The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (44 page)
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Becerra , Gaspar
(
c.
1520–68/70).
Spanish
Mannerist
sculptor and painter. He studied in Rome and was one of
Vasari's
assistants in his decoration of the Cancelleria Palace there. Soon after 1556 he returned to Spain and in 1558 contracted for the main
reredos
of Astorga Cathedral, his most important work as a sculptor. In 1563 he was appointed court painter to Philip II and began mythological ceiling paintings at the palace of El Pardo, near Madrid. His up-to-date knowledge of Italian art gave him a high contemporary reputation.
c.
1520–68/70).
Spanish
Mannerist
sculptor and painter. He studied in Rome and was one of
Vasari's
assistants in his decoration of the Cancelleria Palace there. Soon after 1556 he returned to Spain and in 1558 contracted for the main
reredos
of Astorga Cathedral, his most important work as a sculptor. In 1563 he was appointed court painter to Philip II and began mythological ceiling paintings at the palace of El Pardo, near Madrid. His up-to-date knowledge of Italian art gave him a high contemporary reputation.
Beckford , William
(1760–1844).
English collector, writer, and eccentric. A pampered millionaire from boyhood (at the age of 5 he had piano lessons from the 8-year-old Mozart), he became a legendary figure in his own lifetime. One of his cousins referred to him as ‘a second Lucifer’ (a reference to both his youthful beauty and his depravity), and in 1784 he left England after a homosexual scandal involving a 13-year-old boy. For the next decade he travelled widely on the Continent and after his return to England he lived in eccentric seclusion at Fonthill in Wiltshire, where the architect James Wyatt built for him Fonthill Abbey (1796–1807, now destroyed), a huge mansion dressed in ecclesiastical garb. He formed an excellent library and a vast collection of objects of every kind, both natural and artificial; it drew from William
Hazlitt
the wry comment that ‘the only proof of taste he has shown in this collection is his getting rid of it’, but it included some outstanding paintings (twenty of them are now in the National Gallery, London). In 1826 when his fortunes had declined Beckford built Lansdowne Tower, Bath, a lesser but still highly impressive
classical
folly which now enlivens a cemetery. Beckford's most famous literary work was the fantastic oriental tale
Vathek
, written in French, but published first in English in 1786, a successor to Horace
Walpole's
The Castle of Otranto
in the vogue for the Gothic novel. The nightmarish visions of Beckford's book were inspired partly, as he himself said, by
Piranesi's
engravings.
English collector, writer, and eccentric. A pampered millionaire from boyhood (at the age of 5 he had piano lessons from the 8-year-old Mozart), he became a legendary figure in his own lifetime. One of his cousins referred to him as ‘a second Lucifer’ (a reference to both his youthful beauty and his depravity), and in 1784 he left England after a homosexual scandal involving a 13-year-old boy. For the next decade he travelled widely on the Continent and after his return to England he lived in eccentric seclusion at Fonthill in Wiltshire, where the architect James Wyatt built for him Fonthill Abbey (1796–1807, now destroyed), a huge mansion dressed in ecclesiastical garb. He formed an excellent library and a vast collection of objects of every kind, both natural and artificial; it drew from William
Hazlitt
the wry comment that ‘the only proof of taste he has shown in this collection is his getting rid of it’, but it included some outstanding paintings (twenty of them are now in the National Gallery, London). In 1826 when his fortunes had declined Beckford built Lansdowne Tower, Bath, a lesser but still highly impressive
classical
folly which now enlivens a cemetery. Beckford's most famous literary work was the fantastic oriental tale
Vathek
, written in French, but published first in English in 1786, a successor to Horace
Walpole's
The Castle of Otranto
in the vogue for the Gothic novel. The nightmarish visions of Beckford's book were inspired partly, as he himself said, by
Piranesi's
engravings.
Beckmann , Max
(1884–1950).
German painter and graphic artist, one of the most powerful and individual of
Expressionist
artists. Early in his career Beckmann painted in a conservative, more or less
Impressionist
style, with which he made a good living, but his experiences as a medical orderly in the First World War completely changed his outlook and his style. His work became full of horrifying imagery, and his forms were expressively distorted in a manner that reflected the influence of German
Gothic
art. The combination of brutal realism and social criticism in his work led him to be classified for a time with the artists of the
Neue Sachlichkeit
, but Beckmann differed from such artists as
Dix
and
Grosz
in his concern for allegory and symbolism. His paintings were intended as depictions of lust, sadism, cruelty, etc., rather than illustrations of specific instances of those qualities at work, and he ceased to regard painting as a purely aesthetic matter, and thought of it as an ethical necessity. In 1933 Beckmann was dismissed by the Nazis from his professorship at the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt, and in that year he began
Departure
(MOMA, New York), the first of a series of nine great
triptychs
painted between then and his death in which he expressed his philosophy of life and society, and his horror at man's cruelty. He moved to the Netherlands in 1937 (the year in which his work was included in the infamous Nazi exhibition of
Degenerate Art
), settling in Amsterdam until 1947. The last three years of his life were spent in the USA, where he taught in Washington and New York. Beckmann's philosophical outlook, which he expressed in
My Theory of Painting
(a lecture delivered in London in 1937 and published in 1941), is somewhat incoherent, but his work has been hailed as the most authentic comment of German culture on the disorientation of the modern world. Apart from his allegorical figure compositions, Beckmann is best known for his portraits, particularly his self-portraits, in which he charted his spiritual experiences.
German painter and graphic artist, one of the most powerful and individual of
Expressionist
artists. Early in his career Beckmann painted in a conservative, more or less
Impressionist
style, with which he made a good living, but his experiences as a medical orderly in the First World War completely changed his outlook and his style. His work became full of horrifying imagery, and his forms were expressively distorted in a manner that reflected the influence of German
Gothic
art. The combination of brutal realism and social criticism in his work led him to be classified for a time with the artists of the
Neue Sachlichkeit
, but Beckmann differed from such artists as
Dix
and
Grosz
in his concern for allegory and symbolism. His paintings were intended as depictions of lust, sadism, cruelty, etc., rather than illustrations of specific instances of those qualities at work, and he ceased to regard painting as a purely aesthetic matter, and thought of it as an ethical necessity. In 1933 Beckmann was dismissed by the Nazis from his professorship at the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt, and in that year he began
Departure
(MOMA, New York), the first of a series of nine great
triptychs
painted between then and his death in which he expressed his philosophy of life and society, and his horror at man's cruelty. He moved to the Netherlands in 1937 (the year in which his work was included in the infamous Nazi exhibition of
Degenerate Art
), settling in Amsterdam until 1947. The last three years of his life were spent in the USA, where he taught in Washington and New York. Beckmann's philosophical outlook, which he expressed in
My Theory of Painting
(a lecture delivered in London in 1937 and published in 1941), is somewhat incoherent, but his work has been hailed as the most authentic comment of German culture on the disorientation of the modern world. Apart from his allegorical figure compositions, Beckmann is best known for his portraits, particularly his self-portraits, in which he charted his spiritual experiences.
Beechey , Sir William
(1753–1839).
English portrait painter. Beechey's careful, somewhat insipid style changed little throughout his successful career. He was appointed Portrait Painter to Queen Charlotte (queen consort of George III) in 1793 and was knighted in 1798 in recognition of his most ambitious painting,
A Review of the Horse Guard with King George III and the Prince of Wales
(Royal Collection).
English portrait painter. Beechey's careful, somewhat insipid style changed little throughout his successful career. He was appointed Portrait Painter to Queen Charlotte (queen consort of George III) in 1793 and was knighted in 1798 in recognition of his most ambitious painting,
A Review of the Horse Guard with King George III and the Prince of Wales
(Royal Collection).
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