The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (500 page)

Family of German sculptors active in Nuremberg.
Hermann the Elder
(d. 1488) established the family bronzefoundry, and the business was inherited by his son
Peter the Elder
(
c.
1460–1529), the best-known of the Vischers. He was assisted by five sons:
Hermann the Younger
(
c.
1486–1517),
Peter the Younger
(1487–1528),
Hans
(
c.
1489–1550),
Jacob
, and
Paulus
. The masterpiece of the Vischer workshop is the spectacular bronze shrine over the sarcophagus of St Sebald in the church dedicated to him in Nuremberg. The first design by Peter the Elder (Academy, Vienna) dates from 1488, but actual work began only in 1508 and was carried on till 1519. Through journeys of the younger generation the workshop had by that time gained a good deal of knowledge of Italian bronzes and in particular the work of north Italian sculptors. Thus the Sebald tomb became a fascinating mixture of
Gothic
and
Renaissance
styles. The canopy remained Gothic, as also the main figures of the Apostles standing before the supports; but both the base and the
baldacchino
were inhabited by biblical, mythological, and decorative figures conceived in a genuine Renaissance spirit. Peter the Elder included a celebrated self-portrait (complete with tools and leather apron) among these figures. Peter the Elder also made two splendid free-standing figures (1512–13) of Theodoric and King Arthur for the tomb of the emperor Maximilian I in the Hofkirche, Innsbruck,
Georg
(
c.
1522–92), a son of Hans, seems to have specialized in small decorative bronzes such as ink-wells.

 
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(1525–1608).
Italian sculptor, born at Trent and active from 1543 in Venice. There he was the pupil of Jacopo
Sansovino
, whom he succeeded as the leading monumental sculptor in the city, continuing his master's style but giving it a more
Mannerist
character. He worked extensively in the Doges’ Palace both before and after the fire of 1577, executing, for example, the
stuccoed
ceiling of the Scala d'Oro (1555–9) and three statues in the Sala delle Quattro Porte (1587). Other examples of his work are in many Venetian churches. He also produced small elongated bronze figures of great elegance and realistic portrait busts of Venetian personalities.

 
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Family of Venetian painters.
Antonio
(
c.
1420–76/84) seldom worked independently. He collaborated first with his brother-in-law,
Giovanni d'Alemagna
(active 1441–49/50), and secondly with his own younger brother,
Bartolomeo
(
c.
1432–
c.
1499). Their pictures usually took the form of large-scale
polyptychs
with stiff, archaic-looking figures and very elaborate carved and gilded frames in the
Gothic
tradition. Bartolomeo's independent works date from the 1460s onwards. He continued to paint polyptychs, but he modernized his style to a certain extent by imitating
Mantegna
.
Alvise
(
c.
1445–1503/5), son of Antonio , was probably trained by his uncle, but later adopted the manner of Giovanni
Bellini
, with whom he worked (1488) on paintings (now lost) for the Doges’ Palace in Venice. None of the three had much originality. There are examples of the work of all three in the National Gallery, London.

 
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(1861–1936).
French
naïve
painter. He had a passion for painting from childhood, but could not devote himself to it regularly until he retired from the Post Office in 1922. In 1925 he was ‘discovered’ by Wilhelm
Uhde
and won wide recognition. He painted
genre
scenes, hunting scenes, flower pieces, and latterly views of Paris with charmingly wobbly perspective effects.

 
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(1876–1958).
French painter, graphic artist, and writer. As a young man he earned his living mainly as a racing cyclist and orchestral violinist, painting in his spare time virtually without instruction. Indeed, he delighted to inveigh against all forms of academic training and boasted that he had never set foot inside the
Louvre
: ‘I try to paint with my heart and my loins, not bothering with style.’ In 1901 an exhibition of van
Gogh's
work in Paris overwhelmed him, intensifying his love of pure colour, and with
Matisse
and
Derain
he became a leading exponent of
Fauvism
, often using paint straight from the tube in vigorous and exuberant compositions—mainly landscapes. From 1908 his palette darkened and he sought to achieve volume and a more solid basis of composition from a study of
Cézanne
(in 1910–14 he was also mildly influenced by
Cubist
stylization). After the First World War he moved from Paris and worked in isolation in the countryside, settling at La Tourillière (Eure-et-Loir) in 1925. His later work became rather slick and mannered. Valminck was a colourful, many-sided character. He wrote novels and volumes of memoirs and was a pioneer collector of African art, although it had no influence on his style.

 
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