The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (480 page)
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Authors: Ian Chilvers
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Tobey , Mark
(1890–1976).
American painter. In 1918 he became a convert to the Baha'i faith and much of his subsequent work was inspired by an interest in Oriental art and thought. He lived mainly in Seattle, but travelled widely and from 1931 to 1938 was artist-in-residence at Dartington Hall, a progressive school in Devon, England. Following a visit to the Far East in 1934–5, he developed a distinctive style of painting that he called ‘white writing’, characterized by calligraphic white patterns overlying dimly discerned suggestions of colour beneath. Although he painted representational pictures in this style, he turned increasingly to abstractions. Their
All-over
manner anticipated and perhaps influenced Jackson
Pollock
, but unlike
Action painters
, Tobey believed that ‘painting should come through the avenues of meditation rather than the canals of action.’ Unusually for an American painter, he was more highly esteemed abroad than in his own country, and he was influential on French
Tachisme
in the 1950s. In 1960 he moved to Switzerland and settled in Basle.
American painter. In 1918 he became a convert to the Baha'i faith and much of his subsequent work was inspired by an interest in Oriental art and thought. He lived mainly in Seattle, but travelled widely and from 1931 to 1938 was artist-in-residence at Dartington Hall, a progressive school in Devon, England. Following a visit to the Far East in 1934–5, he developed a distinctive style of painting that he called ‘white writing’, characterized by calligraphic white patterns overlying dimly discerned suggestions of colour beneath. Although he painted representational pictures in this style, he turned increasingly to abstractions. Their
All-over
manner anticipated and perhaps influenced Jackson
Pollock
, but unlike
Action painters
, Tobey believed that ‘painting should come through the avenues of meditation rather than the canals of action.’ Unusually for an American painter, he was more highly esteemed abroad than in his own country, and he was influential on French
Tachisme
in the 1950s. In 1960 he moved to Switzerland and settled in Basle.
Toft , Albert
.
.
Tommaso da Modena
(
c.
1325–79).
Italian painter, one of the leading artists of his day in northern Italy. His earthy, humane, and naturalistic style is well seen in his series of frescos of famous Dominicans (signed and dated 1352) in the Chapter House of S. Niccolò in Treviso. The saintly figures are shown meditating, writing, and reading (the first dated example of spectacles being worn appears here) and Tommaso shows a remarkable ability to depict intellectual activity. His reputation was such that work was commissioned from him by the emperor Charles IV in Bohemia, and two panels by Tommaso are still in Karlstein Castle, near Prague. It is unlikely that he visited Bohemia, but there is some kinship between his work and that of his leading Bohemian contemporary,
Master Theoderic
.
c.
1325–79).
Italian painter, one of the leading artists of his day in northern Italy. His earthy, humane, and naturalistic style is well seen in his series of frescos of famous Dominicans (signed and dated 1352) in the Chapter House of S. Niccolò in Treviso. The saintly figures are shown meditating, writing, and reading (the first dated example of spectacles being worn appears here) and Tommaso shows a remarkable ability to depict intellectual activity. His reputation was such that work was commissioned from him by the emperor Charles IV in Bohemia, and two panels by Tommaso are still in Karlstein Castle, near Prague. It is unlikely that he visited Bohemia, but there is some kinship between his work and that of his leading Bohemian contemporary,
Master Theoderic
.
tondo
.
.
Tonks , Henry
(1862–1937).
British painter, draughtsman, and teacher. He was interested in art from childhood, and in 1893 he abandoned his successful medical career to become a teacher at the
Slade
School. (However, he worked as a plastic surgeon during the First World War.) Tonks remained at the Slade until 1930 (as Professor from 1918), and became the most renowned and formidable teacher of his generation—‘in appearance tall, gaunt, and severe’ (
DNB
). Under him the Slade maintained its position as the dominant art school in Britain (although it was now challenged by the
Royal College of Art
), and he was a major influence as an upholder of traditional values and an opponent of modern ideas: ‘I don't believe I really like any modern development.’ He set high standards for his pupils, particularly in draughtsmanship (his own forte) and he got on well with them, in spite of being notorious for his sarcasm and abruptness. Because of his refusal to move with the times he was increasingly looked on as a back number by more progressive artists and students, but he remained a dominant presence in the art world. Tonks's own paintings are mainly figure subjects, often consciously (or self-consciously) poetic in spirit: Sir John
Rothenstein
refers to ‘the sheer prettiness of much of his art’, but his pictures often look rather laborious, partly because of his technique of ‘Tonking’, which involved using an absorbent material to soak excess oil from the canvas after each day's work and so produce a dry surface for the next session. He was at his best in his slighter satirical works and in conversation pieces such as
Saturday Night in The Vale
(Tate Gallery, London, 1928–9), which shows the novelist and critic George Moore reading aloud to a gathering at Tonks's studio in The Vale, Chelsea. More complained that he had been made to look like a ‘flabby old cook’, whereas Tonks had depicted himself as a young and elegant ‘demi-god’.
British painter, draughtsman, and teacher. He was interested in art from childhood, and in 1893 he abandoned his successful medical career to become a teacher at the
Slade
School. (However, he worked as a plastic surgeon during the First World War.) Tonks remained at the Slade until 1930 (as Professor from 1918), and became the most renowned and formidable teacher of his generation—‘in appearance tall, gaunt, and severe’ (
DNB
). Under him the Slade maintained its position as the dominant art school in Britain (although it was now challenged by the
Royal College of Art
), and he was a major influence as an upholder of traditional values and an opponent of modern ideas: ‘I don't believe I really like any modern development.’ He set high standards for his pupils, particularly in draughtsmanship (his own forte) and he got on well with them, in spite of being notorious for his sarcasm and abruptness. Because of his refusal to move with the times he was increasingly looked on as a back number by more progressive artists and students, but he remained a dominant presence in the art world. Tonks's own paintings are mainly figure subjects, often consciously (or self-consciously) poetic in spirit: Sir John
Rothenstein
refers to ‘the sheer prettiness of much of his art’, but his pictures often look rather laborious, partly because of his technique of ‘Tonking’, which involved using an absorbent material to soak excess oil from the canvas after each day's work and so produce a dry surface for the next session. He was at his best in his slighter satirical works and in conversation pieces such as
Saturday Night in The Vale
(Tate Gallery, London, 1928–9), which shows the novelist and critic George Moore reading aloud to a gathering at Tonks's studio in The Vale, Chelsea. More complained that he had been made to look like a ‘flabby old cook’, whereas Tonks had depicted himself as a young and elegant ‘demi-god’.
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