The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (78 page)
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Burckhardt , Jacob
(1818–97).
Swiss historian, professor at the universities of Zurich (1855–8) and Basle (1858–93). He was a pioneer of the cultural approach to history and is best known for his
Die Kultur der Renaissance in Italien
(The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy), published in 1860. In this survey of the arts, philosophy, politics, etc., of the period he propounds the view that it was at this time that man, previously conscious of himself ‘only as a member of a race, people, party, family or corporation’, became aware of himself as ‘a spiritual individual’. This romanticized view has been highly influential but also much attacked. Burckhardt's other books included
Cicerone
(1855), a guidebook to Italian art that was a popular handbook for German tourists for many years, and
Erinnerungen aus Rubens
(Recollections of Rubens), published posthumously in 1898.
Swiss historian, professor at the universities of Zurich (1855–8) and Basle (1858–93). He was a pioneer of the cultural approach to history and is best known for his
Die Kultur der Renaissance in Italien
(The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy), published in 1860. In this survey of the arts, philosophy, politics, etc., of the period he propounds the view that it was at this time that man, previously conscious of himself ‘only as a member of a race, people, party, family or corporation’, became aware of himself as ‘a spiritual individual’. This romanticized view has been highly influential but also much attacked. Burckhardt's other books included
Cicerone
(1855), a guidebook to Italian art that was a popular handbook for German tourists for many years, and
Erinnerungen aus Rubens
(Recollections of Rubens), published posthumously in 1898.
Bürger , W.
Burgkmair , Hans the Elder
(1473–1531).
German painter and designer of woodcuts. After learning his trade under
Schongauer
in Colmar, he had settled in his native Augsburg by 1498. Before then he is presumed to have been to Italy, for his paintings, with their warm glow of colour, their decorative classical motifs, and their intricate spatial composition, show how decisively he transformed his late
Gothic
heritage with
Renaissance
influence. Indeed, he occupied a place in Augsburg comparable to that of
Dürer
in Nuremberg in introducing the new style. Like Dürer he contributed to the famous series of woodcuts for the Emperor, the
Triumph of Maximilian
. He was also employed to illustrate the Emperor's own writings in
Teuerdank
and
Der Weisskunig
, moralizing knightly romances. A certain clarity of characterization, which is typical of all his works, not least his incisive portraits, seems to have influenced Hans
Holbein
the Younger. His son,
Hans the Younger
(
c.
1500–59), was a painter and engraver, also active in Augsburg.
German painter and designer of woodcuts. After learning his trade under
Schongauer
in Colmar, he had settled in his native Augsburg by 1498. Before then he is presumed to have been to Italy, for his paintings, with their warm glow of colour, their decorative classical motifs, and their intricate spatial composition, show how decisively he transformed his late
Gothic
heritage with
Renaissance
influence. Indeed, he occupied a place in Augsburg comparable to that of
Dürer
in Nuremberg in introducing the new style. Like Dürer he contributed to the famous series of woodcuts for the Emperor, the
Triumph of Maximilian
. He was also employed to illustrate the Emperor's own writings in
Teuerdank
and
Der Weisskunig
, moralizing knightly romances. A certain clarity of characterization, which is typical of all his works, not least his incisive portraits, seems to have influenced Hans
Holbein
the Younger. His son,
Hans the Younger
(
c.
1500–59), was a painter and engraver, also active in Augsburg.
burin
(or graver)
.
(or graver)
.
The engraver's principal tool. It is a short steel rod, usually lozenge-shaped in section, cut obliquely at the end to provide a point. Its short, rounded handle is pushed by the palm of the hand while the fingers guide the point.
Burliuk , David
(1882–1967) and
Vladimir
(1882–1967) and
Vladimir
(1886–1916).
Russian painters, brothers, leading members of the avant-garde in the period leading up to the First World War. They were closely associated with
Goncharova
and
Larionov
, adopting a style of deliberate primitivism akin to theirs, and they were among the first exponents of
Futurism
in Russia,
c.
1911. They were also friendly with
Kandinsky
, and through him participated in the second
Neue Künstlervereinigung
exhibition in Munich in 1910 and in the
Blaue Reiter
exhibition there in 1911. Vladimir, who was considered by Kandinsky to be the more talented of the two, was killed in action in the First World War. David settled in New York in 1922 and became an American citizen in 1930. He edited an art magazine,
Color Rhyme
, and ran an art gallery. There was another painter brother,
Nikolai
(1890–1920), and two painter sisters,
Lyudmila
and
Nadezhda
.
Russian painters, brothers, leading members of the avant-garde in the period leading up to the First World War. They were closely associated with
Goncharova
and
Larionov
, adopting a style of deliberate primitivism akin to theirs, and they were among the first exponents of
Futurism
in Russia,
c.
1911. They were also friendly with
Kandinsky
, and through him participated in the second
Neue Künstlervereinigung
exhibition in Munich in 1910 and in the
Blaue Reiter
exhibition there in 1911. Vladimir, who was considered by Kandinsky to be the more talented of the two, was killed in action in the First World War. David settled in New York in 1922 and became an American citizen in 1930. He edited an art magazine,
Color Rhyme
, and ran an art gallery. There was another painter brother,
Nikolai
(1890–1920), and two painter sisters,
Lyudmila
and
Nadezhda
.
Burne-Jones , Sir Edward Coley
(1833–98).
English painter, illustrator, and designer. He was destined for the Church, but his interest was turned to art first by William
Morris
, his fellow divinity student at Oxford, and then by
Rossetti
, to whom Burne-Jones apprenticed himself in 1856 and who remained the decisive influence on him. Like Rossetti, Burne-Jones painted in a consciously aesthetic style (see
AESTHETICISM
), but his taste was more classical and his elongated forms owed much to the example of
Botticelli
. He favoured medieval and mythical subjects and hated such modernists as the
Impressionists
, describing their subjects as ‘landscape and whores’. His own ideas on painting are summed up as follows: ‘I mean by a picture a beautiful romantic dream, of something that never was, never will be—in a light better than any that ever shone—in a land no one can define or remember, only desire—and the forms divinely beautiful.’ He exhibited little before 1877, but then became quickly famous, with a remarkably wide following abroad. His work had considerable influence on the French
Symbolists
and the ethereally beautiful women who people his paintings, like the more sensuous types of Rossetti, had a considerable progeny at the end of the century. Some of Burne-Jones's finest work was done in association with William Morris (he was a founder member of Morris and Co. in 1861), notably as a designer of stained glass and tapestries, and as an illustrator of some of the
Kelmscott Press
books. The best collection of his work is in the City Art Gallery at Birmingham, his birthplace.
English painter, illustrator, and designer. He was destined for the Church, but his interest was turned to art first by William
Morris
, his fellow divinity student at Oxford, and then by
Rossetti
, to whom Burne-Jones apprenticed himself in 1856 and who remained the decisive influence on him. Like Rossetti, Burne-Jones painted in a consciously aesthetic style (see
AESTHETICISM
), but his taste was more classical and his elongated forms owed much to the example of
Botticelli
. He favoured medieval and mythical subjects and hated such modernists as the
Impressionists
, describing their subjects as ‘landscape and whores’. His own ideas on painting are summed up as follows: ‘I mean by a picture a beautiful romantic dream, of something that never was, never will be—in a light better than any that ever shone—in a land no one can define or remember, only desire—and the forms divinely beautiful.’ He exhibited little before 1877, but then became quickly famous, with a remarkably wide following abroad. His work had considerable influence on the French
Symbolists
and the ethereally beautiful women who people his paintings, like the more sensuous types of Rossetti, had a considerable progeny at the end of the century. Some of Burne-Jones's finest work was done in association with William Morris (he was a founder member of Morris and Co. in 1861), notably as a designer of stained glass and tapestries, and as an illustrator of some of the
Kelmscott Press
books. The best collection of his work is in the City Art Gallery at Birmingham, his birthplace.
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