The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (503 page)

(1856–1910).
Russian painter and designer, the outstanding exponent of
Symbolism
in his country. His first important work was the restoration of murals in the Church of St Cyril, Kiev, and in his subsequent career he showed an affinity with the spirituality of medieval religious art. In 1889 he moved from Kiev to Moscow and there was taken up by the wealthy art patron Savva Mamontov (a portrait of him by Vrubel, 1897, is in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). In 1890 he began to do interpretations of Mikhail Lermontov's poem
The Demon
and the theme became central to his work. In treating it he passed from fairly naturalistic depictions to highly idiosyncratic anguish-ridden images rendered in brilliant fragmented brushwork that recalls the effects of medieval mosaics. The obsessive treatment of the theme reflected his own emotional instability; in 1902 the first symptoms of approaching insanity became apparent, in 1906 he went blind, and he died in a lunatic asylum. Although he was little appreciated in his lifetime, he had great influence on Russian painting in the early 20th cent.

 
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(1868–1940).
French painter and occasional lithographer. In the 1890s he was a member of the
Nabis
and at this time painted intimate interiors and scenes from Montmartre, his sensitive patterning of flattish colours owing something to
Gauguin
and something to
Puvis de Chavannes
, but creating a distinctive manner of his own. From about 1900 he turned to a more naturalistic style and with
Bonnard
became the main practitioner of
Intimisme
, making use of the camera to capture fleeting, informal groupings of his friends and relatives in their homes and gardens. He lived quietly, sharing an apartment with his mother until her death in 1928; she often features in his paintings. There are examples of his work in many collections of modern art.

 
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(1794–1868)
. German art historian. In 1822 he published a book on the van
Eycks
that made his reputation and led to his appointment as director of the newly founded Berlin Museum in 1832. Waagen had studied art history at the universities of Breslau and Heidelberg and was one of the first trained art historians in the museum profession. In 1844 he became the first holder of a university chair in art history when he was appointed professor at Berlin University. A frequent traveller, with a great reputation as a connoisseur, Waagen is best remembered for his notes on works of art in public and private collections in various countries, which are a mine of information. Outstanding among them is
Treasures of Art in Great Britain
(3 vols., 1854); a supplementary volume entitled
Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain
was published in 1857.

 
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(1889–1949).
English painter and graphic artist. He worked for a short time with Roger
Fry
at the
Omega Workshops
, then was associated with Wyndham
Lewis
in the
Vorticist
group. At this time he produced completely abstract works such as the stridently geometrical
Abstract Composition
(Tate, London, 1915). In the First World War he served with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as an intelligence officer in the Mediterranean, 1914–17, then worked on designing dazzle camouflage for ships, turning his harsh Vorticist style to practical use. He documented this war work in the large
Dazzle-Ships in Drydock at Liverpool
(NG, Ottawa, 1919). The lucidity, precision, and clarity of his work were enhanced when in 1922/3 he changed from oil painting to
tempera
, and during the rest of the 1920s, abandoning
Cubist
leanings, he painted in a more naturalistic manner, showing a penchant for maritime subjects and developing a distinctive type of highly composed marine still life that often has a
Surrealistic
flavour, brought about by oddities of scale and juxtaposition and the hypnotic clarity of the lighting (
Satellitium
, Castle Museum, Nottingham, 1932). In 1933 he became a member of
Unit One
and again painted abstracts (influenced by
Arp
), but he reverted to his naturalistic style. During the 1930s he had several commissions for mural decorations, notably for the liner
Queen Mary
(1936). His graphic work included collections of drawings and engravings published in books as
The Black Country
(1920) and
Sailing-Ships and Barges of the Western Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas
(1926).

 
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(1793–1865)
. One of the leading Austrian painters of the
Biedermeier
period. He painted portraits,
genre
subjects, and still life, but is perhaps best known for his landscapes, which in their loving attention to detail illustrate his belief that the close study of nature should be the basis of painting. His views were in opposition to the official doctrines of
ideal
art promulgated by the Vienna Academy, where he became Professor of Painting in 1829, and he was dismissed in 1857.

 
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