The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (231 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists
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Huguet , Jaime
(active
c.
1448–92).
Spanish painter, the most prominent figure in the Catalan School during the second part of the 15th cent. Huguet is thought to have settled in Barcelona about 1448. He continued the Catalan tradition of Bernardo
Martorell
, but was highly individual in his characterization. His studio produced many sumptuous composite altarpieces of the type that became typical in Spanish art and his work exercised a wide influence on the painting of Catalonia and Aragón.
Humphry , Ozias
(1742–1810).
English portrait painter. He worked for a time as a
miniaturist
in Bath, but settled in London in 1763 on the encouragement of
Reynolds
. In 1772 a riding accident which affected his eyes made it necessary for him to abandon miniatures and after a visit to Italy with
Romney
in 1773–7 he practised in oils. From 1785 to 1788 he was in India, where he resumed miniature painting, but again he found the work too great a strain. He then took up pastel and in this medium was highly successful (being given the title of Portrait Painter in Crayons to His Majesty in 1792) until he went blind in 1797. Examples of his work are in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Hundertwasser , Fitz
(Friedrich Stowasser )
(1928– ).
Austrian painter and graphic artist. He took the name Hundertwasser in 1949, translating the syllable ‘sto’ (which means ‘hundred’ in Czech) by the German ‘hundert’. From about 1969 he signed his work ‘Friedensreich Hundertwasser’, symbolizing by the word ‘Friedensreich’ (Kingdom of Peace) his boast that by his painting he would introduce the observer into a new life of peace and happiness. He often added ‘Regenstag’ (Rainy Day) to the name—making it in full ‘Friedensreich Hundertwasser Regenstag’—on the ground that he felt happy on rainy days because colours then began to sparkle and glow. This exaggerated concern with the name is a symptom of the braggadocio, conceit, and talent for self-advertisement that are apparent in his work as well as his life. Standing outside most contemporary artistic movements, though borrowing from many, he works mainly on a small scale, often in watercolour. His work has sometimes been compared with that of
Klee
and
Klimt
, but although it is in the same tradition of figurative fantasy it lacks their elegance and wit. In his concern with the dehumanizing aspects of 20th-cent. society, he has been an outspoken critic of modern architecture and his recent work has included the design of an idiosyncratic, multi-coloured, fairytale-like housing unit in Vienna (completed 1986).
Hunt , William Holman
(1827–1910).
English painter, co-founder of the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
in 1848. He was the only member of the Brotherhood who throughout his entire career remained faithful to Pre-Raphaelite aims, which he summarized as finding serious and genuine ideas to express, direct study from nature in disregard of all arbitrary rules, and envisaging events as they must have happened rather than in accordance with the rules of design. Hunt's work was remarkable for its minute precision, its accmulation of incident, and its didactic emphasis on moral or social symbolism, and from 1854 he made several journeys to Egypt and Palestine to paint biblical scenes with accurate local detail.
The Scapegoat
(Lady Lever Art Gal., Port Sunlight, 1854–5), showing the outcast animal on the shore of the Dead Sea, is one of the most famous paintings that resulted from his fanatical devotion to authenticity. His colour tends to be painfully harsh and his sentiment mawkish, but he created some of the most enduring images of the Victorian age, among them
The Hireling Shepherd
(Manchester City Art Gallery, 1851),
The Awakening Conscience
(Tate Gallery, London, 1853), and
The Light of the World
(Keble College, Oxford, 1851–3; a smaller version is in Manchester City Art Gallery, and a larger replica, begun in 1899, is in St Paul's Cathedral, London). Like the other Pre-Raphaelites, Hunt suffered critical attacks early in his career, but the moral earnestness of his work later made it immensely popular with the Victorian public and he made a fortune from the sale of engravings of his paintings. In old age he became a patriarchal figure in the art world and he was awarded the Order of Merit in 1905. In the same year he published his autobiographical
Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
, which is the basic source book of the movement, though somewhat biased.
Hunter , Leslie
.

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