibit her
work with Rodin. Although she
Camille Claudel
exhibited at reputable showings, such as the
Camille Claudel (cloe-DELL) began to Salon des Independants and Salon d'Automne,
work with clay as a child, although nothing in her work did not sell. She was also known to
her history indicated an artistic background. destroy sculptures she produced, outraged by
She was born at Fere-en-tardenuis on Rodin's supposed injustice to her.
December 8, 1864, to parents who did little to At age fort\'-nine, she was committed to the
encourage and support one another or their first of several psychiatric hospitals, and she
children. Apparently, according to her brother remained a psychiatric patient for many years
Paul Claudel (1868-1955), who was later to until her death. Her letters to her brother are a
become a famous writer, "Everyone always testament to her disappointments in life. Her
fought in the family." work remained obscure until it had a resur-
Educated at the Colarossi Academy in Paris, gence during the 1970s and 1980s, and her
Claudel began her career as a sculptor at age story was immortalized in the film Camille
twenty, apprenticed to Auguste Rodin (see no. Claudel (1988).
70
ALFRED STIEGLITZ
(1864-1946)
64,
All his life, American photographer Alfred zine Camera Work, published from 1903 until
Stieglitz (STEEG-lits) took pride in doing 1917. The group also opened their own gallery,
things his own way, ignoring rules he consid- officially named Little Galleries of the Photo
ered to be unreasonable and inventing ones Secession. Due to its location at 291 Fifth
that suited him. Born on January 1, 1864, he Avenue in New York City, it came to be called
was the oldest of six children of Edward 291. He used the gallery to introduce to the
Stieglitz, an immigrant to New York City from public the works of European and American
Germany, who made a living as a wool mer- artists, such as Pablo Picasso (see no. 71) and
chant. Georgia O'Keefiê (see no. 81). Stieglitz mar-
In 1881, his father retired and the family ried O'Keeffe in 1924 and created a series of
moved to Germany where Stieglitz enrolled at photographs of her; they are considered his
the Berlin Polytechnic Institute. He first stud- greatest works.
ied mechanical engineering but shifted to pho- Gallery 291 closed in 1917, but Stieglitz
tography and chemistry, which interested him opened two other galleries between 1925
more. and 1929. Stieglitz was the first to exhibit
Stieglitz returned to the United States when photographs in major museums across the
he was twenty-six years old and went to work United States and the first to make photogra-
at the Helichrome Engraving Company, a phy recognized as an art form. He died on
photo engraving firm. Maintaining an interest July 13, 1946.
in photography, he edited the magazine
American Amateur Photographer horn 1891 to
1896, and he was the editor of the magazine

Camera Notes from 1897 to 1902.
Stieglitz's photographs are characterized by
their candor and realism, lending an element
of purity and simplicity. Stieglitz never defined
his work other than through pure technical
explanations, such as the use of lighting, allow-
ing the viewer to draw a personal conclusion
on the subject matter and the feelings por-
trayed. Venetian Boy (1887), a picture of a ten-

year-old street urchin, communicates the
capacity for humankind to sustain suffering
and still remain beautiftil.
His other famous photographs include The

Terminal (1892), which shows a conductor of
a horse-drawn streetcar taking a rest, and Night
(1896), described by him as an attempt to
make a clear picture of a dark street.
In 1902, along with Edward Steichen
(1879-1973), Stieglitz founded the Photo
Alfred Stieglitz
Secession, an organization of pictorial
photographers. The group produced the maga-
71
ROBERT HENRI
(1865-1929)
65
Robert Henry Cozad, better known as family adopted separate last names and Henri
Robert Henri, was the mentor of the group of was passed off as a foster child. The family was
painters known as the Eight, or the Ashcan forced to live as fugitives after Henri's father
School. Founded in 1908, Henri and his col- killed a man in self-defense.
leagues broke with academic tradition and After attending the Pennsylvania Academy
conservative standards to paint American life of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, he left for Paris in
with dramatic realism. He was born on June 1888 to attend the Academic Julian and the
24, 1865, in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a boy, his Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the official art academy.
Returning to the United States in
1900, he began a long career as a
teacher, first at the New York
School of Art until 1909, then at
his private school in New York

until 1915, when he began to
teach at the Art Students League.
Among his students were George
Bellows (see no. 73) and Edward
Hopper (see no. 75).
Henri taught that any subject

taken from life was suitable to
paint. A compilation of his lec-
tures, entitled The Art Spirit, was

published in 1923. Renowned for
his dark colors and broad brush
strokes, Henri and his colleagues
took as their subject matter slum

areas, low-class restaurants, work-
ing-class people, littered streets,
and similar scenes, which earned

them the name Ashcan School.
Henri's most celebrated works
are Laughing Boy (1907), Young
Woman in Black (1907), and
Portrait of Mrs. Robert Henri
(1911).
In 1910, he organized the
Independent Artist Exhibition. It
did not have a jury of panelists

deciding which artists were suit-
able to exhibit there. The show

championed the cause of indepen-
dent artists and established a new
Robert Henri
liberal position on art.
72
WASSILY KAKDINSKY
(1866-1944)
As an artist and a theorist, Russian painter ernment shut down the Bauhaus as a perpetra-
Wassily Kandinsky played an important role in tor of "degenerate" thought, Kandinsky met
the development of abstract art. He used spon- the artist Joan Miro (see no. 84), who fiirther
taneous shapes and squiggles to symbolize influenced his work. Composition VIII No. 260
ideas and intangible states of thought. After (1923) exemplifies his ideas with a composi-
visiting a French impressionist exhibit, where tion of lines, circles, arcs, and simple geometric
he viewed the works of Claude Monet (see no. forms. Swinging (1925) depicts colored shapes
50), Kandinsky decided to pursue a career as arranged on a canvas to suggest movement,
an artist. Born Moscow on December
in 4, while the colors create a sense of space in the
1866, he was nearly thirty years old when he painting.
left an academic law career to study drawing, Kandinsky painted until his death in Paris
sketching, and anatomy Germany under

in on December 13, 1944. He is classified as one
Anton Azbe and at the Munich Academy with of the first explorers of non-representational,
Franz von Stuck. abstract art. The majority' of his art was pur-
Learning to play the piano and cello as a chased by collector Solomon Guggenheim,
child influenced his paintings later on, includ- who exhibited the paintings in his New York
ing the titles he gave to his works. Kandinsky's art museum.
art was more abstract than the art pioneered by
the impressionists. Kandinsky's painting made
no references to real objects. Demonstrating
great talent early on, he began to exhibit
throughout Europe, defining his form of art
both on canvas and in writing. Kandinsk}' trav-

elled widely from 1900 to 1910. He came in
contact with the art of Paul Gauguin (see no.

55), neo-impressionist paintings, and the
paintings of les fauves artists, who were known
for their use of brilliant colors.
In 1911, Kandinsk\' formed the group
known as The Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter)
with other expressionist artists including Franz

Marc and Paul Klee (see a^. 70). The group
produced art that was characterized by com-
plex patterns and brilliant colors, especially
blue. In 1912, Kandinsky published

Concerning the Spiritual in Art, the first theo-
retical views on abstract art. Forever inventing
new forms of geometric shapes, Kandinsky was
invited to teach in Moscow from 1918
to 1921 and later at the famed Bauhaus School
of Art in Dessau, Germany, from 1922
to 1933.
Wassily Kandinsky
Relocating to Paris after the German gov-
73
CUTZON BORCLUM
(1867-1941)
6]
Gurzon de la Mothe Borglum was a man of discovered by a local art collector who pur-
great imagination. An American sculptor, he chased his work, allowing him the opportunity
was known for his political statues carved into to travel to Paris and study at the Ecole des
natural rock formations. Beaux-Arts. His break came in 1891, when a
Born in Bear Lake, Idaho, and raised in delivery man mistakenly brought a bronze stat-
Nebraska, Borglum attempted on several occa- ue of his. Death of the Chief, to the Salon, the
sions to write his autobiography, but he never government-sponsored art gallery, and it was
completed the project. The main point stressed immediately accepted. The honor allowed him
in his notes was possessing the courage to be the opportunity to meet the sculptor Auguste
oneself without the need for popular approval. Rodin (see no. 49).
Appropriately, his middle name, de la Mothe, In 1916, Borglum was commissioned by a

means "the one with courage" in French. group of Southern women to execute an image
As a child, education was stressed in the of General Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) for the
house, and Borglum was sent to St. Mary's face of Stone Mountain in Georgia. While the
College in Kansas, where he learned to draw. women had planned for an isolated figure, he
After he completed school, the family moved envisioned a full regalia of figures. Dissension
to California, where Borglum went to work as soon occurred as expenses grew; he destroyed
a lithographer, learning to engrave and design the models, and the state of Georgia filed a
on stone. lawsuit. Borglum won the case, but he was dis-
After painting Stage Coach (1887?), noted missed from the project.
for its realism and detail of expression, he was In 1927, he was commissioned by the
United States government to execute his most
famous work, the Mount Rushmore sculpture
in South Dakota. He choose the four presi-
dents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt,
for their ideas on American land expansionism
and political development of the country.
Carved into the mountain 500 feet (152 m)
above the ground, each head is 70 feet (21 m)
high. The massive heads were carved with
dynamite and jackhammers. Borglum's ability
to create sculptures on a grand scale defined
him as an engineer as well as an artist, making

his contributions a combination of technical
and artistic mastery. He dedicated the last four-
teen years of his life to carving Mount
Rushmore. Upon his death, his son Lincoln
completed the project. The work cost over one
million dollars to complete. Other large scale
works of Borglum's include The Mares of
Diomedes' and the head o( Abraham Lincoln in
Gutzon Borglum
the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
74
"
HENRI MATISSE
(1869-1954)
French painter, sculptor, and lithographer

Henri Emile Benoit Matisse (mah-TEESE)
was regarded as a master in the use of color and
form to convey emotion. He was born
on December 31, 1869, to a middle-class fam-
ily in the industrial town of Le Cateau-

Cambresis, France. At age eighteen, he was
sent to Paris to study law. Two years later,
suffering from an attack of appendicitis, he

began to paint to pass the time while recover-
ing. Reading a how-to-paint book by Frederic
Goupil, Matisse later enrolled in a local draw-
ing class, continuing to work at a law office.
Realizing that his double life was intolerable,
Matisse quit law and went to Paris to enroll

in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he was first
taught by Adolphe Bouguereau and then

Gustave Moreau (see no. 42). Matisse began to
methodically copy art from the masters he saw
Henri Matisse
at the Louvre museum, following exact detail
without adding any personal st\'le. Not until dimensional aspect of the figure.
he was rvvent)'-seven years old did he really His success grew among foreign patrons,
begin to paint, after discovering some of the including writer Gertrude Stein. He broke
more radical artists of the time. with les fauves in 1907 and never belonged
When Matisse was thirty, Moreau had died, to another identifiable movement. A year later,
and Matisse began to experiment with impres- he opened his own art school in France, which
sionism. His new instructor, Eugene Carriere, he operated for three years. In 1913,
did not approve of Matisse's new style. His first he was accepted to exhibit at the New York
painting incorporating bright colors. Still Life Armory Show, which introduced European art
Against the Light of 1899 (1899), was met with to the American public. In New York, people
controversy at the school. were surprised to meet him, expecting an ill-
Developing the use of color to depict struc- dressed, uneducated man, judging from his
ture, the public first viewed Matisse's work at paintings.
the 1905 Salon d'Automne. The After World War I, he began to design
portrait of his wife. Woman with the Hat sets for Sergei Diaghilev's ballets. Other exper-
(1905?), was abused by critics for its "formless iments in art included illustrations for books,
confusion of colors. "
Matisse and others such as Poesies de Stephen Mallarme (\9 32) and
using that style were labeled les fauves, a series of works using shapes cut from bright-
French for "wild beast. ly colored paper.
Matisse travelled to Africa the year after the He continued to paint into old age,
show and was the first to incorporate its cul- producing Egyptian Curtain (1948) and
ture and landscape into art. The painting Blue Large Lnterior in Red (1949?). Matisse died
Nude (1906) emphasizes his use of the three on November 3, 1954.
75
GEORGES ROUAULT
(1871-1958)
human conditions of immorality and redemp-

tion. At this time, he formed a friendship with
the Catholic writer Leon Bloy, who heavily
influenced his work. In 1903, 1904, and 1905,
he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne with rep-
resentations of clowns, circus people, and street
people. The public rejected the dark mood and

tone of his works, which reflected anger and
sadness for the plight of humanity.
At thirty-nine, he had his first solo show
at the Galerie Druet in Paris, which succeeded
in attracting the interest of the critics. On his
way to fame, he met the art dealer and pub-

lisher Ambroise VoUard, with whom he signed
a contract in 1917, allowing VoUard to pur-
chase all his unfinished work. Among the
paintings executed during this period were The
Old Clown (1917) and The Lovely Madame X
(1915), which was a satire on the indifference
of the upper class to World War I. Rouault also
Georges Rouault created prints, the most notable collection
being Misere (1914).
Widely exhibited and highly respected in After Vollard's death, Rouault was tied to
his Hfetime, Georges Henri Rouauk (roo-OH) legal battles to recover over eight hundred
was a French painter devoted to depicting reh- unfinished paintings. He retrieved most of
gious themes. The son of a cabinet maker, them and burned 315 that he felt he would not
Rouault was born on May 27, 1871, in a cellar be able to finish or did not want to finish.
shelter during an artillery shelling of Paris at Around 1928, he heralded a new painting
the time of the Commune Revolt. Rouault style likened to stained glass windows. The
began an artistic career at age fourteen, when paintings demonstrating this style are Christ
he was apprenticed to a maker of stained glass. Mocked by Soldiers ( 1 932) and Head of Christ
A profound love for art manifested itself in (1938). Rouault did not travel until 1948,
him. When sent on errands, he would save the when he made his first trip to Italy. Although
bus fare to buy paint. he did not show his work while employed by
At age ninteen, he entered the Ecole des Vollard, he did publish articles and poetry
Beaux-Arts school of art and studied under under the title Souvenirs Intimes.
Gustave Moreau (see no. 42), later forming In 1951, he was designated Commander of
part of les fauve group, meaning "wild beasts" the Legion of Honor, a society of acclaimed
for their use of vibrant colors. He left the artists officially recognized by the state. Two
school five years later after two unsuccessful years later. Pope Pius XII appointed him a
attempts to win the Prix de Rome competition. papal knight. Upon his death, Rouault was
The death of Moreau left him depressed. given a state funeral, the first ever given to an
Rouault began to paint subjects concerning the artist by the French government.
76
PAUL KLEE
(1879-1940)
70
Belonging to no specific art movement,
Paul Klee, a Swiss painter and watercolorist
who was known for fantastic dream images and
use of color, was an individualist, remaining
aloof from all artistic alliances. The landscape
that surrounded him as a youth provided a nat-
ural medieval flair that allowed him to com-
bine the grotesque and the fairy tale in his art,
which he labeled with fantastic poetic titles,
such as Two Men Meet, Each Believing the
Other Be ofHigher Rank A 903).

to
Klee was born on December 18, 1879, near

Bern, Switzerland. His parents were musicians
who instilled in him a love of music. An
accomplished violinist, Klee linked music to
art. At nineteen years of age, he moved to
Munich, Germany, where he studied at the
Munich Academy and apprenticed with the
painter Franz von Stuck. At that time, he made
his first trip to Italy. When Klee was thirry-two
years old, he met members of The Blue Rider
(Der Blaue Reiter) group, established by
Kandinsky (see no. GG) as a rebellion against
Paul Klee
impressionism and a promotion of abstract art.
Klee exhibited with The Blue Rider group in
their second showing, even though he never squares entitled Red and White Domes (1914).
became an official member. Klee believed that "art does not reproduce
His earliest works were pencil landscapes the visible, rather it makes the visible," because
that showed the influence of impressionism. he considered the process of forming more sig-
Klee was a master draftsman, and he did many nificant than the final form. He taught at the
elaborate line drawings using dream imagery as Bauhaus School from 1920 to 1931 and pub-
subject matter. He described his technique in lished an essay on art theory in 1925. In 1931,
the drawings as "taking a line for a walk." He he began teaching at the Dusseldorf Academy
incorporated letters and numbers into his but was soon dismissed by the Nazis, who said
work; they were used to create a medium his art was "degenerate."
between the abstract and real, as in Once In 1933, he returned to Switzerland and
Emerged from the Gray ofNight (1918). developed a crippling skin disease known as
A trip to Tunisia, Africa, in 1914 moved scleroderma. During this time, his subject mat-
him toward using color and marked the begin- ter grew increasingly gloomy. His last painting,
ning of his ftiUy mature style, in which he Still Life (1940), is a summation of his lifelong
declared himself "a true painter . . . possessed concern as an artist, that "the objective world
by color." The piece that commemorates this surrounding us is not the only one possible;
period in his art was a composition of colored there are others latent."
77
(1881-1973)
II
termed for the melancholy subject matter and
cool blue tones. Blindness was a characteristic
depicted in most of his subjects of this time,
denoting a inner vision, such as in The Old
Guitarist (1903).
Following this was the Rose Period, named
for the pink shades. The subjects during this
period were dancers, acrobats, and harlequins.
The break from lyrical painting occurred in
1 906, when Picasso was influenced by African
art, as seen in Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907).
The painting shocked the public with its stark,
primitive exposure of the female form, distort-

ed into geometric shapes, later termed cubism.
Cubism attempted to interpret a three-dimen-
sional world on a two-dimensional canvas by
destroying the continuity of the surface and

reducing the subject to sharp-edged planes.
Pablo Picasso
Multiple views of any given object, musical
One of the most prolific artists in history, instruments being his favorite, were superim-
the Spanish painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso posed to present the idea of the structure of the
created more than twenty thousand works in object and its position in space. Picasso's most
his lifetime. Born on October 25, 1881, in famous cubist paintings were Head ofa Woman
Malaga, Spain, Picasso was the son of an art ( 1 909) and 77;^ Three Musicians (1921).
teacher, Jose Ruiz Blasco. Picasso was first Continuing to test the art world, he created
taught to paint by his father. the art form known as collage when he pasted
The diversity of Picasso's art, which art his- an oilcloth to the painting Still Life with
torians divide into periods, prompted the Chair — Caning (1912). Picasso applied the
remark by writer Georges Dessaignes, principle of cubism to sculpture, as in
"Nothing that anyone can say about Picasso is Mandolin and Clarinet (1914). The work
correct." Picasso's first painting, Picador, was dating from 1918 to 1925, developing the
completed when he was eight years old and cubist technique, was later termed the Classical
depicted a bullfight. His genius lies in the fact Period.
that he experimented with every medium of Experiencing personal turmoil, his mood
art. In his own words, "The whole world is coincided with the outbreak of the Spanish
open before us, everything waiting to be done." Civil War, moving him to paint Guernica
By age nineteen, Picasso was dividing his (1937). A grim portrayal of the horrors of war,
time between France and Spain, working in the painting displays a complexity of symbol-
different styles of painting until his develop- ism to express his feelings. In 1971, this large
ment of cubism, in collaboration with Georges work was exhibited at the Louvre museum in
Braque (see no. 74). Depicting beggars and the Paris, making Picasso the only living artist to
bohemian street life of Paris, Picasso's Blue show there. He died on April 8, 1973 in
Period, dating from 1901 to 1904, was so Mougins, France.
78
UMBERTO BOCCIONI
(1882-1916)
11
An Italian painter and sculptor who was a people living in it.
leader of the futurist movement, Umberto After 1911, he was introduced to cubism,
Boccioni (botch-ee-OWN-ee) wrote the influencing his later work. Three years later, he
Technical Manifesto of Futuristic Painting published his book Futuristic Paintings and
(1910), urging artists to abandon the con- Sculptures {Pittura-scultura futurista). In 1912,
straints of enclosed space and adopt technolog- he advocated the use of a motor to create
ical civilization. Born in Calabria, Italy, movement in the planes and lines of his sculp-
on October 19, 1882, he visited Rome when tures. Examples of this are State ofMind (1911)
he was sixteen years old, where he began study- and Forces of a Street (1911).
ing art with Giacomo Balla, who turned his Continuously adding to the forms and
style toward neo-impressionism. Balla encour- styles of art that he was introduced to,
aged him to venture into new art media and Boccioni incorporated glass and cement into
introduced him to the color theories applied by his sculptures, breaking away from traditional
the neo-impressionists. material. The importance he placed in the
After visiting France and Russia, Boccioni combination of material and the space around
settled in Milan, Italy, in 1908, where he was an object is exemplified in his piece
employed as a commercial artist. It was at Development of a Bottle in Space (1912). In
this time that he met the writer Filippo 1915, he volunteered for military service
Tommaso Marinetti, author oi Foundation and in World War I, and in 1916, while
Manifesto of Futurism, who demanded that recovering from a wound, he was killed in a
new art should be based on the dynamic ele- riding accident.

ment of life, namely speed. Following
Marinetti's belief that Italian culture was
burdened by a past that prohibited progress,
Boccioni joined the group of futurist painters
and became an ardent speaker for the group.
He also became a principal theorist in mobile

sculptures to create a sense of movement,
believing that artists should express the vitalit)'
of industrialization in their work.

As with most futurist painters, the continu-
ous movement of planes in space was an obses-

sion with Boccioni. His revolutionarv' vision of
art was best paraphrased by his comment, "Let
us open the figure like a window and include
in it the milieu in which it lives." In painting,
Boccioni would distort forms into a spectrum
of colors to create a link between space and
solid objects. He labeled the sense of action in
painting and sculpture "dynamic abstraction."
His first major futuristic work was The Citj'
Rises (1909), which demonstrated the growth

of- the modern industrial citv and the Umberto Boccioni
79
GEORGE BELLOlMfS
n (1882-1925)
to attract public attention with his
paintings on the sport of boxing,

including A Knockout and Club Night
(1907), which incorporated his past
desire to have excelled in sports into his
art. Two years later, he painted Stag
Night at Sharkey's (1909), which was
described as having a revolutionary style
incorporating liquidity of movement.
Despite his identification with The
Eight, and partly for his accomplished
landscape paintings, he was elected an
associate of the National Academy at
age twenty-seven, becoming the
youngest artist to receive the recogni-
tion. Four years later, he was elected a
full member. His paintings had univer-
sal appeal to a mass public, as he was
also fascinated by the spectacle of people
and buildings in the ciry. In 1913, he
was one of the American artists repre-
sented at the New York Armory Show,

which introduced European art to
George Bellows Americans.
At twenry-eight years of age, he mar-
American realist painter George Wesley ried and began a teaching career at the
Bellows distinguished himself as an artist in his Art Students League in New York City.
youth. Born in Columbus, Ohio, on August Branching out to lithography in 1916, he
19, 1882, he received his first instruction in art made over two hundred prints of various city
at Ohio State University, where he also con- scenes, literary illustrations, and satirical com-
tributed cartoons to the student paper. Before mentaries. Disturbed by the events of World
graduating in 1904, he left the university to War I, he recorded his emotions in a series of
enroll at the New York School of Art. Taught prints which were often compared to the work
by the painter Robert Henri (see no. 65), he of the artist Francisco de Goya (see no. 33),
began to paint scenes of poverty and destitu- due to Bellows's technique that applied a geo-
tion, entirely new to American art at the time. metric system of quantifying the relationship
He became determined to create art based of color.
on the unique character of life in the United By 1919, he was teaching at the Chicago
States. Although associated with the group Art Institute and completing illustrations for
known as The Eight, or Ashcan School, which novels by author H. G. Wells. Representing
was headed by Henri, Bellows maintained both the avant-garde and the classical tradition
independence in his art by using references to in his paintings, he was revered for his innova-
the classics in his work. By 1907, he had begun tive style and subject matter.
80
GEORGES BRAQUE
n (1882-1963)
Following in his father's profession, Georges

Braque (BROCK), born on May 13, 1882,
apprenticed himself to the house-painting and
decorating business at age seventeen. Raised in
the French seaport town of Le Havre on the
English Channel, he always had an affinity for
the landscape. Working for his father and other
local decorators, he gained an understanding of
materials, craftsmanship, and decorative
effects. Moving to Paris at eighteen, he enrolled
in evening art classes, but continued to work as
a decorator, still not convinced that he could

become a professional painter. He experiment-
ed with several art schools and visited the
Louvre museum often to view the works of the
masters.
After seeing a series of exhibits by the
painter Paul Cezanne (see no. 48), Braque
established a studio for himself and began to
paint seriously. In 1906, he showed his first
paintings at the Salon des Independants, fol-

lowing the les fauve st)de of vibrant colors. He
later destroyed all of these paintings. He met
Georges Braque
the artist Pablo Picasso (see no. 71), and they
began their interpretation of nature through
"c)'linders, spheres, and cones." Art historians es and created fifty-seven of these collages,
consider this to be the origin of cubist paint- including Still Life on a Table: Gillette (1914)
ings. Two of Braque's best-known works of this and The Violin (1914).
period are House at L'Estaque (1908) and Road Drafted into the French army in 1914, he
Near L'Estaque (1908). In 1908, a critic pub- served for three years and received a severe
lished an article in the magazine Gil Bias accus- head wound. Upon his return to Paris, his
ing Braque of "reducing everything to little partnership with Picasso had ended, and he
cubes." Braque and Picasso, who were now col- adopted a more sensuous style. Braque did not
laborating in art, were concerned with creating have his major retrospective exhibit until 1933,
a "tactile space" that is essentially the use of a in Basel, Switzerland.
two-dimensional picture surface as opposed to After World War II, he took an interest in
the illusion of three-dimensional objects. Eastern mysticism, especially Zen Buddhism.

Braque's most famous painting during his His later paintings suggest a quest for the spir-
time with Picasso was Violin and Candlestick itual, and images of birds in flight dominated
(1910). Although his work was controversial, it his works in the 1950s and 1960s. Braque pro-
received international acclaim. In 1912, he and duced sculptures, graphics, book illustrations,
Picasso invented the collage style of art. Braque and decorative art. He continued to work until
pasted strips of wallpaper onto painted canvas- his death on August 31- 1963.
81
EDIMTARD HOPPER
15. (1882-1967)
With a wide reputation as the artist once, at the 1913 Armory Show in New York,
who painted the loneHness and boredom of which presented "modern art" from Europe
city life, Edward Hopper is revered as the epit- and the United States. He did not paint seri-
ome of American realist painters. Embarking ously again until he was forty-one years old.
on a artistic career in New York, where he was He married Josephine Nivison, an artist in
born on July 22, 1882, he studied illustration her own right, in 1924. In one of her shows,
in a commercial art school at age seventeen. she exhibited some of his works, including
Two years later, he switched to painting and House by the Railroad (1925), which helped
enrolled at the New York School of Art, taught further his career. It was during this time that
by Robert Henri (see no. 65). Between 1906 he stated, "I don't think I ever tried to paint the
and 1910, he made four trips to Europe, which American scene; I'm trying to paint myself"
exposed him to different art styles but did not His paintings had a composition style based on
influence his own. simple geometric forms, flat masses of color,
On his return to the United States, he aban- and the use of architectural elements to create
doned painting to continue a career as blunt shapes and angles.
a commercial illustrator. He exhibited only The figures in his works were all isolated,
anonymous, and non-communicative, as
portrayed best in the famous Nighthawks

(1942). The painting shows an all-night
cafe, where the few customers are illumi-
nated by the eerie glare of electric lights.
Hopper's sense of loneliness was root-

ed in his presentation of familiar city
scenes and concrete subjects, such as bar-
ren apartments, lunch counters, and city
streets. In landscapes, he depicted
America as an alienating and vacuous
space. The figures in all his works appear
despairing and alone. He earned wide-
spread recognition for providing visual
form to the emotions of the big city.
Considered revolutionary in art, he char-

acterized the sense of human hopeless-
ness, also indicative of the time of the
Great Depression of the 1 930s. Among
his works of that time were Room in
Brooklyn ( 1 932) and Cape Cod Evening

(1939).
Hopper's style was influential in the
development of pop art later. His style
and subject matter, characterized by

melancholy, remained unchanged
Edward Hopper throughout his life.
82
m
IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM
n (1883-1976)
An American photographer best known for photograph the objects around her. Plant
her realistic portraits and closeups of flowers forms and flowers were the most accessible
and plants, Imogen Cunningham began taking subjects, especially since she also had a passion
pictures in 1906 with a small-format camera for gardening. Joining an association of West
acquired from a mail-order correspondence Coast photographers known as Group f64,
school. who rejected the popular sentimental photog-
She was the daughter of Isaac and Susan raphy of the time, she began to show her work
Cunningham of Portland, Oregon. The family in museums throughout California. Her pho-
moved to Seattle, Washington, when Imogen tographs were famous for their sharp focus,
was six years old. She entered the University of such as Two Callas (1929).
Washington in 1903, majoring in chemistry. Divorced in 1934, she changed her style
After viewing a photography exhibit of to documentary street photography and soon
Gertrude Kasebier, she wrote a thesis on The began to take pictures with a 35mm camera.
Scientific Development of Photography and Included in exhibitions around the world,
decided to pursue a career in photography. she traveled extensively to Europe. Upon her
After working in a portrait studio, learning to return to the United States, she supplemented
retouch negatives and print with platinum her art career by taking teaching positions peri-
paper, she traveled to Dresden, Germany, to odically at the San Francisco Art Institute.
study photographic chemistry. At twenty- Recognized internationally, she was also fea-
seven, she published her research on substitut- tured in the film Two Photographers by Fred
ing lead salts for platinum in photographic Padula in 1966, and ten years later, she was
print paper. The publication was followed by a profiled in a documentary by CBS television.
thesis entitled Photography as a Profession for

Women.
Amazingly active, she had her
first solo exhibition in 1914 at
the Brooklyn Institute of Arts

and Sciences in New York, show-
ing works such as Marsh at Dawn
(1901), which imitated the acad-
emic painting of romanticism,
and the allegorical prints entitled
The Woods Beyond the World

(1912). The next year, she mar-
ried Roi Partridge, a photograph-
er in his own right, with whom
she had three sons. The couple
settled in the San Francisco Bay
area of California, where she
began a commercial portrait
business in 1921. Being a mother
confined her to the house much Imogen Cunninghajn
of the time, and she began to
83
MAX BECKMANN
7] (1884-1950)
German expressionist painter and print- where he received a traditional art training, he
maker Max Beckmann, born on February 12, won a scholarship to study in Paris at age nine-
1884, was famous for his pessimistic portrayal teen. After a few weeks at the Paris Academy,
of society and catastrophic events, such as the he left, claiming, "What they do there, I
The son of
sinking of the ship Titanic in 1912. already know." He walked the entire way from
a prosperous flour business owner, Beckmann Paris to Berlin in order to "see things," he said.
entered the Art Academy at Dresden, Not long after his arrival, he married Minna
Germany, at age fifteen.He was expelled soon Tube, a student at the Weimar Academy,
after for exhibiting too much independence in whom he had met at a costume ball. Soon after
his work. Entering the Weimar Academy, the wedding, his mother died of cancer, which
had a profound effect upon him and turned his
work toward a depiction of pain and tragedy.
That year, 1906, he painted the Great Death
Scene to exorcise the shock of his mother's
death. His art was now achieving great success,
and in 1910, he was placed on the executive
board of the renowned art group Berlin
Secession. The office was normally reserved for
artists twice his age. Beckmann resigned a year

later to devote more time to his painting.
At thirty years of age, he enlisted in the
medical corps of the German army during
World War I. Although he meant to be an
objective observer, he was discharged the fol-
lowing year for mental and physical exhaus-
tion. After the experience, he settled in
Frankfurt, Germany, where he proceeded to

portray the horrifying experience of war. His
work was characterized by heavy outlines, areas
of harsh colors, and brutal subject matter.
These pieces included The Descent from the
Cross (1917) and The Dream (1921). He con-
tinued to express his feelings toward war into
the 1930s, especially against the Nazi party.
His painting Departure (1933) was a realistic
allegory of figures in war. As a result of his out-

spoken attitude, he was dismissed from
his professorship at the Stadel School of Arts.
He emigrated to Amsterdam, Holland soon
after. He finally settled in the United States in
1947, where he taught at Washington

University in St. Louis, Missouri. He died on
Max Beckmann December 27, 1950.
84
HH
DIEGO RIVERA
78 (1886-1957)
Diego Rivera inspired the movement of

Mexican historical art with the depiction of
social themes painted on murals for public
buildings. He was born on December 8, 1886,

in the former silver-mining town of
Guanajuato, Mexico. Drawing since the age of
three, Rivera first began his formal study of art
at San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts at eleven
years of age. Combining politics with art, he

was heavily influenced by the folk art of Jose
Posada, who painted satirical portraits criticiz-
ing the regime of the dictator Porfirio Diaz.

Rivera commented that through Posada, he
learned "that you cannot paint what you do
not feel.
After five years at the academy, Rivera was

expelled for leading a student strike against the
re-election of Diaz. At sixteen years of
age, Rivera defined himself as an independent
artist, travelling and painting throughout the
country. His most famous piece of this period
was The Threshing Floor (1904), a depiction
of realism. At twenty-one years of age, Rivera
left for Spain to study. He was dissatisfied with Diego Rivera
the rigidity of the academic style in Spain, so
from 1909 to 1920, he settled in France. commenced his commemorative piece for the
Rivera continued to take brief jaunts to National Palace in Mexico City, painting an
England, Spain, and Holland, along with a epic history of Mexico from pre-Columbian
return trip to Mexico in 1910 during the civihzation to the present. The piece also
Mexican Revolution. He was introduced to the included a forecast for the fiiture. That year, he
works of painters, including Paul Cezanne and married the painter Frida Kahlo (see no. 94).
Vincent van Gogh (see nos. 48 and 56). It was in New York in 1933 that he received
Deciding that he was needed in the new rev- the commission to decorate the lobby of the
olutionary government in Mexico, Rivera RCA building in Rockefeller Center. Rivera
returned in 1921. He joined the Mexican had painted the face of the Russian Bolshevik
Communist Party and began to write for the leader Vladimir Lenin on the mural, causing a
official paper of the party. El Machete. In scandal; thework was destroyed by authorities
Mexico, he began to execute murals of in 1934. Fortunately, one of his assistants had
Mexican social history, including festivals, managed to photograph the piece before it was
industry, agriculture, and landscape. His first destroyed. He returned to Mexico and devoted
commission was 124 panels for the courtyard his time to painting on canvas. Upon his death,
of the Ministry of Education, which took four Rivera was given a state funeral for his contri-
years to complete. Two years later, in 1929, he bution to Mexico.
85
MARCEL DUCHAMP
n (1887-1968)
A Frenchdada artist who focused on members of his family as well as his fascination
abstract dream imagery, Marcel Duchamp for the game. He work with the
followed the
(doo-SHOMP) exerted a strong influence Nude Descending a Staircase (1912), which was
on the development of twentieth-century followed by the more famous Nude Descending
radical art. He came from an artistic family; his a Staircase No. 2 (1912). It demonstrated
grandfather was an engraver and painter and mechanical motion of the human figure in
his mother a musician. His brother, Gaston, dozens of geometric shapes overlapping one
abandoned a law career to become a painter another. He exhibited Nude Descending a
under the name Jacques Villon. Another Staircase No. 2 at the Paris Salon des
brother, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, left the Independants in 1912, provoking anger from
medical profession to become a sculptor. the other exhibiting artists. He quietly
Born on July 28, 1887, in Blainville, removed his painting.
Normandy, Duchamp painted his first oil At the 1913 Armory Show in New York,
painting, Landscape at Blainville, at age fifteen, Duchamp again exhibited the painting, where
and two years later, he left for Paris to study at one critic stated, "It looks like an explosion
the Academie Julian. Forced into military in a shingle factory." The experience ended
service soon after, he returned to Paris in 1904, Duchamp's serious involvement in painting.
where he began to draw cartoons for the mag- Taking a job as a library clerk, he did not
azines Le Rire and Le Courrier Frangis. exhibit but continued to paint. In 1913, he
Continuing to explore different art move- began to make his "ready-mades" in defiance of
ments, he was influenced by the rising fauve the laws of art. Ready-made art took objects
artists, who used vibrant colors, and in 1910, out of a normal context and made an art form
he painted The Chess Players, which depicted by simply showing them in a different way. An
example of this type of art was the mounting of
a bicycle tire upside down on a kitchen stool.
The success of his ready-made art brought him
to the United States in 1915, where he had a
showing at the 29 1 gallery of the photograph-

er Alfred Stieglitz (see no. 64).
After co-founding the Societe Anonyme

in New York City to promote modern art,
Duchamp exhibited his controversial repro-

duction of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da
Vinci (see no. 9), to which he added a mus-
tache and a goatee. The act was true to his goal
of "annihilating painting." He continued

working on his famous sculpture The Bride
Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even, also
referred to as Large Glass (1923). The work

is a construction of lead wire and painted foil
on two glass plates. The irony was that his
Marcel Duchamp ready-mades, which were considered to be

"anti-art," were being preserved in museums.
86
MARC CHAGALL
(1887-1985)
The oldest of nine children, Marc Chagall

(sha-GAHL) was born on July 7, 1887, in
Vitebsk, Russia. His father, who changed the
family name from Segal to Chagall, financially
supported his family by packing herring into
barrels. His parents were both devout Hassidic
Jews. Chagall began to copy illustrations from
magazines as a boy and dreamed about a career
in painting. His parents apprenticed him to a
local photographer, thinking he would be bet-

ter able to make a living as a photographer
than a painter. Bored by retouching pictures,
he persuaded his parents to allow him to study
art. At twenty, he entered the Imperial School

for the Protection of the Arts in St. Petersburg,
Russia.
He worked as a sign painter to support him-
self At this time, he painted The Dead Man
(1898). The work depicts a funeral
scene in his home town and also shows a man
playing a fiddle on a rooftop. The theme later
Marc Chagall
provided the source for the famous Broadway
musical Fiddler on the Roof.
In 1910, Maxim Vinaver, a lawyer in St. Remaining in Berlin long enough to have
Petersburg, saw Chagall's work and sponsored hismemoirs published, he relocated to Paris,
a trip to Paris for Chagall. There, Chagall where he was commissioned by the art dealer
developed a personal sryle that combined his Ambroise VoUard to create illustrations for
memories of the small Russian village of his Nikolai Gogol's book Dead Souls. Vollard
youth and the elements of fantasy. The two later supported Chagall's travels to Israel in
works indicative of this are I and the Village 1931 to search for themes for an illustration of
(191 1) and r/7f Soldiers Drink (1913). the Bible.
Returning to Russia in 1916, he married In 1952, he visited Israel again, where he
Bella Rosenfeld, was appointed the cultural began a new medium of art, stained glass.
commissar of Vitebsk, and founded an art He designed twelve stained glass windows,
school and museum. He was soon involved symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel, for
in disagreements with the political leaders of the synagogue at Hebrew University near
Russia, concerning what was considered art. Jerusalem. Other works of his include mosaics
They were opposed to his "flying green cows for the First National Bank plaza in Chicago,
and upside-down girls" and pressured him ceiling decorations for the Paris Opera, and
to leave Vitebsk. Constantly meeting with dis- stained glass windows for the United Nations
approval of his "floating figures" in his paint- in New York Cit\'. Chagall made his home in
ings, he emigrated to Berlin in 1922, where he France after World War II and died there on
began work on his autobiography, Ma Vie. March 28, 1985.
87
GEORGIA O'KEEFFE
(1887-1986)
81
Raised on a small family farm near Sun York and studied under Arthur Dow, develop-
Prairie, Wisconsin, Georgia O'Keeffe went on ing her personal style. Later, talking about the
to gain international notoriety as a leader of inspiration she received from Dow, she called
the semi-abstract style of art. Born on him the man "who affected my start, who
November 15, 1887, she was the second of helped me to find something of my own." She
seven children. At eighteen, she began formal returned to Texas in 1915 and taught at the
training at the Art Institute of Chicago, trans- West Texas Normal College until 1918.
ferring to the Art Students League in New York Painting and drawing again, she sent
City two years later. Although she won prizes numerous abstract pictures to a friend, Anita
for her work, she felt "unoriginal" and quit PoUitzer. Anita took the pictures, among them
school, destroying all thework she had com- the watercolor Blue Lines Number 10 (1916),
pleted as a student. She worked as a freelance to Alfred Stieglitz (see no. 64), a photographer
commercial artist for four years. and owner of the gallery 291, where the work
Deciding to become a teacher, leaving her was immediately exhibited. O'Keefife had her
spare time to paint, she became supervisor of first solo showing at 291 in 1917 and at the
art in public schools in Amarillo, Texas, in same time began posing for a series of pho-
1912 and taught summer school at the tographs for Stieglitz. Her first major exhibi-
University of Virginia. In 1914, she took a tion came five years later at the Anderson
year off to attend Columbia University in New Gallery in New York. The show was called One
Hundred Pictures, and all the paintings were
unsigned and untitled. She believed that "any
personal quality in a picture should be signa-
ture enough."
At age thirty-seven, she married Stieglitz.
The famous pieces of this period were Black
Iris (1926) and Two Calla Lilies on Pink
(1928). The works, famous for their closeup
view of a single subject, emphasize her use of

voluptuous organic forms, finding in nature
corresponding images for emotional states.
In 1929, she began to travel to New

Mexico. Flowers were difficult to come by in
the arid climate, so she began painting bones,

starting anew series, which included Cow's
Skull—Red, White and Blue (1931). She was
almost seventy years old when she took a three-
and-a-half-month trip around the world. The
trip inspired a new series of paintings, depict-
ing what she viewed from the air, such as Sky

Above Clouds (1965), which is 24-feet (7-m)
wide. Although she preferred imagery to
Georgia O'KeeflFe words, O'Keeffe published her autobiography,
elegantly illustrated, in 1976.
MAN RAY
(1890-1976)
82
His obituary read, "He used the materials of
art to poke fun at its serious ideas." American
painter and photographer Man Ray born
Emmanuel Radnitsky on August 27, 1890, in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, started painting at
age five, although his parents, Russian-Jewish
immigrants, disapproved and urged him to
pursue architecture or engineering. His autobi-
ography, Self Portrait (1963), describes how he
stole tubes of oil paint for art.
He won a scholarship to college in architec-

ture due to his excellence in mechanical and
freehand drawing, but he declined it to go to
New York Ciry. He held a variet)' of jobs, first
as an apprentice to an engraver, then in an

advertising office. He then did layouts for a
publicit)' firm and later was a mapmaker for an
atlas publisher. In the meantime, he enrolled in
night courses at the National Academy of

Design and at the Ferrer Center.
He visited art galleries in the ciry during his
Maji Ray
lunch hour, meeting Alfred Stieglitz (see no.
64) at his gallery 291. Stieglitz introduced him

to photography and to thework of the modern which he airbrushed on, and he labeled them
European artists, including Paul Cezanne (see aerographs. In Paris three years later, he devel-
no. 48). At that time, Ray was influenced by oped Rayographs. The technique involved
romanticism in art, as evidenced in his land- placing objects on light-sensitive paper to pro-
scape paintings The Village (1913) and The duce a ghostlike imprint, making the camera
Hill {1915). In 1915, he met the artist Marcel unnecessary to his work.
Duchamp (see no. 79), and Ray joined the Arousing curiosity with his changing style,
dada movement. Interested in provoking pub- Ray took his famous photograph Violin
lic participation in his expressions, Ray hung d'Ingres in 1924, in which the sound holes of
one of his canvases by its corner, forcing the the violin were painted on the back of a well-
audience to straighten the picture in order to known model named Kiki.
see it. Bringing dadaism to New York, he In the early 1930s, he experimented with
helped found the Society of Independent the process known as solarization. He exposed
Artists, where for a fee of two dollars, artists a photographic negative to light so that the
could exhibit whatever they chose. Avant-garde background would be bleached, while the
and revolutionary, Ray mounted a series of col- left with a dark, jagged edge. These
object was
lages on a turnstile so they could be viewed in photographs resembled paintings, and Ray
sequence to the end. He titled the series published them book The Age of Light
in the
Revolving Doors (1916). (1934). Man Ray died in his sleep on
In 1918, he made his first photographs. November 19, 1976, in his Paris studio.
89
NAUM CABO
(1890-1977)
83
that he had his first exhibition in 1916.
His engineering training was evident in
his sculptures, which displayed mathematical

precision. He experimented with wood, card-
board, and metal in his work, such as in Bust
(1916) and Head of Woman (1916).
Returning to Russia after the war, he hoped
the government would be receptive to his
avant-garde art. He was made co-editor of the

official art magazine Izo, and exerted a great
deal of influence at the state art school. Faced
with a shortage of wood and metal in Russia,
he incorporated celluloid and clear plastic into
his structures. By 1920, Gabo's art was under

political scrutiny by the state, to which he
retaliated by writing the Realistic Manifesto.
The Manifesto stated the central values of con-

structivism, saying, "Art has its absolute inde-
pendent value and a function to perform."
Government opposition to his art forced
him to move to Berlin in 1922. He remained
there for ten years and lectured at the Bauhaus
School of Art. While in Germany, he fiirther
developed the use of plastic and glass in his

Naum Gabo sculptures to convey a sense of space. Most
notable was Project for a Monument for a
Naum Gabo changed his name from Naum Physics Observatory (1922).
Pevsner to avoid confusion between himself After Nazi guards plundered his studio in
and his brother Antoine Pevsner, who also 1932, Gabo relocated to Paris, where he joined
became a renowned sculptor and painter. A the Abstraction Creation group. In 1946, he
sculptor and leader in the Constructivist move- emigrated to the United States, where he was
ment, Gabo, born on August 5, 1890, com- able to execute sculptures on a grand scale,
pleted high school in Russia, the place of his such as the aluminum, bronze, plastic, steel,
birth, and enrolled at the University of and gold wire piece entitled Constructivism
Munich, Germany, to study medicine, natural Suspended in Space (1950). He was commis-
science, and engineering. His interest in art sioned for several sculptures and was written
surfaced after he attended lectures by the art about in popular national magazines. In 1971,
historian Heinrich Wolffen and visited an exhi- he received an honorary knighthood from
bition by the artist Wassily Kandinsky (see no. Queen Elizabeth II of England. After his
66). By 1914, he was resolved to study art and death, the magazine Art News wrote, "He cre-
executed his first sculpture, Negro Head ated a brilliant series of transparent construc-
(1914). Soon after, he left for Norway to avoid tions that gave tangible form to light, space,
being drafted into the army. It was in Norway and movement."
90
JOAN MIRO
(1893-1983)
84.
A Spanish painter and sculptor whose surre- the street shouting defamations against society
alist works combined elements of reality and and the state. At that time, Miro painted his
fantasy, Joan Miro, born on April 20, 1893, most celebrated piece. Dog Barking at the
came from a family of craftsmen. His father Moon (1926), which has been interpreted as a
was a goldsmith, and both his grandfathers symbolic link between the physical vyorld and
were blacksmiths. Drawing pictures at age the world of the intellect.
eight, he began formal training at age fourteen Around 1934, his work became political
at La Gonja Academy of Art in Barcelona, in its support of Spain's stand against fascism.
Spain, the city of his birth. He worked for five months on the painting
Pressured by his father to abandon art for a Still Life with an Old Shoe (1937) to demon-
more stable career, Miro took a job as a store strate his empathy for Spain's poorer citizens.
clerk when he was seventeen years of age. The Dividing his time between France and Spain,
long hours taxed his strength and he suffered a Miro began to create sculptures, the most
nervous breakdown. He recovered at his par- famous of which was Woman, completed in
ents' home and enrolled in another art school 1941 and over 41 inches (104 cm) in height.
in 1912, where he was taught by Frances Gall. Although he was affiliated with art move-
While at the school for three years, he discov- ments, he rejected the notion that his art was
ered the works of the artists Claude Monet (see abstract. He said, "A form is never something
no. 50) and Vincent van Gogh (see no. 56). It abstract: It is always a sign of something."
was at this time that he painted his First self-
portrait, in which his style depicted the influ-
ences of the impressionists and the les fauves,
renowned for their use of bright colors.

In 1918, he had his first show, sponsored by
the art dealer Lluis Dalmau. The success of the
exhibit enabled him to visit France, where he
met the artist Pablo Picasso (see no. 71). In
1923, he was introduced to surrealism, which
pervaded his work from then on. The paintings
The Farmer's Wife (1923) and The Carriage
Light (1923) are representative of his unique-
ness, in which memory and the irrational are
creative forces. His dreamlike paintings con-

tain a whimsical quality, by featuring playful
and distorted animal figures, twisted organic
shapes, and odd geometric constructions. The

forms of his paintings are organized against a
neutral background, whereas the subject is dis-
played in bright color.

The aim of the surrealists was to denounce
tradition and perform outrageous acts to shock
the upper class. The group, including Yves Joan Miro
Tanguy and Max Morise, would parade down
91
STUART DAVIS
(1894-1964)
85
The son of Edward Davis, art director of the Returning to the United States in 1929, he
Philadelphia Press, and Helen Davis, a sculptor, was faced with the challenge of determining
Stuart Davis, born on December 7, 1894. He what constituted "American art." An upsurge
was raised among artists, including his father's of realistic paintings of "American scenes"
close friend, the painter Robert Henri (see no. emerged, and Davis opposed cultural isolation
65). Leaving high school at age sixteen, Davis in art. Politically active throughout the 1930s,
enrolled in Henri's art school, where he was he was the first to enroll in the Federal Arts
encouraged to draw everything and anything. Project sponsored by President Franklin D.

An ardent jazz enthusiast, he would haunt jazz Roosevelt. He was also a member of the liberal
clubs and depict the musicians and his feelings Artists' Union, becoming secretary of the orga-
in paintings. To support himself while in nization in 1936 and writing articles for its
school, he drew cartoons for the magazines publication Art Front.

The Masses and Harper's Weekly. Davis received many honors during his last
At nineteen years of age, he was the years. The Fine Arts Commemorative postage
youngest person to exhibit in the 1913 Armory stamp, designed by him, was issued by the
Show in New York, where a conglomerate of United States Post Office on December 2,
modern artists from Europe and the United 1964. He died on June 24, 1964, leaving his
States showed. He described the event as "the painting Switchsky's Syntax unfinished.
greatest single influence I have experienced in
my work" and resolved to become a modern
artist from that moment on. Adopting the
style of the impressionists, he had his first solo
show at age twenty-three, where he exhibited
Gloucester Terrace (1916) and Multiple Views
(1918), both landscapes. The next year he took
mapmaker for the Army
a job as a Intelligence
Department during World War I.
In 1921, Davis became the first artist to use
a commodity, a pack of cigarettes, as the entire
subject of a painting. Lucky Strike was

described as a "collage in paint." The painting
was the precursor of the pop art movement of
the 1960s. The critics responded favorably,
leading to his further development of abstract
painting. In 1927, in Davis's words, "I nailed
an electric fan, a rubber glove, and an egg-
beater to a table and used them as my exclusive
subject matter for a year." The first painting in
this period was Eggbeater No. 1 (1927). The
sale of these paintings convinced him to travel
to Paris, where he rented a studio for one year

and painted cityscapes. Among them was Place
Stuart Davis
Pasdeloup (1928).
92
HORMAN ROCKVfELL
(1894-1978)
An American painter and illustrator who is
best known for his covers for the magazines the

Saturday Evening Ladies' Home Journal,
Post,
Look, and others, Norman Rockwell painted

everyday scenes in such detail that they resem-
bled photographs. He was born on Februar)' 3,
1894, in New York City.
Rockwell began drawing as a child to
compensate for his lack of athletic prowess.
During his teens, he took art courses at the
Chase School, a two-hour commute each

way from his home.
At sixteen years of age, he quit high school
to concentrate on art full time, feeling that art
was the only thing that gave him an identity'.
He received a scholarship to attend the Art

Students League to receive traditional training.
Flipping a coin to determine which instructor
to study with, he entered the academic draw-
ing class of George Bridgeman, who estab-
lished the precedent for his storytelling st\'le of

painting. Rockwell was described as solemn
and dedicated to his work, and his peers in
school gave him the nickname "The Deacon."

Along with his friends, he signed a pact in
Norman Rockwell
blood vowing to "never cheapen their art,
never do advertising jobs, and never make

more than fifty dollars a week." The pact was supplemented his income by doing freelance
an expression of the idealism he felt. illustrations for books such as Tom Sawyer and
His works, illustrated with humor and Huckleberry Finn. His first cover for The
warmth, depicted American scenes of all t^-pes, Saturday Evening Post appeared in 1916, and
from children playing or visiting doctors' others soon followed, elevating his national
offices, to men talking in a barber shop, to reputation. By 1969, he had painted 317 cov-
teenagers at ice cream parlors. His idealized ers for The Saturday Evening Post.
views of society and small town America, as he During World War II, the Office of War
explained, "excluded the sordid and ugly. Information printed and distributed
I paint life as I would like it to be." His paint- Rockwell's posters depicting the Four
ings were vivid with color and facial expres- Freedoms. His own books were also well
sion. National magazines immediately received, including My Adventures as an

responded. Illustrator ( 1 960) and Norman Rockwell, Artist
Rockwell's instructor obtained his first com- and Illustrator (1970). Rockwell continued to
mission, and Rockwell was then given a job as portray America as he saw it and wished it to
an illustrator with the magazine Boy's Life. He be until he died on November 8, 1978.
93
RENE MACRITTE
898-1 967)
8] :1
autobiography, "moved me to tears," he began

painting more vigorously and associated him-
self with the surrealist movement.
Magritte was a great force for the surrealist
movement and marketed himself by writing
letters to newspapers. He was given a contract
with the Galerie Le Centaure, which held his
first solo show in 1927. The show got bad
reviews from critics, and he went to Paris for
the next three years, where he completed the

famous False Mirror (1928). It is his best-
known painting, and in simple form, it resem-

bles the corporate logo of CBS TV. A magni-
fied eye fills the entire canvas, reflecting a
cloud-filled sky; the pupil is thought to be a

metaphor for a solar eclipse. He also complet-
ed Threatening Weather (1928), in which a
headless and armless female torso, a tuba, and
a wicker chair, all ghostlike and painted in
white, are suspended in the sky.

Active in both art and writing, he wrote
articles and statements for surrealist publica-
tions, stating his feelings about the dimensions

Rene Magritte
of his work. Magritte had an extraordinary gift
for combining ordinary objects into something

lUusionary, dreamlike paintings that display expressive of magic. His The Therapeutic II
a sense of wit and humor are characteristic of (1937) shows a man wearing a hat that is sus-
the surrealism of Rene Francois Magritte (ma- pended on a nonexistent head, sitting on a
GREET). A native of Lessines, Belgium, he beach; his torso is a birdcage with two white
moved with his family to the town of Chatelet. doves in it. Magritte wanted to see objects
It was there that Magritte's mother drowned "spontaneously brought together in an order in
herself in the Sambre River when he was four- which the familiar and strange are restored to
teen years old. He then moved to Charleroi mystery," as evidenced in his symbolic dis-
with his father and two brothers and took an membered figures. Described as a heavyset
interest in art, studying periodically at the man, he was often photographed wearing the
Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, costume of a cape and bowler hat, two items
Belgium, between 1916 and 1918. that he painted in several works.
When he was twenty-four years old, he In 1965, he painted his summation on his
found a job as a designer in a wallpaper facto- view of art with Exhibition of Painting, where
ry and devoted his leisure time to painting. an empty landscape covers the foreground, a
After viewing the work of painter Giorgio di bowler hat on a stand shaped like a chess piece
Chirico (1888-1978), especially his Song of is balanced by a penguin, and a cloud-filled sky
Love (1914), which, Magritte later wrote in his is parted by a dark form.
94
ALEXANDER CALDER
(1898-1976)
American sculptor Alexander Calder is best

known for his creation of mobile sculpture. He
was descended from a family of artists. His
grandfather, Alexander Milne Calder, and his
father, Alexander Stirling Calder, were tradi-
tional sculptors. His mother, Nanette Lederer,

was a portrait painter. Born on July 22, 1898,
Sandy, as he was called by his family and
friends, remembered making figures out of
wood and wire at the age of five.
At age seventeen, he entered the Stevens

Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New
Jersey, graduating four years later with a degree
in mechanical engineering. After graduating,
he went through a succession of jobs, from
automotive engineer to insurance investigator
to machinery salesman. Gaining an interest in
art, he enrolled at the Art Students League in

New York at age twenty-five and studied there
for three years with Kenneth Hayes Miller and
Thomas Hart Benton. While in school, he
received his first art job, freelancing for the
magazine National Police Gazette. He became
fascinated with the circus and used his press
pass to visit the Ringling Bros, and Barnum

Alexander Calder
and Bailey circuses to sketch the animals.
In 1926, he published a book of drawings

he executed at New York's Central Park Zoo, also known as mobiles. He also met Joan Miro
entitled Animal Sketching. That summer, he (see no. 84), who had a great influence on his
sailed for Europe and took sketching classes at work.
the Grande Chaumiere in Paris. He also made In 1931, Calder created his first mobile
his first wood-and-wire animal figures that abstract sculptures with moving parts, operat-
moved, later known as Calder's Circus. While ed by electric motors or hand cranks. He char-
in Paris, he met the sculptor Jose de Creeft, acterized these as "abstractions which resemble
who was impressed by his work and assisted nothing in life except their manner of react-
him in exhibiting. He returned to the United ing." In 1934, his motorized sculpture A
States, and the Gould Manufacturing Universe (1934) was purchased by New York's
Company began to market the animal figures Museum of Modern Art.

as "action toys," in 1927. Back in Europe, Calder also drew, painted, illustrated books,
Calder was influenced by the abstract and col- designed stage sets, and fought for human
orful geometric shapes in the paintings of Piet rights his entire life. Always a craftsman, he
Mondrian, whose studio he visited in 1930. deliberately used the word "work" instead of
These paintings inspired Calder's first stabiles "art" to describe his activity.
95
HENRY MOORE
(1898-1986)
Best known for his large, semi-abstract was very lucky not to have gone to art school
sculptures of the human figure in a reclining until I knew better than to believe what the
position, Henry Moore, born on July 30, teachers said."
1898, is regarded by many as the most promi- Moore's work came to maturity with his five
nent British sculptor of the twentieth century. reclining figures, the most famous of which is
As a boy growing up in the industrial town Reclining Woman (1930). Carved in green
of Castleford, Yorkshire, he would always find stone, the figure has a masklike face, while the
material from the manufacturing plants to work shows Moore's concern for bringing out
amuse himself with. He would find wood to the particular character of the material he uses.
whittle with his pocket knife or clay from the The work is evidence of the influence of pre-
local pits to mold into shapes. When he was Columbian and African sculptures. He contin-
twelve years old, he won a scholarship to the ued to produce reclining figures, fusing nature
local grammar school, where he heard and life and suggesting a continuity that trans-
a story in class about the great sculptor forms the figure into a landscape of mountains,
Michelangelo (see no. 11). From that time on, valleys, caves, and more. Later visits to Paris
if anyone asked him what he wanted to be in brought Moore into contact with the works of
life, Moore would respond, "a sculptor." Pablo Picasso (see no. 71) and Jean Arp.
At the age of sixteen, Moore entered a Moore's first solo show was attacked by the
teacher training college. He returned to his press as "immoral" due to his de-emphasis of
grammar school two years later as a full the head and the features of the face. During
teacher. Called to war in 1917, he joined the World War H, he was commissioned by the
army. He returned home in 1918 and applied War Arts Committee to make drawings of
for a grant to study at the Leeds School of Art Londoners confined to shelters due to the
at age twenry-one. He was content that he had nightly air raids. His series entitled Shelter
waited before entering art school, stating, "I Sketches (1941) depicted the spectacle of hun-
dreds of people running for
cover during the air raids. In
1946, he visited New York on
the occasion of his retrospec-
tive exhibit. That same year, his
daughter Mary was born. The

birth of his daughter changed
his motif, and he began to
carve rocking chairs and com-

pile a series of drawings on his
daughter's everyday activities.
Claiming that sculpture is a
never-ending discovery, he
stated, "The whole of my
development as a sculptor is an
attempt to understand and
realize what form and shape
Henry Moore are about."
96
ISABEL BISHOP
(1902-1988)
An American painter known for her realistic
works, Isabel Bishop portrayed straightforward

views of people and city life. Many of her sub-
jects were found around Union Square in New
York Cirv' and the subway she rode to and from
her studio for forty years. The experience of the
subway was integral to her art. A perfectionist,
her paintings sometimes took months or years
to complete.
Born on March 3, 1902, in Cincinnati,
Ohio, she was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Her
family was poor, yet they were high-minded in
their views on education, and Isabel was not
allowed to interact with the neighborhood
children. Lonely as a child, she began to draw,
and her family allowed her to take art lessons.
At twelve years of age, she began to draw from

female models. She came to New York at age
sixteen to continue her studies to become a
commercial designer and illustrator. She spent

two years at the School of Applied Design for
Isabel Bishop
Women, and then, with the financial assistance
of relatives, she enrolled at the Art Students
League to study under Kenneth Hayes Miller the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and
and Guy Pene Du Bois, former students of the she was the first woman to be named an officer
artist Robert Henri (see no. 65). since its founding in 1898. Although she was
During the Great Depression, Union awarded the American Artists Group Prize in
Square in New York was a scene of rallies and 1947 for her etching Outdoor Lunch Room
soapbox orators. She would look out her studio (1947), the New York Times found her "worn
window at the scenes and paint what she saw subway straphangers and shopgirls to be fright-
without adding sentimental overtones. Her fig- eningly isolated from any sort of human situa-
ures express a feeling of mobility, which she tion." Similar pieces include Two Girls (1947)
said means "a potential for change, characteris- and Waiting (1935) In the 1960s, she contin-
.
tic of American life." She painted the "leisure ued to take her models from the street, as anti-
class," as she called them, who were the sales- war demonstrators filled the cit}'.
girls and waitresses hurr\'ing to work, bench When she was sevent\-two years old she was
sitters, drugstore customers, and pedestrians. awarded the honor of a retrospective of her
Her marriage to the neurologist Dr. Harold work, presented at the Whitney Museum. In
George Wolff in 1934 gave her the financial 1978, the lease on her studio, where she had
securit}' to maintain an artistic career. Their worked for forty-four years, expired. She
son, Remsen, was born six years later, and he moved to a new studio, but said that her
went on to become a photographer. At age art would not be the same without her familiar
fort\'-four. Bishop was elected vice president of
97
SALVADOR DALI
(1904-1989)
91
the writings of the psychologist Sigmund
Freud (1856-1939), whose theory of the
unconscious influenced his later style. He was
also influenced by the surrealist artists and
writers, especially the poet Andre Breton
(1896-1966). He incurred the antagonism of
the school authorities, and in 1924, he was
charged with creating a student riot and sus-
pended for a year. In May of the same year, he
was imprisoned briefly in Figueras for alleged
political activities against the government of

Spain. Reinstated in school a year later, he was
permanently expelled for "extravagant personal
behavior" soon after. According to Dali, the
expulsion was a result of his refusal to take an

art history exam given by professors he felt
were intellectual inferiors.
Still active in art, he had numerous exhibi-

Salvador Dali
tions throughout Spain, and in 1925, he had
A Spanish artist from Figueras in the his first solo show. At the time, he portrayed a
province of Catalonia, Salvador Dali (DAHL- variety of styles, not quite committed to one
ee), born on May 11, 1904, was a painter, form of painting. He used realism in his Basket
designer, producer of surrealist films, illustrator of Bread (1926) and cubism in several
of books, jewelry craftsman, and creator of the- Harlequin (1926) paintings. It wasn't until
atrical sets and costumes. 1927, when he painted Blood Is Sweeter than
At an early age, Dali's artistic skills were Honey, that he demonstrated his renowned hal-
apparent, and he was encouraged by his father, lucinatory art, focusing on "psychological
a notary, who provided him with reproduc- obsessions." He used this term to describe his
tions of classical art to copy. childhood memories that he held to be special.
Before he was ten years old, Dali had com- Painting objects in desolate landscapes,
pleted two paintings, Joseph Greeting his which Dali described as "hand painted
Brothers and Portrait of Helen of Troy. He was dream images," he called the method "critical
taught traditional art by Juan Nunez at a paranoia." It is a state of mind in which
municipal school of art, where he experiment- reason was deliberately suspended to allow
ed with various art forms, from impressionism the subconscious to emerge. This is evident
to pointillism. Salvador was impressionable as in The Lugubrious (1929), in which he presents
a child, and in his autobiography, 77?^ Secret dream imagery, and in his famous The
Life of Salvador Dali (1942), he admitted that Persistenceof Memory (1931), where limp
his behavior was always marked by episodes of watches hang from distorted trees.
violent hysteria. Always productive, he produced the films
At age seventeen, Dali entered the National An Andalusion Dog 1 928) and The Golden Age
(
School of Art in Madrid, where he won sever- (1930). He continued working until his death
al prizes. During his school years, he discovered on January 23, 1989.
98
WILLEM DE KOONING
(1904-1997)
92
The term "action painting," in reference to the male figure to painting the female figure.
very visible brush strokes, was first appHed The interest evolved into his famous Women
to Willem de Kooning, an American abstract seriesof paintings, which included Queen of
painter and sculptor. Born in Rotterdam, Hearts (1943) and Pink Lady (1944). In 1948,
Netherlands, on April 24, 1904, he dropped he had his most controversial showing, featur-
out of school and went to work as an appren- ing black-and-white enamel abstractions, one
tice to a commercial art and decorating firm. of which was an entirely black painting entitled
The proprietors of the business recognized his Painting (1948). Also an instructor, he taught
talent and encouraged de Kooning to attend art at Black Mountain College in North
evening art classes, where he learned the classi- Carolina in 1948 and at Yale University in
cal skills of drawing anatomy from casts and Connecticut from 1950 to 1951.
live models. He also learned wood graining He revolutionized American art with the
and marble techniques. At sixteen, he went new Women series, beginning with Woman I
to work as a decorator for a department store, (1952). Achieving a synthesis of figure paint-
but continued to attend art classes. ing and abstraction, he used slashing brush
De Kooning had fantasized about going to strokes to create a fragmented and distorted
the United States to become a true artist, and image. The series, according to de Kooning,
he stowed away in 1926 on the ship Shelley, was "the interpretation of the figure in its
which docked in Virginia. Penniless and ambiguous environment." Recognized for his
unable to speak English, he got a job painting use of soft colors, especially pink and orange,
houses for nine dollars a day, moving to New in contrast to his visible brush strokes and dis-
York City a year later. For the next eight years, torted forms, he succeeded in evoking a sense
he earned a living doing commercial art, of tension in his work.

department store displays, sign lettering, car- By the late 1950s, his paintings became
pentry, and painting nightclub murals. In more symbolic, where the figure was absorbed
1935, he was persuaded to join the Federal into the landscape. He also began to devote
Arts Project, a Works Project Administration much of his time to sculpting in clay.
(WPA) project that paid local artists to create

murals for public buildings. Fie was
commissioned to design a mural for
the Hall of Pharmao,' at the 1939

New York World's Fair.
Described as a man who would

"choose to be uncomfortable, rather
than conform to anyone else's
ideas," de Kooning developed his
abstract theme of art with his first
paintings, Pink Landscape (1938)

and The Wave (1940). In 1938, he
met Elaine Fried, an artist and art
critic, whom he married five years
later. After meeting Elaine, he

Willem de Kooning
turned his attention from depicting
99
DAVID SMITH
(1906-1965)
93
1930, he abandoned painting for
sculpture after viewing pictures of the
welded metal sculptures of the artist
Pablo Picasso (see no. 71).

Smith learned to work with metal
in 1925, while he was employed as a
riveter in a Studebaker automobile

plant in South Bend, Indiana. He pro-
duced his first sculpture at age twenty-
seven from agricultural-machinery

parts. He was the first artist in the
United States to make welded metal
sculptures. In 1934, he established a
studio in a machine shop in Brooklyn,
New York, called the Terminal Iron
Works. He then travelled to Europe
and the Soviet Union, and upon his
return to the United States, he

involved himself with the Works
Progress Administration (WPA)
Federal Arts Project. In 1937, Smith
began a series of antiwar medallions,
the first entitled Medals for Dishonor
(1937). During World War II, he
worked in a locomotive factory,
acquiring a lifelong interest in
machinery and large-scale construc-
David Smith tion. After the war, he began to create
sculptures using wires and rods.
Many of Smith's sculptures, such as

An American sculptor and painter, David Royal Bird (1948), were metaphors for human
Roland Smith was born on March 9, 1906, in violence and greed, showing skeletal forms of
Decatur, Illinois. After his first year of college, metal rods twisted around a central shape, rep-
he dropped out to move to New York, working resenting an organic figure. Most impressive of
at various jobs, from taxi driver to carpenter. his works were his Cubi series, begun in 1963,
He completed two years of study at the Art showing a change of style, as he set out to cre-
Students League in New York, which intro- ate "real objects" that exist in "real space,"
duced him to cubism and abstract art, and he instead of illusionary objects restricted to the
intended to become a painter. The influence of base of the sculpture itself. The Cubi works
that art moved him to attach bits of wood, consist of large, blocklike, polished metal
metal strips, and objects he found on the street shapes arranged at oblique angles.
to his paintings. Finally, the canvas he painted Unfortunately, his life was cut short on May
on became the support for his structures. In 23, 1965, by an automobile accident.
100
FRIDA KAHLO
(1907-1954)
94.
Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo was born was content to be able to merely express her
in Mexico City on July 6, 1907, the third of six feelings, although she had three showings dur-
children of Guillermo Kahlo, a jewelry maker. ing her lifetime. The French surrealist poet
She was introduced to art by her father, who Andre Breton (1896-1966) arranged her New
had an interest in Mexican archeology and art. York exhibition in 1938, and Marcel Duchamp
Also an amateur painter, he would take Frida (see no. 79) arranged her show in Paris in
with him to the park to paint. Later he taught 1939. She had her first exhibition in Mexico in
her how to use a camera and how to develop 1953. Her paintings affirmed her Mexican
and retouch photos. identity, incorporating subject matter from
At age fifteen, she entered the National folk art in her depictions of her personal grief
Preparatory School, which elite youth attended with graphic imagery. The painting Broken
to prepare for professional careers. While there, Column (1944) depicts her wearing a metal
she first made the acquaintance of the painter brace, while her body is open to reveal a bro-
Diego Rivera (see no. 78), who had been com- ken column in place of her spine. Her sorrow
missioned to paint a mural for the school. over her inabilit)' to have children is revealed in
Three years later, on September 17, 1925, the Henry Ford Hospital (1932), where she depicts
dav after Mexico celebrated its anniversary' of herself in a hospital bed surrounded by a baby,
independence from Spain, Kahlo was struck by a pelvic bone, and a machine. The majority of
a bus and paral\'2ed. Forced to wear a number her works are at the Frida Kahlo Museum in
of plaster casts to keep her still, she was unable Covoacan, Mexico.
to perform any physical activities and began to
paint to free her mind from the pain.

After three years of painting self-portraits,
she took her work to Rivera, who encouraged
her to continue. Her paintings had broad color
areas and included fantastical elements,
expressing her own feelings about the accident
and her inability to have children. Kahlo recu-
perated but was always in pain. She became
politically active, joining the Young
Communist Party and involving herself in
workers' rallies, making speeches and attending
meetings to improve the plight of Mexico's
working class. In 1929, she painted her famous
work The Bus, depicting the life of the people
of Mexico. The painting showed figures differ-
ing in social class challenging stereotypes

and making the statement that all people are
essentially equal and deserve equal economic
standing.
At twenty-two, she married Rivera, and
together they traveled around the world. She
never pushed for exhibitions of her work and Frida Kahlo
101
HENRI CARTIER-BRE
(1908-)
9!)
A French photographer known for his pho- of the scene with sharp observations. He chose
tojournahstic reporting and a key figure in the to record the reactions of people, rather than
development of photography as a documentary events, introducing a new perspective to pho-
record, Henri Cartier-Bresson (car-tee-YAY- tography. His first photojournalistic assign-
bress-SONE) was born on August 22, 1908. ment was in Spain during the civil war in the
ExceUing in composition, he had a unique late 1930s. He also found a new interest in
abiUry to capture the fleeting moment, which filmmaking and assisted director Jean Renoir
he termed the "decisive moment," where the on three films, including The People
significance of the subject is revealed in form, of France (1936).
content, and expression. During World War II, he served in the
Originally interested in pursuing painting, French army, was captured, and spent thirty-
Bresson studied art in Paris from age nineteen five months in German prison camps. After
to twenty with the cubist painter Andre Lhote. three separate attempts, he escaped and made
Lhote introduced him to surrealist painting, his way to Paris, where he joined a photo-
which was to influence his photography. He graphic unit of the Resistance that recorded the
didn't begin photography until 1930, when he German occupation and retreat following the
was influenced by the works of twentieth cen- Allied invasion.

tury photographers Man Ray (see no. 82) and After the war, he moved to the United
Eugene Atget. In 1931, he visited Africa and States, and in 1947, he founded Magnum
began taking photographs with a miniature Photos with the photographer Robert Capa
camera. Two years later, he purchased his first (see no. 98) and others. It became the first
35mm Leica camera. cooperative photo agency. The agency com-

Cartier-Bresson's photographs have a piled the work of several photographers, work-
narrative qualirv that combines the drama ing worldwide, to provide photos to maga-
zines. He served as president of the organiza-
tion from 1956 to 1966.
Working in India, Pakistan, and China
from 1948 to 1954, he witnessed the first six
months of the change in government in the
People's Republic of China. In 1954, he

became the first photographer from the West
to be allowed to photograph in the Soviet
Union since World War II, publishing his pho-
tographs in the book The People of Moscow, in
1955. That same year, he was invited to
become the first photographer to exhibit at the

Louvre museum in Paris. His collections of
photographs include Cartier-Bresson's France
(1971), Portraits 1932-1983 (1983), and
Henri Cartier-Bresson in India (1988).
Continuing his early love of art, he published a
book of drawings. Traits pour Traits (Line by
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Line), in 1989.
102
FRANCIS BACON
(1909-1992)
Francis Bacon, born on October 28, 1909,

left Dublin, Ireland, the place of his birth, at
sixteen years of age. He was a self-taught

painter and out to make a name for himself
set
Bacon went London and worked at an office

to
before relocating to Paris to work as an inteii-
or designer. While in Paris in 1927, he visited
an exhibit by the painter Pablo Picasso (see no.
71), became fascinated with the paintings, and

exclaimed, "Why shouldn't I try to paint?"
Returning to London a year later, he sup-

ported himself as a furniture designer and inte-
rior decorator while continuing to paint. He
had an exhibit in his studio in 1930, and the
magazine Studio published a two-page article
on his showing entitled "The 1930 Look in
British Decoration." His individual style is
based on images of terror and anger, using

Francis Bacon
bizarre subject matter to shock the audience
about the violence of the human condition. He ed demonstrated his use of gruesome colors
emerged on the art scene in 1933 with three and horrifying contortions of figures. He
abstract paintings entitled Crucifixions. After a depicted the pope with a twisted mouth, open
series of rejections from museums and galleries, in a scream, and adorned in a lurid purple
followed by the failure of his first solo show. drape, as opposed to the red normally worn by
Bacon began to gamble and lost interest in the pope. He also painted the human body
painting. based on the motion studies of photographer
During the years of World War II, he Eadweard Muybridge.
worked as an air-raid warden in a civil defense Exhibiting his work throughout Europe and
unit. He destroyed about seven hundred paint- the United States in the late 1960s and early
ings, dating from 1929 to 1944, because he 1970s, he began to paint his companion
was dissatisfied with them. He remained George Dyer in a series of daily Dyer
activities.
unknown until 1946, when he painted the committed suicide in 1971, the year Bacon
"first picture I ever really liked," entitled had his grand retrospective in Paris. The sui-
Painting (1946). He intended it to be a bird cide provided the theme for Bacon's most sen-
hovering above a field, but the finished paint- sational paintings, titled Triptych, May-June
ing was centered around a foreboding umbrel- 1973 (1975), which was written about in Time
la. Now equated with surrealism, he had his and Newsweek magazines. The painting depict-
first major solo show when he was fort\' years ed the figure of Dyer in a state of nausea.
old. It was at this showing that he unveiled his Painting the morbid and violent in life, Bacon
series of paintings known as the Screaming said he still remained exhilarated: "When a
Popes (1949), variations on the Portrait of painting, however despairing, comes out right.
Innocent Xhy the painter Diego Velazquez (see When I meet someone I get on well with.
no. 25). The more than ten popes Bacon paint- \XTien I have a mars'elous win."
103
JACKSON POLLOCK
9] (1912-1956)
attacked the faculty for its emphasis on athlet-

ics. In 1930, he moved to New York and
entered the Art Students League, studying
under Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975).
The realistic painting emphasized in class
bored Pollock and led to his experiments in

abstract painting. At this time, he also made
several trips across the country by freight train,
sketching the spacious landscapes.

During the Great Depression, he incorpo-
rated his style of surrealism, where the uncon-
scious is the focus, with cubism in his painting
titled Masked Image (1928). This painting
shows blurred and writhing images, rather
than the sharp outlines characteristic of
cubism. He was also employed by the Works
Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Arts
Project in 1935.
Jackson Pollock In 1937, he began psychiatric treatment for

alcoholism. His doctor, Joseph Henderson,
A pioneer of American abstract expression- had him complete drawings as part of his ther-
ist art known as action painting, in which paint apy. Henderson later published these drawings
is dripped on a canvas with no fixed center, in 1970 under the title Jackson Pollock:
Paul Jackson Pollock was a key figure in mak- Psychoanalytic Drawings.
ing New York City the world capital of modern Pollock had his one-man show in 1943,
first
art. The youngest of five boys, three of whom in New show of new works
York, and had a
also became artists. Pollock was born on nearly every year after that. Moving to the
January 28, 1912, on a sheep ranch near Cody, country in 1947, he began to execute his most
Wyoming. His family was constantly moving, creative works, inspiring action painting. He
and he had lived in six states by the age of ten. laid a canvas on the floor and dripped, splat-
He worked as a farmhand, milking cows, plow- tered, and dribbled paint onto it. He titled
ing fields, and harvesting crops as a boy. His these expressions Cathedral, Number 1 (1947),
free time was spent exploring the Indian ruins White Cockatoo (1948), and his most celebrat-
of Arizona, where the family settled for some ed. Autumn Rhythm (1950), where the prima-
time. It was in Arizona that he developed an ry color is black, the secondary is orange, with
interest in Indian sand painting. touches of other hues; the entire work lacks
When he was fourteen years old, the family a focal point, as the action spreads across the
moved to Riverside, California, where he canvas.

worked as a surveyor and began to draw as a Although he was gaining acclaim interna-
way to release tension. Entering Manual Arts tionally, he was uneasy about his fame. On
High School at age sixteen, he was expelled a August 12, 1956, while driving a car he had
year later for preparing and distributing a traded two paintings for, he struck a bump,
paper entitled Journal of Liberty, in which he overturned the car, and died instantly.
104
;i 91 3-1 954)
Photojournalist Robert Capa was born record the establishment of Israel and the first
Endre Erne Friedman on October 13, 1913, in Arab-Israeli war. He took the first pictures
Budapest, Austria-Hungary (modern day detailing the settlement of the new nation and
Hungary')- He was expelled from the country captured soldiers in action and the actual expe-
at age seventeen due to his active political par- rience of war as the fighting occurred.
ticipation in liberal groups. Emigrating to Capa was also a founder of Magnum Photos
Germany, he never remained in one place long with Henri Cartier-Bresson (see no. 95), the
enough to call it home. first cooperative agency for worldwide free-

His first job, where he learned the technique lance photographers. In 1954, Life magazine
of photography, was as an errand boy for the offeredhim an assignment covering the war in
German newspaper Dephot. It was there that French Indochina (later known as Vietnam).
he came into contact with successful photo- He took the job and was killed by a land mine
journalists of Germany. Holding a variety of on May 25, 1954, while trying to capture a
jobs in the photographic field, he learned by scene of soldiers fighting. It is believed that he
watching others and borrowing cameras. His was the first .American killed in that conflict.
first published photograph was of Russian rev-
olutionary leader Leon Trotsk\', taken in 1931
at a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Moving to Paris for a short term, he passed
himself off as a wealthy American photograph-
er named Robert Capa. Later, emigrating to
the United States as Robert Capa, he would

take photographs for magazines and newspa-
pers, obtaining three times the pay rate that an
unknown photographer would.
Known for his action photographs, he saw
his career lifted when he accepted a position in
1936 covering the Spanish Civil War. The pho-
tographs later appeared in Life magazine and
brought him immediate international recogni-
tion. His most famous photograph taken dur-
ing the Spanish Civil War shows a Loyalist sol-
dier at the exact second when a bullet ends his
His photographs were admired for their
life.
grim views of death and destruction. Capa

would immerse himself in battle to capture the
best images, stating, "If your pictures aren't

good enough, you're not close enough." Life
magazine commissioned him to record the
events of World War II in Europe. He covered
the fighting in Africa, Sicily, and Italy and also
photographed the Normandy invasion on June

Robert Capa
6, 1944. In 1948, he was sent to Palestine to
105
LEONARD BASKIN
(1922-)
The son of a rabbi who emigrated to the (33-cm) high, entitled Torso (circa 1943).
United States from Poland, Leonard Baskin After World War II, he returned to New
was born on August 15, 1922, in New York and attended the New School for Social
Brunswick, New Jersey. American sculptor, Research, continuing to voice his political
printmaker, and book illustrator, Baskin opinions through his work. While in school, he
received a strict religious upbringing. At age executed a red oak statue oi Prometheus (1947),
sixteen, he enrolled in night school at the representing the hardships of the working class.
Educational Alliance, where for five years, he His social message in work earned him a
his
studied with the sculptor Maurice Glickman fellowship in 1947, and he also became editor
and later took courses at the New York School of the journal New Foundation, which present-
of Architecture. He received a scholarship to ed articles on the economic state of people in
study at the Yale University School of Fine Arts society.
but was expelled in 1943 for "incorrigible During his last year of school, 1949, he
insubordination." He enlisted in the navy, abandoned sculpture in favor of printmaking
qualifying as a pilot, and later was a gunner for a year. He found that prints were effective
in the merchant marines. While on ship, he in relaying social messages, and he showed his
was allowed to set up a small studio for him- six prints entitled Prophet (circa 1949) at an
self, where he wrote and sculpted. On board, exhibition at the Philadelphia Art Alliance.
he completed a wood sculpture, 13-inches Baskin left for Europe in 1950 and had his first
solo exhibition in Florence, Italy, in 1951. He

showed only woodcut prints, including Son
Carrying Father (1950). Returning to the
United States a year later, he became an
instructor in printmaking at the Worcester,
Massachusetts Art Museum. He also estab-
lished his own company, the Gehenna Press, in
his home at Northampton, Massachusetts. The
press produced over one hundred books, many

illustrated by his prints, and remained active
for twenty-five years.
Although he did not exhibit between 1952

and 1956, he continued to sculpt, incorporat-
ing the themes of death and reverence to past

poets and artists in his work. The bronze Head
of Blake (1955) was his most remarkable piece
from this time and was also almost lifelike.
Communicating moral ideas through the
portrayal of human figures, Baskin included
loose faces, obese bodies, and spindly legs
to illustrate his opinion of the spoiled condi-
tion of humankind. Other examples of
his work includes Armored Man (1962) and
Leonard Baskin Figure [1^7 \).
106
ANDY WARHOL
(19307-1987)
Andy Warhol was an American painter and

filmmakerwho was a leader of the pop art
movement because of his devotion to eliminat-
ing individuality in art. Pop art is meant to cre-
ate art that is akin to everyday common life.
Never discussing his Warhol would often

life,
make up a different background for himself at

every interview. Although it is commonly
thought that he was born as Andrew Warhola
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, other records
say Pittsburgh and give the birth year as either
1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, or 1932.
At seventeen years of age, he entered
the Carnegie Institute of Technology in
Pittsburgh to study art. To pay for his educa-
tion, he sold fruit from a truck and later
worked as a window decorator at a department

store. After graduation, he moved to New York
where he worked as an advertising artist for
Andy Warhol
over ten years. He was considered to be one of
the most gifted and successful commercial
artist at the time. In 1957, he received the Art always thought beautiful — things you use
Directors Club Medal for a giant shoe adver- every day and never think about."
tisement, and it him to begin to paint
inspired In 1964, he established his first studio,
three years later. The department store Lord & called the Factory, where he could mass-pro-
Taylor bought his enlarged painting of the duce assignments using a photographic silk
comic-strip hero Dick Tracy to display in their screen process. Influenced by everything
window in 1961. This launched his career as a around him, he was inspired by signs and
pop artist. advertisements he saw in supermarkets and on
According to Warhol, he painted what he the street, turning the common and mundane
did because he had no ideas of his own. He into art. Warhol observed that "in the future,
began to do stencil pictures of money because everybody will be famous for fifteen minutes."
an art dealer had told him to paint whatever Exploring new avenues, he began a magazine,
was most important to him. Recalling his Interview, which published illustrated articles
fondness for soup, eating the same soup lunch about current celebrities.
in his mother's kitchen for twenty years, he Turning to filmmaking, he produced a

painted rows of cans of Campbell Soup, pro- series of movies, including Empire (1964?) and
ducing 100 Soup Cans (1962). The paintings The Chelsea Girls (1966), in which there was
were exhibited the next year and were noted as no action or plot. He then published some of
being his most successful commercial items. A his works in the book Andy Warhol's Exposure
similar famous work consisted of multiple (1980). In 1994, the Andy Warhol Museum,
images of film star Marilyn Monroe. Warhol the largest single artist museum in the United
defended his art by stating, "I paint things 1 States, opened in Pittsburgh.
107
TRIVIA QUIZ
1. Many artists have achieved fame for their 7. Artists often go to extreme lengths to
self-portrait. Which artist was supposedly depict a subject. What artist, famous for
condemned for blasphemy by introducing being the first female to receive the
his portrait onto sculpture, and which Legion of Honor, went to unique mea
artist did actually paint his image among sures to paint her subject? What were
the famous personages depicted in fres- those measures? (See page 47)
coes for the Vatican Palace?
(See pages 8 and 20) 8. Individual style is important to artists.
What two unique methods did Leonardo

2. What two women revolutionized the art da Vinci incorporate into his famous
world by joining the impressionist move- Mona Lisa, and how did they work?
ment? What was the main subject of their (See page 16)
work? (See pages 58 and 61)
9. Few artists achieve fame in their lifetime.
3. Nicknames that allude to their profession, What was Elisabetta Sirani's fame as an
the profession of their fathers, the name artist, and how did she prove herself?
of the people they were apprenticed to, (See page 34)

or the place of their birth were often
bestowed on artists. Which artist invented 10. What was Hogarth's Act, and when was
a name in order to obtain better pay? it established? (See page 36)
(See page 105)
11. What label was given to Washington
4. Who was responsible for creating the Allston, and what art movement did he
symbol of authority and a model for introduce? (See page 43)
domes throughout the Western world?
(See page 18) 12. What artist was the only one to exhibit in
all eight impressionist shows? What was

5. What was Andy Warhol's famous predic- this artist's motto? (See page 51)
tion for people in the future?
(See page 107) 13. What painting gave birth to the move-
ment known as impressionism? Who
6. Photographers often capture a moment was the artist? (See page 57)
on film. Techniques are employed to cap-
ture models at their best. What tech 14. What is pointillism? Who originated it?
niques did Mathew Brady employ and (See page 64)

what were the effects? (See page 48)
108
TRIVIA QUIZ
15. Where is Mount Rushmore? Whose heads 19. What painting was the precursor of the
are carved on it, and what was the name pop art movement of the 1960s? Describe
of the artist that created it? (See page 74) the painting. (See page 92)
16. What turned Henri Matisse towards an 20. What is action painting? To whose art
artistic career? What term was appUed to work was the term first applied to? (See
him and later to the entire group? "WTiat page 99)
does the term mean? (See page 75)
21. Who was the first photographer to exhib-
17. Who created the art form known as col- it at the Louvre museum in Paris? What
lage? How was it created? (See page 78) agency did he found and what purpose
did it serve? (See page 102)
18. What Broadway musical was inspired by

Marc Chagall? (See page 87)
SUGGESTED PROJECTS
1. In our modern times it is difficult to imag- 2. Many people are in awe of Michelangelo,
ine the materials artists used in the past to who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
create art, from cavemen who used berries to on his back. To capture the feeling of this
make paint to the ancient artists whose only incredible feat, try to paint or draw a picture
tools were primitive oil colors. To understand on a piece of paper taped to the underside of
and appreciate the tools available to artists to a table. Lie on your back and begin.
express themselves, tr)' painting, drawing, or
creating a sculpture using materials normally

not thought of as means to draw or paint.
Some examples are ground beets as paint and
burnt tree bark for charcoal drawings.
109
93 , 1
INDEX
100 Soup Cans 107 Blue Boy 39 Claudel, Comille 70 Donatello 1 1
Blue Nude 75 Cloudel, Paul 70 Dream 60

Academie Colarossi 62 Blue Period 78 Club Night 80 Duchamp, Marcel 86, 89
Academie Suisse 51 55, Blue Rider 73, 77 Coleridge, Samuel T. 43 Duchomp-Villon, Raymond
Acropolis 8 Boating Party 61 Compony of Captain Frons 86
Adoration of the Magi 15, Boccioni, Umberto 79 Banning Cocq 33 Durer, Albrecht 1 7
16, 17, 32 Bonheur, Marie 47 Composition VIII No. 260, Dyck, Anthony van 29, 3
Aesop 24 Bonnot, Le6n 69 73
Age of Bronze 56 Book of Job 42 Concerning the Spiritual in Ecole des Beaux-Arts 5 1
Agony in tfie Garden 1 3 Borglum, Gufzon 74 Art 73 54, 56, 64, 72, 7^. 76
Aha Oe Feii 62 Botticelli 15 Constructiivism Suspended in Eggbeoter No. 92 1
Allegri, Antonio 21 Boy Pinched by Crayfish 25 Space 90 El Greco 26, 32

Washington 43
Allston, Brady, Mothew 48 Corot, Jeon-Boptiste-Camille Elevation of the Cross 29
American Amateur Braque, Georges 78, 81 51, 58 Elizobeth QueenII, of
Photography 71 Brenton, Thomas Hart 104 Correggio 21 England 90
Analysis of Beauty 36 Breton, Andre 101 Courier's Nop on the Trail Embarkation for Cytherea 35
Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp Bride Stripped Bare by Her 66 Eugenie, Empress of France
33 Bachelors 86 Cow's Skull— Red, White 47
Angel Concert for Madonna Broken Column 101 and Blue 88 Exhibition of Painting 9
19 Bronco Buster 66 Cozad, Robert Henry 72 Eyck, Jon van 1 2
Anguissola, Amilcore 25 Browning, Robert 46 Cradle 58
Anguissola, Sofonisba 25 Brunelleschi, Fllippo 1 1 Creation of Adam and Eve Fall of Man 14, 17
Animol Sketching 95 Burial of Count Orgaz 26 18 False Mirror 94
Annunciation 1 Burke, Edmund 38 Crucifix 10 Farmer's Wife 91
Apocalypse of St. John 1 7 Bus 101 Cry 68 fauve 75, 76, 81
Arcimboldo, Giuseppe 24 Bust of Bindo Aldoviti 22 Cubi 100 Federal Arts Project 92,
Armory Show 75, 80, 82, Cunningham, Imogen 83 100
86,92 Colder, Alexander 95 Ferdinand I 24
ars novo 1 2 Camera Notes 71 Do Vinci, Leonardo 16, 17, fete golante 35
art spirit 72 Cameron, Julia 46 20, 21, 86 Fiddler on the Roof 87
Assumption of the Virgin Canal, Giovanni Antonio 37 dado 86, 89 Filipepi, Allesondro 15
21, 26 Conoletto 37 daguerreotype 48 Follies 40
Athens 8 Capo, Robert 102, 105 Doli, Salvador 98 Fontano, Lovinio 27
atmospheric perspective 1 2 capricii 37 Dante 10, 50 Forces of a Street 79
Autumn Rhythm 104 Caravaggio 28, 29, 30, 32 Darwin, Charles 46 Foundation and Manifesto
Avenue de I'Opero 51 Cord Players 55 Daumier, Honore 45 of Futurism 79
Carriage Light 91 David 1 1 Fra Filippo Lippi 1 5
Bacchus 32 Cortier-Bresson, Henri 102, Davis, Stuart 92 Francis I, King of France 22
Bacon, Francis 103 105 De Creeft, Jose 95 Franco-Prussian War 54
Bollo, Giocomo 79 Cartier-Bresson's France De Kooning, Willem 99 French Revolution 41
Basket of Bread 98 102 Dead Life 68 Freud, Sigmund 98
Baskin, Leonard 106 Mary 61
Cassatt, Dead Man 87 Friedman, Endre Erno 105
Bother in the Woods 51 Number
Cathedral, 1 104 Dead Man Restored to Life From Delacroix to Nea
Bathers 59, 64 CBS 83, 94 by Touching the Bones Impressionism 67
Battle of the Centaurs 1 8 Cellini, Benvenuto 22 43
ofElija Futuristic Paintings and
Bauhaus School of Art 73, Cesare Borgia 6 1 Dead Mother 68 Sculptures 79
77 Cezanne, Paul 55, 59, 81, Dead Souls 87
Beato Beatrix 50 85, 89 Death Chamber 68 Gobo, Noum 90
Beckmann, Max 84 Chagall, Marc 87 Death of the Chief 74 Gainsborough, Thomas 31,
Belgium 12, 14, 31, 63 Charles I in Hunting Dress Degas, Edgar 54, 61, 67, 39
Bellelli family 54 31 69 Gargantua 45
Bellini, Gentile 1 Charles I, King of England Del Verrocchio, Andrea 16 Gorrick, David 38
Bellini, Giovanni 1 3 30, 31 Departure 84 Gates of Hell 56, 70
Bellini, Jacopo 1 3 Charles III, King of Spain Descent from the Cross 29 Gauguin, Paul 62, 63, 67,
Bellows, George 72, 80 40 Development of a Bottle in 68
Belshazzor's Feast 43 Charles the Bold 14 Space 79 Gehenna Press 106
Birds of America 44 Chess Players 86 Di Betto Bardi, Donoto di Gentileschi, Artemisia 30
Birth of Venus 15 chiaroscuro 16, 33 Niccolo 1 1 Gentle Art of Making
Bishop, Isabel 97 Christ 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, Di Chirico, Giorgio 94 Enemies 53
Block Iris 88 23 Dioghilev, Sergei 75 George II, King of England
Blake, William 42 Christ on the Cross 35 Diaz, Porfirio 85 36
Bloue Reiter 73, 77 Cimabue 10 Discourses 38 George III, King of
Blood is Sweeter than City Rises 79 Divine Comedy 1 England 37, 39
Honey 98 Civil War 48 Dog Barking at the Moon 91 Ghent Altarpiece 12
110
Ghiberti, Lorenzo 1 1 Joseph 33 Her Children 59 Night 71
Ghirlandaio, Domenico 1 8 Jefferson, Thomas 74 Madonna Enthroned 10 Night Watch 33
Giorgione 1 3 John I 12 Madonna of the Stairs 1 8 Nighthawks 82
Giotto 10 Johnson, Samuel 38 Madonna of the Trees 1 3 Nocturne in Black ond Gold:
Gloucester Terrace 92 Joseph Greeting his Brothers Madonna with Canon van Falling Rocket 53
God Separating Light From 98 der Paele 1 2 Nude Descending
Dorkness 1 Judgment of Paris 29 Magnum Photos 102, 105 Staircase 86
Goes, Hugo von der 14 Judith and Holofernes 1 1 Magritte, Rene Fronôis 94 Nude Descenchng
Gogol, Nikolai 87 Judith with her Maidservant Man Leaning on a Parapet Staircase No. 2 86
Goya, Francisco de 26, 40, 30 64
80 Jupiter and Antiope 21 Man of Sorrows 1 3 O'Keeffe, Georgio 88
Grandma Moses 65 Jupiter and lo 21 Man with a Broken Nose Oedipus and Sphinx 49
Great Death Scene 84 56 Old Clown 76
Greece 8, 9 Kahio, Frida 85, 101 Mandolin and Clarinet 78 Old Guitarist 78
Green Dress 57 Kondinsky, Wassily 73, 77 Manet, Edouord 52, 57, Old Oats Bucket 65
Grijnewald, Matthias 19 90 58 Olympia 52
Guernica 78 Kitchen Table 55 Montegna, Andrea 1 Once Emerged from the
Guggenheim, Solomon 73 Klee, Paul 73, 77 Marble Faun 9 Gray of Night 77
guild 14, 29, 31 Knockout 80 Marie Antoinette, Queen Ornithological Biography
of France 41 44
Harlot's Progress 36 La Gioconda 16 Marlnetti, Filippo Tommaso Out for the Christmas Tree
Hawthorne, Nathaniel 9 La Goulue at the Moulin 79 65
Head of a Woman 78 Rouge 69 Marsh at Dawn 83 Outdoor Lunchroom 97
Head of Blake 1 06 Ladies' Home Journal 93 Mary 1
Henderson, Joseph 104 Lamentation 14 Mary Magdolene at the Painting 99, 103
Henri, Robert 72, 80, 82, Landscape at Blainville 86 House of Simon Parliamentary Idylls 45
92, 97 Large Gloss 86 Pharisee 50 Parthenon 8
Henry Ford Hospital 101 LastJudgment 8, 26 1 Masked Image 104 Pausanios 8, 9
Henry III, King of France 23 LastSupper 6 1 Matisse, Henri 49, 75 People of Moscow 1 02
Hermes Holding the Infant Laughing Boy 72 Maximillian II 24 Pericles 8
Dionysos 9 Le dejeuner sur I'herbe 52 Medals for Dishonor 100 Perseus 22
Herschell, John Frederick Le Douanier 60 Medici 14, 15 Persistence of Memory 98
William 46 Lebrun, Elisabeth Louise Medici, Duke Cosimo de 22 Perugino 20
Hill 89 Vigee 41 Medici, Lorenzo de 15, 18 Pevsner, Naum 90
Hogarth, William 36 Lebrun, Jean-Boptiste Pierre Medusa 28 Phidias 8
Hokusai 63 41 Melencoli I 1 7 Philip IV King of Spain 32
Honorable Augustus Keppel Lectures in Art 43 Michelangelo 18, 20, 21, Philip the Good 1
38 Lee, Robert E. 74 22, 23, 25, 26, 29, II, King of Spain
Phillip 25
Hopper, Edward 72, 82 Legion of Honor 47, 52, 56,96 Photography as a Profession
horror vacui 26 61, 76 Mir6, Joan 73, 91 for Women 83
Horse Fair 47 Lenin, Vladimir 85 Mocking of Christ 19 Piazza Son Morco 37
House ot L'Estaque 81 LeoX 20 Mono Lisa 1 6, 86 Picador 78
House by the Railroad 82 Les Demoiselles d'Avignon Monet, Claude 57, 59, 73, Picasso, Pablo 60, 71, 78,
House of the Hanged Man, 78 91 81, 91, 100, 103

Auvers 55 Life of Benvenuto Cellini 22 Monroe, Marilyn 07 1 Pieta 18
Hudibras 36 Lincoln, Abraham 48, 74 Moore, Henry 96 Pink Lady 99
Hunt, Holmon 50 Lives of the Painters, Moreau, Gustove 49, 75, Pink Landscape 99
and
Sculptors 76 Pissarro, Camille 51,55,
Ibsen, Henrik 68 Architects 25 Morisot, Berthe 58 59, 62, 67
Idylls of the King 46 Longfellow, Henry Morse, Samuel F.B. 43 Pius XII 76
Impression, Sunrise 57 Wodsworth 46 Moses, Anna Mary Plato 20
Independent Artist Exhibition Look 93 Robertson 65 Pliny 8
72 Los Coprichos 40 Moulin de la Galette 59 Plowing in Nivernois 47

107 Louis Philippe, King of Mount Rushmore 74 Pollock, Paul Jackson 104
Interview
Isenheim Altarpiece 19 France 45 Multiple Views 92 Pope Gregory XIII 27
King of France 16 Munch, Edvord 68 Pope Julius 18, 20II
Italy 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, Louis XII,
Louvre 47, 53, 54, 56, 59, My Adventures as an Pope Pius IV 25

16, 17, 20, 21, 22,
81, 102 Illustrator 93 Port St. Tropez 67
23, 25, 26, 27, 28,
Madame X 76 Mystic Nativity 5 Portinari Altarpiece 14
29, 30, 37 Lovely 1
Lucky Strike92 Portrait of a Lady with a

Lugubrious 98 Napoleon 47 Lop Dog 27
Jackson Pollock: III
Psychoanalytic Negro Head 90 Portrait of o Man and His

Ma 87 Niethordt, Mathis Gothardt Wife 33
Drawings 104 Vie
Madame Chorpentier and 19 Portrait of a Roman 56
Jacob Blessing the Sons of
111
9 6 5
Portrait of Helen of Troy 98 Sunday Afternoon on the Saints 1 3

Portrait of Innocent X 103 St. Francis 1 3 Island of La Grande Vision of a Knight 20
Portrait of Mrs. Henri 72 St. John 10 Jatte 64 Vollord, Ambroise 76
Portrait of tfie Marquise de St. John the Evangelist 1 1 Surprised! Tropical Storm
Jaucourt 41 St. Matthev/ 28 with a Tiger 60 Waiting 97
Portrait of the Painter in St. Peter's Basilica 18, 20 Surrender of Breda 32 Warhol, Andy 1 07
Old Age 33 Salon 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, Swing 59 Washington, George 74
Portraits 102 58, 59, 61, 62, 64 Sylphs of the Seasons and Water Seller of Seville 32
Potato Eaters 63 Salon d'Automne 75, 76 Other Poems 43 Watteau, Jean-Antoine 29,
Praxiteles 9 Salon des Independants 67, 35
Pre-Rapfiaelite 46, 50 81 Technical Manifesto of Wove 99
Prodigal Son 56 Salon des Refuses 52, 57, Futuristic Painting 79 Wells, H. G. 80
Project for a Monument for 61 Temptation and the Fall of West, Benjamin 43
a Pfiysics Observatory Sand, George 47 Adam and Eve 1 8 Whistler, James Abbott
90 Santi, Rofaello 20 Temptation of Christ 15 McNeill 53, 69
Prometfieus 1 06 Sanzio,Rafaello 20 Tennyson, Lord Alfred 46 White Cockatoo 104
Prophet 106 Saturday Evening Post 93 Terminal 71 White Girl 53
Propylcea 8 Development of
Scientific terribilita 18 Wilkes, John 36
Punishment of the Sons of Photography 83 Thanksgiving Turkey 65 William Robertson 38
Corah 15 Scream 68 Theotocopuli, Domenico 26 Woman 91
Second of May 808 40 1 Therapeutic II 94 Woman 99 I
Queen of Hearts 99 Secret Life of Salvador Dali Thinker 56 Woman with the Hat 75
98 Third Class Carriage45 Women 99
Rodnitsky, Emmanuel 89 Self Portrait 25, 89 Threatening Weather 94 Woods Beyond the World
Rake's Progress 36 Self Portrait with Bandaged Threshing Floor 85 83
Raphael 20, 21, 46, 50 Ear 63 Tintoretto 23, 38
Ray, Man 89 Seurat, Georges 64, 67 Titian 13, 21, 23, 26 Young and Death 49
ready-made 86 sfumato 1 Torso 1 06 Young Girl with a Sheaf 70
Realistic Manifesto 90 Shelter Sketches 96 Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de Young Woman Dressing for
Rebelais 45 Sick Child 68 38, 39 a Ball 58
Reclining Woman 96 Siddons, Sarah 38 Tragic Muse 38 Young Woman in Black 72
Red and White Domes 77 Signac, Paul 62, 64, 67 Traits pour ( Line by Line) Youth of Moses 1
Red Vineyard at Aries 63 Sirani, Elisabetta 34 102

Rembrandt 33 Sirani, Giovanni Andrea 34 Triptych, May-June 1973 Zola, Emile 55
Remington, Frederic 66 Sisters 58 103
Renoir, Auguste 29, 57, 59 SistineChapel 8 1 Trotsky, 05
Leon 1
Representatives Represented Sky Above Clouds 88 Truman, Harry S. 65

45 Smith, David Roland 100 Two Calla Lilies on Pink 88
Resting Satyr 9 Societe des Artistes Two Collas 83
Resurrection 1 Independants 64 Two Girls 97
Revolving Doors 89 Socrates 20 Two Men Meet, Each
Reynolds, Joshua 31,38, Song of Love 94 Believing the Other to
39 Songs of Experience 42 be of Higher Rank 77
Rivera, Diego 85, 101 Songs of Innocence 42 Two Photographers 83
Road Near L'Estaque 81 Souvenirs 41 Two Tahitian Women 62
Robert Macaire 45 Souvenirs intimes 76
Robusti, Jacopo 23 Stag Night at Sharkey's 80 Universe 95
Rockefeller, Nelson 65 Stage Coach 74
Rockwell, Norman 93 Starry Night 63 Van der Goes, Hugo 4 1
Rodin, Auguste 56, 70, 74 State of Mind 79 Van Dyck, Anthony 25, 31
Rome 9, 10, 15, 20, 22, Steichen, Edward 71 Van Eyck,. Jon 2 1
27, 28, 35, 37, 54 Stieglitz, Alfred 71, 86, 88, Van Gogh, Vincent 63, 85,
Roosevelt, Franklin D. 92 89 91
Roosevelt, Theodore 66, 74 Still Life 77 Velazquez, Diego 26, 32,
Rose Period 78 Still Life Against the Light of 40, 103
Rossetti,Dante Gabriel 50 1899 75 Venetian Boy 71
Rouault, Georges 49, 76 Still Life with Choir — Caning View of Port Marseilles 67
Rousseau, Henri 60 78 Vigee, Louis 41
Royal Bird 100 Still Life with Old Shoe 91 Vigee-Lebrun, Elizabeth 41
Rubens, Peter Paul 29, 31, Stone Mason's Yard 37 Village 89
32, 35 Stoning of St. Stephen 27 Villon, Jacques 86
Rudolph II, King of Stories of St. Zenobius 15 Violin and Candlestick 81
Hapsburg 24 Story of Creation 20 Violin d'Ingres 89
Ruskin, John 53 Sugaring Off 65 Virgin and Child and Four
112
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BAKER & TAYLOR

ftKHaiiB»a<9BiNara
People wnb
CHangecf^ rH
^HE^
Now, from the publishers of The World Almanac, comes an exciting,

wide-ranging look at the men and women who have had the most profound
impact on the shape of world history — from scientists and artists to military
and world leaders. Each title in the People Who Changed the World stnts
contains capsule biographies that mix the essential accomplishments of their
subjects with fascinating, lesser known details. Arranged chronologically and
covering all corners of the globe, these one-page entries will appeal to readers
who want a sweeping view of world history, as well as those who just want to
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From the ancient Greek sculptor Phidias to the twentieth-century
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artist Andy Warhol, 100 Artists Who Changed the World takes readers on a
.kaleidoscopic journey through the history of painting, sculpture, and
photography. Learri. about tlie Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn and the
Fre;rieh sjeulpior Camille Claudel. Find out how Pablo Picasso created new
wayS:of |)ainting, how FridarKahlo challenged social stereotypes, and much
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

p. cm. — (People who changed the world)

This North American edition first published in 2003 by

Editor: Richard Michaels

Printed in the United States of America

Santa Barbara and is a freelance writer and editor.

6. 11. 16. 21.

»» >1» »1>~> 1600 AD

26. REMBRANDT 33 39. JULL\ CAMERON -^(J

78. DIEGO RIVERA 85 91. SALVADOR DALI 98

1898-1976 TRIVL\ QUIZ 108

>»1 »1^ 1928

Allston, Washington DaH, Salvador (91) p. 98 O'KeefFe, Georgia (81) p. 88

(36) p.43 Daumier, Honore (38) p. 45 Phidias (1) p. 8

Anguissola, Sofonisba Da Vinci, Leonardo (9) ....p. 16 Picasso, Pablo (71) p. 78

(18) p. 25 Davis, Stuart (85) p. 92 Pissarro, Camille (44) p. 51

(17) p.24 Degas, Edgar (47) p. 54 Praxiteles (2) p. 9

Canaleno (30) p. 37 Kandinsky, Wassily (66) ...p. 73 Stieglitz, Alfred (64) p. 71

Capa, Robert (98) p. 105 Klee, Paul (70) p. 77 Tintoretto (16) p. 23

Cartier-Bresson, Henri Magritte, Rene (87) p. 94 (62) p. 69

Cezanne, Paul (48) p. 55 Miro, Joan (84) p. 91 VanEyck,Jan (5) p. 12

Chagall, Marc (80) p. 87 Moore, Henry (89) p. 96 Velazquez, Diego (25) p. 32

Cunningham, Imogen Moses, Grandma (58) p. 65 (28) p. 35

Phidias exerted a large artistic influence beauty.

ed on a dais, holding a scepter in his left: hand,

with enamel is used for the drapery.

his own portrait on the shield of the goddess

At a time when sculptors were simply entre-

preneurs operating shops in the marketplace

Concentrating on marble statues, he set

the precedent for style and content that

er-known deities, such as Aphrodite,

Greek works. and one of the earliest Greek statues of a female

ficiency of the instrument with which

who broke away from the formalism of

and fictitious representations of nature.

ing conventional design with a more

and the verb means The suffix

the viewer imagining Donatello's career is

what seemed to be there. normally divided into

into the clay, using pro- period comprises the

the son of a wool comber, ring to a style invoking

an apprentice to the time was St. John the

church, to sculpture that glorified man as a Donatello emphasized art as a reproduction

negotiate a marriage between Philip and

Van Eyck represented the new artist — the

In 1430, he settled for good in Brugge, where

time. Van Eyck was also a chemist of sorts, and

into the sixteenth century.

Giovanni Bellini, the Italian painter from

his father in the family workshop. By twenty-

than emphasis on line, defined his sensitivity

vices of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy,

Despite his worldly success, he retired to the

Florence, Italy. As one circle at the court of

reflected the popular enced by philoso-

withdrawing into itself influence, he recon-

name of the goldsmith to The Birth of

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