The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (266 page)
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Authors: Ian Chilvers
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Lear , Edward
(1812–88).
English artist, author, and traveller. Although he is now remembered principally for his nonsense poems and as the popularizer of the limerick, he earned his living mainly through drawing and painting. He began his career as a draughtsman for the Zoological Society, but when the exacting work began to affect his eyesight he turned to topographical painting in the 1830s, initially in watercolour and later in oils. His style is very clear and brightly lit. He travelled widely and published several illustrated accounts of his journeys. In 1871 he settled in San Remo, Italy.
English artist, author, and traveller. Although he is now remembered principally for his nonsense poems and as the popularizer of the limerick, he earned his living mainly through drawing and painting. He began his career as a draughtsman for the Zoological Society, but when the exacting work began to affect his eyesight he turned to topographical painting in the 1830s, initially in watercolour and later in oils. His style is very clear and brightly lit. He travelled widely and published several illustrated accounts of his journeys. In 1871 he settled in San Remo, Italy.
Lebrun , Charles
(1619–90).
French painter and art theorist, the dominant artist of Louis XIV's reign. After training with
Vouet
he went to Rome in 1642 and worked under
Poussin
, becoming a convert to the latter's theories of art. He returned to Paris in 1646. In 1662 he was raised to the nobility and named
Premier Peintre du roi
, and in 1663 he was made director of the reorganized
Gobelins
factory. Also in 1663 he was made director of the reorganized Académie, which he turned into a channel for imposing a codified system of orthodoxy in matters of art (see
ACADEMY
). His lectures came to be accepted as providing the official standards of artistic correctness and, formulated on the basis of the
classicism
of Poussin, gave authority to the view that every aspect of artistic creation can be reduced to teachable rule and precept. In 1698 his small illustrated treatise
Méthode pour apprendre è dessiner les passions
…was posthumously published; in this, again following theories of Poussin, he purported to codify the visual expression of the emotions in painting. Despite the classicism of his theories, Lebrun's own talents lay rather in the direction of flamboyant and grandiose decorative effects. Among the most outstanding of his works for the king were the Galerie d'Apollon at the
Louvre
(1663), and the famous Galerie des Glaces (1679–84) and the Great Staircase (1671–8, destroyed in 1752) at Versailles. His importance in the history of French art is twofold: his contributions to the magnificence of the
Grand Manner
of Louis XIV and his influence in laying the basis of academicism. Many of the leading French artists of the next generation trained in his studio. Lebrun was a fine portraitist and an extremely prolific draughtsman.
French painter and art theorist, the dominant artist of Louis XIV's reign. After training with
Vouet
he went to Rome in 1642 and worked under
Poussin
, becoming a convert to the latter's theories of art. He returned to Paris in 1646. In 1662 he was raised to the nobility and named
Premier Peintre du roi
, and in 1663 he was made director of the reorganized
Gobelins
factory. Also in 1663 he was made director of the reorganized Académie, which he turned into a channel for imposing a codified system of orthodoxy in matters of art (see
ACADEMY
). His lectures came to be accepted as providing the official standards of artistic correctness and, formulated on the basis of the
classicism
of Poussin, gave authority to the view that every aspect of artistic creation can be reduced to teachable rule and precept. In 1698 his small illustrated treatise
Méthode pour apprendre è dessiner les passions
…was posthumously published; in this, again following theories of Poussin, he purported to codify the visual expression of the emotions in painting. Despite the classicism of his theories, Lebrun's own talents lay rather in the direction of flamboyant and grandiose decorative effects. Among the most outstanding of his works for the king were the Galerie d'Apollon at the
Louvre
(1663), and the famous Galerie des Glaces (1679–84) and the Great Staircase (1671–8, destroyed in 1752) at Versailles. His importance in the history of French art is twofold: his contributions to the magnificence of the
Grand Manner
of Louis XIV and his influence in laying the basis of academicism. Many of the leading French artists of the next generation trained in his studio. Lebrun was a fine portraitist and an extremely prolific draughtsman.
Leck , Bart van der
(1876–1958).
Dutch painter and designer. After working for eight years in stained-glass studios, he studied painting in Amsterdam, 1900–4. His early work was influenced by
Art Nouveau
and
Impressionism
, but from about 1910 he developed a more personal style characterized by simplified and stylized forms: his work remained representational, but he eliminated perspective and reduced his figures (which included labourers, soldiers, and women going to market) to sharply delineated geometrical forms in primary colours. In 1916 he met
Mondrian
and in 1917 was one of the founders of De
Stijl
. At this time his work was purely abstract, featuring geometrically disposed bars and rectangles in a style close to Mondrian and van
Doesburg
. However, he found the dogmatism of the movement uncongenial and left it in 1918, reverting to geometrically simplified figural subjects. In the 1920s he became interested in textile design and during the 1930s and 1940s he extended his interests to ceramics and interior decoration, experimenting with the effects of colour on the sense of space. His work can best be seen at the Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo.
Dutch painter and designer. After working for eight years in stained-glass studios, he studied painting in Amsterdam, 1900–4. His early work was influenced by
Art Nouveau
and
Impressionism
, but from about 1910 he developed a more personal style characterized by simplified and stylized forms: his work remained representational, but he eliminated perspective and reduced his figures (which included labourers, soldiers, and women going to market) to sharply delineated geometrical forms in primary colours. In 1916 he met
Mondrian
and in 1917 was one of the founders of De
Stijl
. At this time his work was purely abstract, featuring geometrically disposed bars and rectangles in a style close to Mondrian and van
Doesburg
. However, he found the dogmatism of the movement uncongenial and left it in 1918, reverting to geometrically simplified figural subjects. In the 1920s he became interested in textile design and during the 1930s and 1940s he extended his interests to ceramics and interior decoration, experimenting with the effects of colour on the sense of space. His work can best be seen at the Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo.
Le Clerc , Jean
.
.
Le Corbusier
(Charles-Édouard Jeanneret )
(Charles-Édouard Jeanneret )
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