John, Augustus
John, Augustus born January 4, 1878, Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales died October 31, 1961, Fordingbridge, Hampshire, England in full Augustus Edwin John Welsh painter who was an accomplished portraitist, muralist, and draughtsman. John studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London from 1894 to 1898. By age 20 he had won a reputation as one of the most brilliant draughtsmen in England. →
Whitney, Gertrude Vanderbilt
Whitney, Gertrude Vanderbilt born January 9, 1875, New York, New York, U.S. died April 18, 1942, New York City Original name Gertrude Vanderbilt American sculptor and art patron, founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. Gertrude Vanderbilt was a great-granddaughter of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, founder of one of America's great fortunes. From her early years she was →
Moby
I had an epiphany a few years ago where I was out at a celebrity party and it suddenly dawned on me that I had yet to meet a celebrity who is as smart and interesting as any of my friends. - Moby
Modigliani, Amedeo
Modigliani, Amedeo born July 12, 1884, Livorno, Italy died January 24, 1920, Paris, France Italian painter and sculptor whose portraits and nudes—characterized by asymmetrical compositions, elongated figures, and a simple but monumental use of line—are among the most important portraits of the 20th century. Modigliani was born into a Jewish family of merchants. As a child he suffered from pleurisy and typhus, which prevented →
Sir Francis Bacon
If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties. - Sir Francis Bacon
Something to think about.
When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion. - Abraham Lincoln
Prince
Prince born June 7, 1958, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. original name Prince Rogers Nelson , formerly known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince, the Artist, and singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer, dancer, and performer on keyboards, drums, and bass who was among the most talented American musicians of his generation. Like Stevie Wonder, he was a rare composer →
Kelly, Gene
Kelly, Gene born August 23, 1912, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. died February 2, 1996, Beverly Hills, California in full Eugene Curran Kelly American dancer, actor, choreographer, and motion picture director whose athletic style of dancing, combined with classical ballet technique, transformed the movie musical and did much to change the American public's conception of male dancers. One of five children born to a →
Sontag, Susan
Sontag, Susan born January 16, 1933, New York, New York, U.S. died December 28, 2004, New York née Susan Rosenblatt American intellectual and writer best known for her essays on modern culture. Sontag (who adopted her stepfather's name) was reared in Tucson, Arizona, and in Los Angeles. She attended the University of California at Berkeley for one year and then transferred to the →
Dongen, Kees van
Dongen, Kees van born January 26, 1877, Delfshaven, Netherlands died May 28, 1968, Monte Carlo, Monaco In full Cornelis Theodorus Marie Van Dongen Dutch-born French painter and printmaker who was one of the leading Fauvists and was particularly renowned for his stylized, sensuously rendered portraits of women. Van Dongen had artistic leanings early in his youth. He attended the Royal Academy of →
Heckel, Erich
Heckel, Erich born July 31, 1883, Döbeln, Germany died January 27, 1970, Radolfzell, West Germany [now Germany] German painter, printmaker, and sculptor who was one of the founding members of Die Brücke (“The Bridgeâ€), an influential group of German Expressionist artists. He is best known for his paintings and bold woodcuts of nudes and landscapes. In 1904 Heckel began to study architecture in Dresden, →
Macke, August
Macke, August born January 3, 1887, Meschede, Germany died September 26, 1914, Perthes-les-Hurlus, France German painter who was a leader of Der Blaue Reiter (“The Blue Riderâ€), an influential group of Expressionist artists. Macke studied at the Düsseldorf Academy from 1904 to 1906. During his first trip to Paris in 1907 he was profoundly influenced by the work of the Impressionist painters, and he →
Huang Binhong
Huang Binhong born January 27, 1865, Jinhua, Zhejiang province, China died March 25, 1955, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Wade-Giles romanization Huang Pin-hung, courtesy name (zi) Pucun, literary name (hao) Yuxiang Binhong, original name Zhi painter and art theorist who, faced with the challenge of a new society in 20th-century China, incorporated fresh ideas into traditional Chinese painting. Huang's father →
Lhote, André
Lhote, André born July 5, 1885, Bordeaux, France died January 24, 1962, Paris French painter, sculptor, writer, and educator who was a prominent critic and teacher of modern art. Lhote studied decorative sculpture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux from 1898 to 1904. About 1905 he took up painting, and a year later he moved to Paris. Lhote initially painted colourful landscapes in →
Duncan, David Douglas
Duncan, David Douglas born January 23, 1916, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. American photojournalist noted for his dramatic combat photographs of the Korean War. After graduating in 1938 from the University of Miami in Florida, Duncan worked as a freelance photographer. During World War II he served with the U.S. Marine Corps, photographing aviation activities in the Pacific. In 1946 he became a staff →
Sickert, Walter Richard
Sickert, Walter Richard born May 31, 1860, Munich, Bavaria [now in Germany] died January 22, 1942, Bathampton, Somerset, England painter and printmaker who was a pivotal figure in British avant-garde painting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sickert was the son of Oswald Adalbert Sickert, a Danish-born German draftsman who settled in England in 1868. After several years working as →
Rejlander, O.G.
Rejlander, O.G. born 1813, Sweden died January 18, 1875, London, England Oscar Gustav Rejlander Swedish painter and photographer who is known as the “father of art photography.†Rejlander received his general education in Sweden, and he studied painting and sculpture in Rome. After considerable travel he settled in England and from 1853 practiced photography there. Rejlander rejected contemporary conceptions of photography as a scientific →
Combat photography
Combat photography In 1855 Roger Fenton sailed from London to the Crimea to photograph the war. He was sent to provide visual evidence countering the caustic written reports dispatched by William Russell, war correspondent for The Times of London, criticizing military mismanagement and the inadequate, unsanitary living conditions of the soldiers. Fenton had to develop his wet plates in a horse-drawn →
Shakespeare Sonnet XXXV
XXXV. No more be grieved at that which thou hast done: Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud; Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun, And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud. All men make faults, and even I in this, Authorizing thy trespass with compare, Myself corrupting, salving thy amiss, Excusing thy sins more than thy sins are; For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense-- Thy →
Krasner, Lee
Krasner, Lee born October 27, 1908, Brooklyn, New York, U.S. died June 19, 1984, New York City original name Lenore Krassner American painter recognized for her unique contribution to Abstract Expressionism. Krasner was the sixth of seven children of Jewish emigrants from Odessa, Russia (now Ukraine). When she was 13 she decided to become an artist and was admitted on her second application →
Kelly, Walt
Kelly, Walt born Aug. 25, 1913, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S. died Oct. 18, 1973, Los Angeles, Calif. byname of Walter Crawford Kelly American creator of the comic strip “Pogo,†which was noted for its sophisticated humour, gentle whimsy, and occasional pointed political satire. In 1935 Kelly went to Hollywood, where he did animation drawings for Walt Disney Productions. During the 1940s he was →
Hill, David Octavius and Adamson, Robert
Hill, David Octavius; and Adamson, Robert Respectively born 1802, Perth, Perthshire, Scotland died May 17, 1870, Newington, near Edinburgh born 1821, Berunside, Scotland died January 1848, St. Andrews Scottish photographers who collaborated to produce some of the greatest photographic portraits of the 19th century. Originally a landscape painter, Hill made a name for himself at age 19 by publishing a series of lithographic landscapes. He was →
Revere, Paul
Revere, Paul born January 1, 1735, Boston, Massachusetts [U.S.] died May 10, 1818, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. folk hero of the American Revolution whose dramatic horseback ride on the night of April 18, 1775, warning Boston-area residents that the British were coming, was immortalized in a ballad by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. His father, Apollos De Revoire (later changed to Revere), was a ** Huguenot →
Gardner, Isabella Stewart
Gardner, Isabella Stewart born April 14, 1840, New York, New York, U.S. died July 17, 1924, Boston, Massachusetts née Isabella Stewart eclectic American socialite and art collector, a patron of many arts, remembered largely for the distinctive collection of European and Asian artworks that she assembled in Boston. Isabella Stewart was the daughter of a wealthy businessman. In 1860 she married John L. →
