The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (476 page)
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Authors: Ian Chilvers
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Thomson , Tom
(1877–1917).
Canadian landscape painter, one of the main creators of an indigenous Canadian school of painting. Most of his career was spent as a commercial artist in Toronto, and it was only in 1914 that he was able to take up painting full time. Much of his painting was done out of doors, notably the fluently spontaneous oil sketches he produced in Algonquin Park. Among his more finished paintings, the most famous is the bold and brilliantly coloured
Jack Pine
(NG, Ottawa, 1917), which has become virtually a national symbol of Canada. Thomson's career ended tragically when he was mysteriously drowned in Algonquin Park, but his ideals were continued by the artists who formed the
Group of Seven
, to whom he was an inspiration.
Canadian landscape painter, one of the main creators of an indigenous Canadian school of painting. Most of his career was spent as a commercial artist in Toronto, and it was only in 1914 that he was able to take up painting full time. Much of his painting was done out of doors, notably the fluently spontaneous oil sketches he produced in Algonquin Park. Among his more finished paintings, the most famous is the bold and brilliantly coloured
Jack Pine
(NG, Ottawa, 1917), which has become virtually a national symbol of Canada. Thomson's career ended tragically when he was mysteriously drowned in Algonquin Park, but his ideals were continued by the artists who formed the
Group of Seven
, to whom he was an inspiration.
Thoré , Théophile
(1807–69).
French writer on art. He ranks alongside
Baudelaire
as the most perceptive art critic of his time (he was among the first to acclaim
Courbet
,
Daumier
,
Manet
,
Monet
, and
Renoir
and to see the weakness of
Meissonier
), and he also made memorable contributions to the study of earlier art. Above all, he is remembered for virtually rediscovering
Vermeer
, a brilliant feat of connoisseurship and historical detective work. He was originally a political journalist and he published much of his work under the pseudonym W. Bürger when he was living in exile.
French writer on art. He ranks alongside
Baudelaire
as the most perceptive art critic of his time (he was among the first to acclaim
Courbet
,
Daumier
,
Manet
,
Monet
, and
Renoir
and to see the weakness of
Meissonier
), and he also made memorable contributions to the study of earlier art. Above all, he is remembered for virtually rediscovering
Vermeer
, a brilliant feat of connoisseurship and historical detective work. He was originally a political journalist and he published much of his work under the pseudonym W. Bürger when he was living in exile.
Thornhill , Sir James
(1675/6–1734).
English decorative painter. He was the only British painter of his day successfully to emulate the European formulas for wall and ceiling painting and to challenge on their own ground the many foreign decorative painters then at work in England. His two finest works are the
grisaille
paintings on the Life of St Paul (1716–19) in the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, London (he beat
Pellegrini
and Sebastiano
Ricci
in the competition for the commission), and the Painted Hall at Greenwich Hospital, on which he worked intermittently from 1708 to 1727. Thornhill was appointed History Painter to George I in 1718 and Serjeant-Painter in 1720, was knighted in 1722, and elected Member of Parliament in the same year.
Hogarth
was his son-in-law.
English decorative painter. He was the only British painter of his day successfully to emulate the European formulas for wall and ceiling painting and to challenge on their own ground the many foreign decorative painters then at work in England. His two finest works are the
grisaille
paintings on the Life of St Paul (1716–19) in the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, London (he beat
Pellegrini
and Sebastiano
Ricci
in the competition for the commission), and the Painted Hall at Greenwich Hospital, on which he worked intermittently from 1708 to 1727. Thornhill was appointed History Painter to George I in 1718 and Serjeant-Painter in 1720, was knighted in 1722, and elected Member of Parliament in the same year.
Hogarth
was his son-in-law.
Thorn-Prikker , Johan
(1868–1932).
Dutch painter and designer. Early in his career he passed through phases of
Impressionism
and
Post-Impressionism
, then changed to an elaborate linear style with which he became a leading exponent of
Symbolism
and
Art Nouveau
, as in his most famous painting—the mystical, erotic
The Bride
(Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, 1893). From 1893 he concentrated on the design of mosaics, murals, and stained glass, mainly for churches, continuing in this vein after he settled in Germany in 1904. He taught at several art schools in Germany and was a major figure in the development of modern religious art. His masterpiece is perhaps the cycle of windows in the Romanesque church of St George in Cologne, completed in 1930.
Dutch painter and designer. Early in his career he passed through phases of
Impressionism
and
Post-Impressionism
, then changed to an elaborate linear style with which he became a leading exponent of
Symbolism
and
Art Nouveau
, as in his most famous painting—the mystical, erotic
The Bride
(Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, 1893). From 1893 he concentrated on the design of mosaics, murals, and stained glass, mainly for churches, continuing in this vein after he settled in Germany in 1904. He taught at several art schools in Germany and was a major figure in the development of modern religious art. His masterpiece is perhaps the cycle of windows in the Romanesque church of St George in Cologne, completed in 1930.
Thornycroft , Sir Hamo
(1850–1925).
British sculptor, one of the leading exponents of the
New Sculpture
. Early in his career he concentrated on idealized figures in which he expressed a ‘poetic mood’ praised by the critic Edmund Gosse; the best-known example is probably
The Mower
(Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1884; there are also several small-scale versions). From the 1890s, however, he was increasingly preoccupied with portrait sculpture and above all public monuments, becoming perhaps the most distinguished British practitioner in this field in the early 20th cent. His statues, dignified and thoughtful in tone, include those of Oliver Cromwell outside the Houses of Parliament, London (unveiled 1899), Alfred the Great in Winchester (1901), Gladstone in the Strand, London (1905), Lord Armstrong in Newcastle upon Tyne (1906), Lord Curzon in Calcutta (1912), and Edward VII in Karachi (1915). These are all in bronze, but he also worked in stone.
Both his father,
Thomas Thornycroft
(1816–85), and his mother,
Mary Thornycroft
(1809–95), were sculptors. They were primarily portraitists, but Thomas is now chiefly remembered for his dramatic Boadicea monument at Westminster Bridge, London, showing the fearsome warrior queen in her chariot. He began work on the group in 1856 and was encouraged by Prince Albert , who lent him horses as models. The plaster model was complete at Thornycroft's death, but it was not cast in bronze until 1897, after his son had presented it to the nation, and it was finally erected in 1902.
British sculptor, one of the leading exponents of the
New Sculpture
. Early in his career he concentrated on idealized figures in which he expressed a ‘poetic mood’ praised by the critic Edmund Gosse; the best-known example is probably
The Mower
(Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1884; there are also several small-scale versions). From the 1890s, however, he was increasingly preoccupied with portrait sculpture and above all public monuments, becoming perhaps the most distinguished British practitioner in this field in the early 20th cent. His statues, dignified and thoughtful in tone, include those of Oliver Cromwell outside the Houses of Parliament, London (unveiled 1899), Alfred the Great in Winchester (1901), Gladstone in the Strand, London (1905), Lord Armstrong in Newcastle upon Tyne (1906), Lord Curzon in Calcutta (1912), and Edward VII in Karachi (1915). These are all in bronze, but he also worked in stone.
Both his father,
Thomas Thornycroft
(1816–85), and his mother,
Mary Thornycroft
(1809–95), were sculptors. They were primarily portraitists, but Thomas is now chiefly remembered for his dramatic Boadicea monument at Westminster Bridge, London, showing the fearsome warrior queen in her chariot. He began work on the group in 1856 and was encouraged by Prince Albert , who lent him horses as models. The plaster model was complete at Thornycroft's death, but it was not cast in bronze until 1897, after his son had presented it to the nation, and it was finally erected in 1902.
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