The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (5 page)
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Authors: Ian Chilvers
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acrylic
.
.
A modern synthetic paint combining some of the properties of
oils
and
watercolour
. Most acrylic paints are waterbased, although some are oil compatible, using turpentine as a thinner. They can be used on a wide variety of surfaces to create effects ranging from thin washes to rich
impasto
and with a matt or gloss finish. Thinly applied paint dries in a matter of minutes, thickly applied paint in hours—much quicker than oils. Acrylic paint first became available to artists in the 1940s in the USA and certain American painters discovered that it offered them advantages over oils.
Colour stain painters
such as Helen
Frankenthaler
and Morris
Louis
, for example, found that they could thin the paint so that it flowed over the canvas yet still retained its full brilliance of colour. David
Hockney
took up acrylic during his first visit to Los Angeles in 1963; he had earlier tried and rejected the medium, but American-manufactured acrylic was at this time far superior to that available in Britain, and he felt that the flat, bold colours helped him to capture the strong Californian light. Hockney used acrylic almost exclusively for his paintings until 1972, when he returned to oils because he now regarded their slow-drying properties as an advantage: ‘you can work for days and keep altering it as well; you can scrape it off if you don't like it. Once acrylic is down you can't get it off.’ Other artists have remained loyal to acrylic and it is now a serious rival to oil paint, but in the 1990s doubts were expressed about its permanence.
oils
and
watercolour
. Most acrylic paints are waterbased, although some are oil compatible, using turpentine as a thinner. They can be used on a wide variety of surfaces to create effects ranging from thin washes to rich
impasto
and with a matt or gloss finish. Thinly applied paint dries in a matter of minutes, thickly applied paint in hours—much quicker than oils. Acrylic paint first became available to artists in the 1940s in the USA and certain American painters discovered that it offered them advantages over oils.
Colour stain painters
such as Helen
Frankenthaler
and Morris
Louis
, for example, found that they could thin the paint so that it flowed over the canvas yet still retained its full brilliance of colour. David
Hockney
took up acrylic during his first visit to Los Angeles in 1963; he had earlier tried and rejected the medium, but American-manufactured acrylic was at this time far superior to that available in Britain, and he felt that the flat, bold colours helped him to capture the strong Californian light. Hockney used acrylic almost exclusively for his paintings until 1972, when he returned to oils because he now regarded their slow-drying properties as an advantage: ‘you can work for days and keep altering it as well; you can scrape it off if you don't like it. Once acrylic is down you can't get it off.’ Other artists have remained loyal to acrylic and it is now a serious rival to oil paint, but in the 1990s doubts were expressed about its permanence.
Action painting
.
.
A type of dynamic, impulsive painting in which the artist applies paint with energetic
gestural
movements—sometimes by dribbling or splashing—and with no preconceived idea of what the picture will look like. It is sometimes used loosely as a synonym for
Abstract Expressionism
, but such usage is misleading, as Action painting represents only one aspect of that movement. The term was coined by the critic Harold
Rosenberg
in an article entitled ‘The American Action Painters’ in
Art News
in December 1952. Rosenberg regarded Action painting as a means of giving free expression to the artist's instinctive creative forces and he regarded the act of painting itself as more significant than the finished work. Although the term soon became established, many critics were unconvinced by Rosenberg's idea of the canvas being ‘not a picture but an event’: Mary McCarthy , for example, wrote that ‘you cannot hang an event on a wall, only a picture.’ Rosenberg's article did not mention individual painters, but the one who is associated above all with Action painting is Jackson
Pollock
, who vividly described how he felt when working on a canvas laid on the floor: ‘I feel nearer, more a part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be
in
the painting… When I am
in
my painting, I am not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of “get acquainted” period that I see what I have been about. I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through.’ In the work of lesser artists than Pollock, Action painting could easily degenerate into messy self-indulgence, and it came in for a good deal of mockery, especially after the British painter William Green (1934– ) took to riding a bicycle over the canvas, a feat imitated by the comedian Tony Hancock in the film
The Rebel
(1961).
gestural
movements—sometimes by dribbling or splashing—and with no preconceived idea of what the picture will look like. It is sometimes used loosely as a synonym for
Abstract Expressionism
, but such usage is misleading, as Action painting represents only one aspect of that movement. The term was coined by the critic Harold
Rosenberg
in an article entitled ‘The American Action Painters’ in
Art News
in December 1952. Rosenberg regarded Action painting as a means of giving free expression to the artist's instinctive creative forces and he regarded the act of painting itself as more significant than the finished work. Although the term soon became established, many critics were unconvinced by Rosenberg's idea of the canvas being ‘not a picture but an event’: Mary McCarthy , for example, wrote that ‘you cannot hang an event on a wall, only a picture.’ Rosenberg's article did not mention individual painters, but the one who is associated above all with Action painting is Jackson
Pollock
, who vividly described how he felt when working on a canvas laid on the floor: ‘I feel nearer, more a part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be
in
the painting… When I am
in
my painting, I am not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of “get acquainted” period that I see what I have been about. I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through.’ In the work of lesser artists than Pollock, Action painting could easily degenerate into messy self-indulgence, and it came in for a good deal of mockery, especially after the British painter William Green (1934– ) took to riding a bicycle over the canvas, a feat imitated by the comedian Tony Hancock in the film
The Rebel
(1961).
Adam , François-Gérard
(1710–61);
Lambert-Sigisbert
(1700–59); and
Nicolas-Sébastien
(1710–61);
Lambert-Sigisbert
(1700–59); and
Nicolas-Sébastien
(1705–78).
French sculptors from Nancy, brothers. All three went to Rome after training with their father
Jacob-Sigisbert
(1670–1747), and on their return adapted the Roman
Baroque
style to French
Rococo
taste. Lambert-Sigisbert was the most distinguished member of the family. His masterpiece is the
Neptune Fountain
(1740) at Versailles, a work showing the influence of
Bernini
in its exuberant movement. Nicolas-Sébastien is remembered mainly for the monument of Queen Catharina Opalinska (1749) in the church of Notre Dame de Bon Secours in Nancy. François-Gérard's best works are probably his garden statues for Frederick the Great of Prussia at Sanssouci, Potsdam. Better known than any of the three brothers is their nephew
Clodion
.
French sculptors from Nancy, brothers. All three went to Rome after training with their father
Jacob-Sigisbert
(1670–1747), and on their return adapted the Roman
Baroque
style to French
Rococo
taste. Lambert-Sigisbert was the most distinguished member of the family. His masterpiece is the
Neptune Fountain
(1740) at Versailles, a work showing the influence of
Bernini
in its exuberant movement. Nicolas-Sébastien is remembered mainly for the monument of Queen Catharina Opalinska (1749) in the church of Notre Dame de Bon Secours in Nancy. François-Gérard's best works are probably his garden statues for Frederick the Great of Prussia at Sanssouci, Potsdam. Better known than any of the three brothers is their nephew
Clodion
.
Aelst , Willem van
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