SECTION 1: Key Information by Painter M-O

Pittura

Painters have been listed alphabetically ignoring all prefix except Le, La, El & Van, eg Van Gogh is listed as such. Last names -or town names before surnames existed- take precedence over preceding names, except where this would be positively misleading, eg Rembrandt & not Van Rijn. Well-known nicknames take precedence over real names, eg Volterra rather than Riciarelli.

CONTENTS: SURNAMES BEGINNING WITH LETTERS:

M N O

Mabuse. See Gosseart

-MACBRYDE, Robert, 1913-66, Scotland:

Background: born Maybole, Ayrshire OxDicMod
Training: At the Glasgow School of Art, 1932-7 OxDicMod
Influences: Picasso & Yankel Adier who was his friend L&L
Career: He initially worked for five years as a factory engineer. He formed an inseparable relationship with fellow student Robert Colquhoun until his death in 1962 OxDicMod. They settled in London in 1941 L&L
Oeuvre: Mainly still-life & figure subjects OxDicMod
Status: The Neo-Romantic Movement L&L

-MACCHIETTI, Girolamo, c1535-1592, Italy=Florence

Training: Michele Tosini in Florence Grove19 p871
Influences: His friend Cavalori Grove19 p872
Career: c1556-11 worked under Vasari om Palazzo Vecchio; two years of study in Rome; Macchiato had returned to Florence by 1563 where he joined the Accademia del Disegno; 1578-84 in Naples & Benevento; 1587-9 in Spain Grove19 p871-2
Phases: An earlier elaborate Mannerist style, followed by a period of greater restraint Grove19 p872

..MACCOLL, Dugald). S. 1859-1948, Scotland:

Education: UColl London; Oxford (classics) OxDicMod
Training: Westminster School Art under Brown; Slade under Legros OxDicMod
Career: 1890-95 art critic Spectator; 1896-1906 & 1921-30 at Saturday Review; from 1930 Week-end Review; 1906-11 keeper Tate & 1911-2 Wallace; 1910 helped found Contemporary Art Society; promoted Impressionism OxDicMod ; at Spectator defended Degas’ L’Absinthe in controversy over 1893 at GaftonG; also championed NEAC (joined 1896) Thornton pp 7-9, 16; book C19Art has early balanced assessments of Impressionism; did not like Post-Impressionism, thought Cezanne had eye defect; criticised Fry believing artist can only paint what is see able OxDicArt
Oeuvre: mainly landscape watercolours; also, portraits OxDicMod

-MACDONALD-WRIGHT, Stanton, 1990-1973, USA:

Background: He was born at Charlottesville, Virginia but moved to California as a child OxDicMod
Training: Arts Student Leagues, Los Angeles, 1905, & briefly at the Academie Colarossi, the Academie Julian & the Ecole des Beaux-Arts OxDicMod
Career: In 1907 he moved to Paris where in 1911 he met Morgan Russell. They evolved Synchromism & exhibited such works in 1913. From 1914 he lived in London but returned to America in 1916 OxDicMod. In 1919 he settled California & abandoned Synchromism. He worked on colour filming, & from 1935 to 1942 on murals for the Federal Arts Project. In 1937 he visited Japan & during 1942-52 taught oriental & modern art at the University of California. In 1952-3 he returned to abstract colour painting L&L
Innovations: He was a pioneer of abstraction OxDicMod
Beliefs: Zen Buddhist L&L

..MACGREGOR, William Yorke, 1855-1922; Scotland; Rural Naturalism Movement:

Background: He was born at Fanart in what is now Strathclyde, the son of an affluent Glasgow shipbuilder Grove19 p891, Wikip

Training: At the Glasgow School of Art under Robert Greenlees & James Docharty; & The Slade under Alphonse Legros Billcliffe p17

Influences: Bastien-Lepage Grove19 p891

Career; He was rejected by the Glasgow Art Club. From around 1877 he spent the summers painting with James Patterson, a school friend, on the east coast of Scotland; & ran a life class in his Glasgow studio where almost all the important Glasgow Boys met. He exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy from 1875 & became a member in 1921. In 1886 he went to Bridge of Allan due to his asthma & then to South Africa, returning in 1890 Billcliffe 17, 41, 63, 302, Wikip, Flemings p66

Oeuvre/Characteristics/Phases/Legacy: Landscape & townscapes embracing different seasons, times of the day & countries. They are of a pleasing nature as in his Near St Andrews Flemings (Flemings). However, his most striking [as in] works are The Joiner’s Shop (private) with its dramatic light effects, 1881, & his remarkable Vegetable Stall, 1884 (NG Scotland), with its rich & contrasting colours & bold brushwork. He developed into a brilliant colourist as the Near St Andrews indicates, & he anticipated the Scottish Colourists & in particular Cadell webimages, Macmillan1990 pp259, 267, Flemings p66

Circle: The Glasgow Boys Wikip:

Repute: He is not itemised in the Oxford Companion

..MACLAREN, Walter, recorded 1869-1903, GB:

Career: He lived for many years in Capri particularly in the 1880s. He exhibited at the RA 1869-1904 & also at the Grosvenor Gallery the Victorian Web, WoodDic
Oeuvre: He was a versatile artist, & his work included genre, landscapes & portraits featuring Capri, though he also painted English landscapes The Victorian Web, WoodDic, webimages
Characteristics: His paintings are of pleasing but of an unremarkable nature as in Landscape, Surrey 1847 (Russell Cotes Art GGallery) webimages
Friends: Giovanni Costa whom he met in 1875 & also Edgar Barclay & M. R. Barclay the Victorian Web
Grouping: The Etruscan School The Victorian Web

MACHEK, Antonin , 1775-1844, Czech

Background: He was born at Podlazice, near Chrast, the son of a tailor Grove19 p894
Training: Apprenticeships & at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna Wikip
Career: He began his mainly portrait work in Upper Austria but in 1814 moved back to Prague. He was involved in Czech patriotic circles Grove19 p894
Influences: The Neo-classical tradition & then Biedermeier Grove19 p894
Oeuvre: Portraits & also history paintings & stage design Grove19 p894
Characteristics: His portraits appear quite adventurous with a man who is smiling & interesting backgrounds Webimages
Patrons: The patriotic intelligentsia in & outside Prague Grove19 p894
Status: He was considered the leading Bohemian portraitist during his last 40 Years Grove19 p894

-MACHUCA, Pedro, active 1517-50, Spain:

Influences: Raphael & Michelangelo in Italy L&L
Career: He worked in central Italy during the 1510s but returned in 1520. Like Alonso Berruguete, he now transformed his experience of Italian painting into a highly personal form of expression. From around 1526 he was engaged on the building of Charles V’s palace on the Alhambra, but he also painted altarpieces for village churches in the region BrownJ pp 31-2
Oeuvre: Paintings & architecture, though most of his paintings have disappeared L&L
Characteristics: After his return he produced exotic, hybrid, expressive paintings BrownJ p32

MAGNELLI, Alberto, 1888-71, Italy:

Background: Born Florence into a wealthy family of textile traders Grove20 p97
Training: He was self-taught OxDicMod
Career: He visited Paris in 1914 & met Picasso.   Until 1931 he lived in Florence & then in Paris, except in the war when he lived in Provence,   He joined Abstraction-Creation OxDicMod, L&L
Phases: He moved from naturalism to a style influenced by Futurism & then Cubism.   After the War his work became more representational influenced by Metaphysical painting & in the late 1930s, he turned to pure abstraction OxDicMod
Characteristics: His Cubist work contained large figures constructed from simplified large planes in bold colour. After the war he painted Tuscan landscapes & figure studies in subdued tones & then by 1925 brighter colour.   His abstracts were clearly delineated & composed of areas of unmodulated colour of a non-distinctive type Grove20 p97, webimages..
Friends: Arp, Taeuber-Arp & Sonia Delaunay in Provence OxDicMod

MAINARDI, Sebastiano, married to Domenico Ghirlandaio’s half-sister about 1455-1513, Italy:

Background: He was born at San Gimignano, the son of a wealthy apothecary Grove20 p123
Training: Domenico Ghirlandaio Grove20 p123
Influences: Grove20 p123
Career: He had become an independent master by 1484, although he was closely connected with the Ghirlandaio family throughout his life Grove20 pp 123-4, Brigstocke
Oeuvre: Religious paintings & frescoes Grove20 p124
Phases/Characteristics: An early work has calmly posed & figures, plasticity of forms & incisive drawing. The compositions of his later works are repetitive, although attempting to bring his style up to date, he simplified & softened the forms, & used gentler light effects as in Virgin & Child with St Justus & a Female Saint, 1507 (Museum of Art, Indianapolis) Grove20 p124, Brigstocke

MAKSIMOV, Konstantin, 1913-, Russia:

Career: From 1940 he was a prominent Moscow painter & won Stalin Prizes in 1950 & 1952 web
Feature: During 1954-7 he lived in China 7 taught Socialist Realism in master classes, his students becoming known the Maksimov School or Cradle of Rectors because so many became art college directors web
Oeuvre/Characteristics: Genre, landscapes & portraits in an impressionistic style images webimages

MALCZEWSKI, Jacek, 1858-1929, Poland; Symbolism:

Background: Born Radom Grove20 p187
Training: The Cracow Fine Arts Academy under Matejko, & the Ecole des Beauz-Arts under Ernest Lehmann, 1876-7 GibsonM p236, Grove20 p187
Influences: The tragic situation in Poland & the great Polish romantic poet Juliusz Slowacki & early on the realism of Courbet & Barbizon etc GibsonM p236, Grove30 p187
Career/Phases: In 1880 he went to Italy & in 1884 acted as a draughtsman for an archaeological expedition to Asia Minor with extensive European visits en route. Death of Ellenai, 1883, won him renown & initiated the Siberian Cycle of realist & patriotic-martyrologic works.   In 1890 & 1906 he travelled to Italy, in 1893 to Munich & stayed in Vienna during 1914-6. During 1896-1900 & after 1910 he taught at the School/Academy of Fine Arts Cracow & was Rector, 1912-4 Grove20 p187
Oeuvre: Paintings & portraits Grove20 p187
Phases: During the later 1880s he produced folk & fantasy works & his first allegorical compositions.   In the early 1890s he returned to symbolism in works reflecting the prevailing pessimism of nationalist. From 1898 there was a distinct category of works on death as personified as a young woman as a young woman bringing consolation & gently touching eyelids. There were also works dealing with destiny & artistic creation featuring the chimera-sphinx motif Grove20 p187, GibsonM p166-7
Characteristics: His early works were sombre & romantic in subdued almost monochrome colour but in 1890 his palette brightened.   In over 150 self-portraits, he identified himself Christ, biblical figures & saints, & also wore exotic costumes. His colouring of landscape elements is particularly subtle GibsonM p236, Grove20 p187
Grouping: Symbolism GibsonM p236

MALTON, Thomas, The Younger, 1748-1804, England:

Background: He was born in London, son of the cabinet maker Thomas the Elder, 1726-1801, a perspective lecturer, etc.   He worked at a time when wars with France increased patriotic pride in London Grove20 p220
Training: His father, & the RA Schools from 1773 Grove20 p220
Influences: Sandby L&L
Career: From 1783 he was a drawing master & he published A Picturesque Tour through the Cities of London & Westminster, 1792, a collection of his etchings with coloured aquatint Grove20 p220
Oeuvre: Paintings, etchings, architectural drawings, scenery painting Grove20 p220
Characteristics: His etchings were precise, & he adopted a low view point depicting London as a bright, clean city with grandiose architecture.   They revealed its social make-up were enhanced with shadows using a crisp grey wash & the addition of delicate local colour Grove20 p220
Pupil: Turner who praised his skill.   He influenced Girtin Grove20 p220

..MARKS, Henry Stacy, 1829-98:

Training: Leigh’s art school before & after work in father’s coach building business; & at the RA School M&M p61
Career: In 1852 he visited Paris with his friend Calderon & joined Picot’s atelier M&M p61. His first success was in 1856 with Toothache in the Middle Ages Treuherz1993 p165. He helped found the St John’s Wood Clique & became an RA in 1878. He was a notorious practical joker WoodDic
Oeuvre: Oil & watercolour paintings, stained-glass, mural design; ceramic designs for Minton etc. Also book illustrations; & art criticism for the Spectator WoodDic, M&M pp 61-2
Phases: Literary & historical genre, often humorous, but he later specialised in parrots & other ornithological subjects often with facetious anthropomorphic titles WoodDic, Treuhertz1993 p165
Characteristics: His animals were painted with sympathy, accuracy & lack of sentiment WoodDic Innovations: Pictorial posters & advertisments M&M p62

..MARLOW, William, 1740-1813, England:

Training: Samuel Scott, 1754-9, Wilson Waterhouse1953 p242
Career: During 1762-5 he travelled England & Wales painting landscapes. Between 1765 & 1768 he was in France & Italy & the used his studies to produce views for the rest of his life, repeating favourite patterns. After 1785 he only painted a few landscapes for his own amusement Waterhouse1953 p242
Oeuvre: Early topographical views, landscapes & some coastal scenes OxDicArt, Waterhouse1953 p242
Characteristics: His prevailing tone is silvery & his coastal scenes are Vernet-like Waterhouse1953 p242

MARMION, Simon, c1425-89; France

Background: Born in Amiens into a family of painters Grove20 p450
Training: Apparently with a group of illuminators centred around the Masters of Mansel & Guilbert de Mets Grove20 p451
Career: By 1450 he was working independently in Amiens & in 1468 he joined the painters’ guild at Tournai Grove20 pp450-1
Oeuvre: Illuminations & panel paintings. No signed or documented items survive but many works have been attributed to him & his workshop Grove20 pp 450-2
Characteristics: He had a distinctive palette entirely composed of almost pastel colours featuring delicate greys & violets. His daring depiction of the sky in a Cruxifixion in shell gold & pale violet with yellow clouds is unique among contemporary illumination. The same is true of a Paradise landscape where its celestial nature is conveyed through heightened colour, He excelled in depicting shimmering effects & translucent cloth Grove20 p452
Verdict: He was the greatest colourist of his time Grove20 p452
Innovation: He produced perhaps the earliest pure landscape showing a river with ships in the Livre des priorities des choses (British Library) Grove20 p452

-MARQUET, Albert, 1875-1947, France:

Background: He was born in Bordeaux OxDicMod

Training: At the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, & during 1894-8 under Moreau at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he became a close friend of Matisse OxDicMod, Grove20 p464.

Career: In 1890 he settled in Paris. He & Matisse painted together while studying & subsequently, though his work work was less radical. He was a Fauve in 1905-6 but showed with them mainly out of solidarity & friendship. His subsequent work was relatively naturalistic & subdued. Marquet went on extensive painting expeditions in 1934 & North Africa & made a trip to Russia in 1934 OxDicMod, Whitfield pp 8, 19-20.

Oeuvre: Landscapes particularly ports, bridges & quays, powerful female nudes during 1910-14, & some fine portraits OxDicMod, L&L.

Characteristics: He showed great compositional originality during his Fauve period, & painted his favourite subjects with unaffected simplicity & great sensitivity of tone OxDicMod

Personal: He was timid &, although he had an international reputation, refused all awards OxDicMod.

Grouping: Although Marquet was a Fauvist he, like Charles Camoin & Jean Puy, rejected the Fauvist belief that landscape was mainly an invention obtained by means of substitute coloured marks. Camoin was uncomfortable with the way in which Fauvist colour was exulted by emotion Whitfield p87

Circle: That of Matisse in the late 1890s L&L

Collections: Musee des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux OxDicMod

MASEK, Karel, 1865-1927, Czech:

Background: Born Prague Wikip
Training: At the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, under Alexander von Wagner; & from 1887 at the Academie Julian under Gustave Boulanger & Jules Lefebre Wikip
Influences: Seurat & pointillism GibsonM p167, Wikip
Career: In 1898 he became professor at the Prague School of Decorative Arts GibsonM p237
Oeuvre: Paintings, illustrations, architecture Wikip
Characteristics: He had a very personal & decorative style using mosaics of brilliant colour in a Klimt-like manner GibsonM p167, Masini p253
Grouping: Symbolism GibsonM p237
Locations: His decorative work in many Prague buildings GibsonM p237. There are also paintings & drawings on paper in the NGArt.

..MASON, George Heming, 1818-72, England:

Background: He was born at Stoke on Trent, the grandson of Miles Mason the potter Newall1989 p73
Influences: Costa’s open air sketches of Campagna peasants & during the early 1860s Barbizon paintings & works by Jules Breton etc seen in Paris Treuherz p187, Grove20 p569.
Career: After training as a surgeon for five years he suddenly left with his brother for Italy in 1843.    He painted souvenir landscapes around Rome until he met Costa in 1852.   They made sketching trips lasing several weeks into the Campagna sleeping rough .   In 1857 Ploughing in the Campagna was exhibited at the RA.   In 1858 he married & set up home at Wetley Abbey, the family home in Staffordshire. Financial problems due to the failure of his father’s pottery firm & the end of his allowance severe depression.   He did not resume painting until 1862.   During the 1860s he lived in Hammersmith & in 1868 he became an ARA.   Latterly he suffered from ill-heath & depended on friends for financial support Newall1989 p73,, Grove20 p568.
Oeuvre: Landscapes with figures Newall1989 p73
Speciality: The effects of mist, subset & moonlight Wood1999 p295,
Phases: From 1859 he painted landscapes in his native Staffordshire Treuherz p187
Characteristics: His works are full of romantic & poetic feeling.   They are gentle classicism & display gentle reverie.   His English works feature graceful girls & boys in smocks & bonnets harvesting & tending animals.   His woks are highly contrived but effective Wood1999 p295, Treuherz p187
Grouping: The Etruscan School Newall1989 p73
Friends: Leighton from 1853, George Howard, & Watts.   Leighton provided life-long financial support Newall1989 p73, Grove20 p568

-MACKE, August, 1887-1914; German Impressionism and Expressionism Movement

Background: Born at Meschede, Westphalia OxDicMod

Training: At the Dusseldorf Academy, 1904-6, & with Corinth in Berlin, 1907-8 OxDicMod

Influences: Matisse & Delaunay Dube pp 137, 145

Career: He grew up in Bonn & Cologne. Between 1907 & 1912 he visited Paris several times & met Robert Delaunay. In 1910 he joined the Neue Kunstlervereinigung & in 1911 the Blaue Reiter. In 1914 he visited Tunisia with Klee & Louis Moilliet. He volunteered in 1914 OxDicMod

Oeuvre: Paintings, design work, pottery, woodcarvings & a few prints OxDicMod

Characteristics: His subjects were generally light-hearted & without Expressionist angst in a bright but never strident colour. Macke’s work was a synthesis of Impressionism, Fauvism & Orphism. It was closer to French art than that of any other contemporary German painter. He moved less towards abstraction than other Balaua Reiter painters OxDicMod

Beliefs: He thought the War would cleanse & renew Western society but quickly changed his mind OxDicMod. “Working for me means celebrating everything simultaneously, nature, sunlight & tree, plants, people, animals…” “There are chords of colours, let’s say a certain red & green, which move, shimmer when you look at them….Finding the space-shaping energies of colour, instead of contenting ourselves with dead chiaroscuro, is our finest task.” “Kandinsky, Jawlensky…have immense artistic sensibility …The sound of their voice is so good, so fine, that what is being said gets lost. Consequently, a human element is missing, they concentrate too much, I think, on form” (1910) Dube pp137, 142,145

Friends: Marc from 1911; Delaunay L&L, Dube p145

–MACLISE, Daniel, 1806-70, England; Troubadour Movement

Background: He was born & grew up in Cork where his father was a shoemaker Grove20 p28
Training: At the Cork Institute, 1822 Grove20 p28
Influences: Local literary & artistic circles part of the Romantic Movement & an interest in Irish antiquities & oral traditions together with Romantic medievalism & Tory nostalgia for Young England; the contemporary interest in 17^th century northern painting; & Paul Delaroche. The theatre & Shakespeare was a lifelong interest Grove20 p28
Career: He set up a studio in Cork, travelled extensively in Ireland seeking picturesque views; & was active in London from 1827; visited Paris, 1844; & Germany, 1859, to study the stereochrome fresco process. In 1840 he was elected an RA Grove20 pp 28-29, OxDicCon
Oeuvre: History paintings, genre, illustrations & he was a talented caricaturist L&L, Grove20 p28, OxDicCon
Characteristics: His later work featured strong draughtsmanship but he was completely unable to render facial expressions Grove20 p28, Reynolds1987 p12
Feature: During the 1840s, 50s & 60s he painted a series of large narrative works including King Alfred in the Camp of the Danes, 1852 (Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle); Marriage of the Princess Oife of Leinster with Strongbow, 1854 (NG Ireland); The Meeting of Wellington & Blucher at Waterloo, 1859 (Palace of Westminster, Royal Gallery; & the Death of Nelson, 1865, together with a previous study, 1864 (The Walker); A Winter’s Tale, 1867 (Manchester City Art Gallery), though this is somewhat smaller. All of these works are highly dramatic, crowded with figures, painted with marked chiaroscuro, & containing a wealth of carefully observed detail as in his Marriage of the Princess Grove20 p29, webimages
Status: He was the leading history painter of his era & a central figure in the early Irish revival. OxDicCon, Grove20 p28
Friends: Dickens, Harrison Ainsworth & Disraeli Grove20 p28
Reception: He was highly regarded in academic circles OxDicCon
Collections: The NPG

..MADARASZ, Victor, 1830-1917, Hungary:

Background: He was born at Csetnek into a family with patriotic & radical sympathies Norman1977
Training: Waldmulller in Vienna & Cogniet in Paris Norman1977
Career: He joined the revolutionary forces in 1848 & then went to Vienna &, during 1856-70 Paris. He retuned to Hungary but largely gave up painting, taking over his father’s factory in 1873 Norman1977
Oeuvre: History paintings particularly of episodes showing Hapsburg persecution; & also portraits of revolutionary leaders Norman1977
Characteristics: His work featured dramatic themes & presentation Norman1977
Circle: Kossuth & other revolutionary leaders Norman1977
Influenced: Munkacsy Norman1977

..MADOU, Jean, 1796-1877, Belgium:

Background: Born in Brussels Norman1977
Career: He studied painting but was in business from 1814-18. He then worked with the map section of the Belgian army. Madou took up lithography before returning to painting around 1840 with notable success. He later became professor of drawing at the Military School of Brussels Norman1977
Oeuvre: A genre painter of tavern scenes and country festivals, usually set in the 18^th century Norman1977
Influenced: One of the generation of Belgian historical genre painters whose emphasis on realistic presentation opened the way for other painters of contemporary life Norman1977

Madrazo. See y Agudo

Maelwael. See Malouel

-MAES, Nicholaes, 1634-93, Netherlands:

Background: Born in Dordrecht OxDicArt. His father prosperous merchant TurnerRtoV p201
Training: In c1648 under Rembrandt OxDicArt
Career: In 1654 he returns to Dordrecht, visits Antwerp in 1665-7, & settles in Amsterdam in 1673 OxDicArt
Oeuvre: Largish OxDicArt
Speciality: Old women, often sleeping, praying, or reading the Bible OxDicArt
Phases/Characteristics: In c1654-60 he painted domestic genres of women & children L&L. His 1660s portraits increasingly had deep & glowing colours with reddish tones. From 1667 (after Antwerp visit) a dramatic style change led to wider, lighter, & cooler colours with greys & blacks instead in shadows instead of browns OxDicArt
Verdict: His work was fashionable, Van Dyck-like, & successful OxDicArt

-MAFFEI, Francesco, c1600-60, Italy=Venice;

Background: Born in Vicenza L&L
Training: In Vicenza L&L
Influences: Veronese, Tintoretto, Bassano, Liss, Strozzi L&L
Career: He worked on the periphery of Venice & settled in Padua in 1657 Waterhouse1962 p129
Oeuvre: Religious, mythological scenes, & allegorical portraits OxDicArt
Characteristics: Often attractively bizarre fantasy: nervous & rapid brushwork, elongated semi-Mannerist forms, & calculated asymmetries L&L, OxDicArt. He was a master of local colour & tone Waterhouse1962 p129
Style: Outside any main tradition Waterhouse1962 p129
Verdict: Flickering brush-strokes often fail to form convincing image Steer p173
Collections: MCivico Vicenza OxDicArt

-MAGNASCO/IL LISSANDRINO, Allesandro, 1667-1749, Italy

Career: born Genoa; in Milan until 1735, except for stay in Florence c1709-11; then back to Genoa Waterhouse 1962 p223; OxDicArt
Oeuvre: prolific; melodramatic scenes in storm-tossed landscapes, ruins, gloomy monasteries, peopled by small elongated monks, nuns, gypsies, beggars, inquisitors; nervous/flickering brushwork; macabre light effects OxDicArt
Influenced: Guardi; Marco Ricci OxDicArt

-MAGNELLI, Alberto, 1888-71, Italy:

*MAGRITTE, 1898-1967, Belgium:

Background: born Lessines; father businessman/commercial traveller; mother seamstress; 1912 her suicide OxDicMod
Influences: de Nuncques GibsonM p92; de Chirico OxDicMod
Training:1916-8 EcoleBA, Brussels OxDicMod
Career: from 1922 (when M) made living designing wallpaper/fashion advertisements; 1926 full-time painter OxDicMod, Alexandrian p120; 1927-30 in Paris participating in Surrealism movement but fell out with Breton; returned to & mainly remained in Brussels, becoming centre of Belgium Surrealism; bourgeois lifestyle but joined Communist Party & attacked Catholic church; more concerned with undermining conventional norms than with exploring nonconscious; c1955 begins to achieve international success OxDicMod
Oeuvre: paintings, sculpture, print & film maker OxDicMod
Phases: initially Cuba-Futurism; 1925 becomes Surrealist ; early 1940s he adopts a Renoiresque manner (his “Surrealism in full sunlight”) OxDicMod
Characteristics: precise & scrupulous, banal manner, except for c1947 interlude of stridency; startling & disturbing juxtapositions of the ordinary, strange & erotic; ambiguities concerning real objects & their images, indoors & outside, day & night; obsessive repertoire of images, including floating rocks, fishes with human legs, OxDicMod; ways of making strange = enlargement of detail, animation of inanimate, mysterious views through openings, creatures composed of inappropriate substances; anatomical surprises, association of complimentary, e.g. the leaf-tree; a painter of revelations not of symbols/myths; his mysteries always crystal clear Alexandrian pp 122-3
Beliefs: never leave reality, our point of reference, behind Alexandrian p123
Status: Surrealism OxDicMod; Magic Realist of Surrealism strand TurnerEtoPM p239
Enemies: Delvaux = naïve & pretentious/respectful believer in bourgeois order OxDicMod
Influence: considerable on Pop art OxDicMod

Mailly. See de Chalons

-MAINARDI, Sebastiano, c1455-1513, Italy

Maino. See Mayno:

-MAION, Simon, c1425-89:

..MAITLAND, Paul, 1863-1909, England: Aestheticism:

Background: He was born with a spinal deformity which made him shy & reclusive Wikip
Training: At the Royal College of Art, & later he was taught by Theodore Roussel Wikip, McConkey1989 p157
Influences: Whistler’s tonality Weintraub p362
Career: He joined NEAC, 1888; & exhibited with the London Impressionists, 1889; & taught drawing at the Royal College of Art McConkey1989 p157, Wikip
Oeuvre: Most of his works are landscape & townscapes in & around London especially London & Chelsea McConkey1989 p157
Characteristics: His works are mostly of a tonal type as in Factories bordering the river, c1886 (The Tate) generally with overcast skies in works, such as an exhibit at NEAC featuring a grey mournfulness, together with a general absence of figures webimages, McConkey2006 p61
Speciality: Industrial buildings as viewed across the Thames webimages
Circle: Whistler’s followers McConkey1989 p157

-MAKART, Hans, 1840-84, Austria:

Background: His father was a caretaker & talented amateur painter L&L

Training: The Vienna Academy but only for a few months; 1860 at the Munich Academy under Piloty who became his friend Norman 1977 p139, L&L

Influences: Rubens & Veronese Norman 1977 p139, L&L

Career: In 1859 he went to Munich & in 1862 made an Italian visit. He gained European fame with his 1868 triptychs, 1868. During 1869 he was invited back to Vienna & provided with commissions & a free studio. In 1875-7 he visited, Italy, Spain & Morocco. From 1879 he was a professor at the Vienna Academy Norman 1977 p139

Oeuvre, Characteristics & Verdict: Pompous history, mythological & allegory on a gigantic scale painted as tapestries of female flesh, rich stuffs, jewels, birds, & flowers. They are still-life studies out of which figures arise. His colours had splendour & power. Despite his somewhat obtrusive manner, he had a genuine gift for painting & even produced a few masterpieces Norman 1977 p139, Novotny p324. His portraits were attractive & unsubtle L&L

Circle: He held elaborate studio parties at which Sarah Bernhardt & Wagner were favourite guests Norman 1977 p139

Status: Makart was sensationally successful Norman 1977 p139. He dominated Viennese taste during the latter 19^thcentury & represented everything the avant-garde despised L&L. However, he was completely rejected soon after his death Novotny p325

Grouping: He is one of Novotny’s intellectual painters Novotny p325.

Influences: His images of women were continued by National Socialist painters Grove22 p711.

Collections: Belvedere L&L

MAKOVSKY, Vladimir, 1846-1920, Russia; Russian Critical Movement

Background: Born in Moscow Norman1977
Training: Makovsky studied at the Moscow Academy Norman1977
Circle: An early member of the Peredvizhniki group Norman1977
Oeuvre: A genre painter of domestic dramas and the petit-bourgeois Norman1977
Characteristics: His anecdotal paintings lost much of their satire and reforming zeal in his later life Norman1977

MAKSIMOV, Konstantin, 1913-, Russia:

-MALBONE, George, 1777-1807, USA:

Background: Born Newport, Rhode Island Grove20 p184
Training: Very briefly under Benjamin West at the RA Grove20 p184, L&L
Influences: Sir Thomas Lawrence Grove20 p184
Career: In 1794 he established himself as a miniature painter in Providence & from about 1795 travelled in eastern America searching for work. In 1801 he & his boyhood friend Washington Allston went briefly to London, & then in Charleston he embarked on his busiest period. Grove20 p184Grove20 p184
Oeuvre: Miniatures Grove20 p184
Characteristics: Early on his faces were modelled using a stippling technique & were crisply outlined usually against a red curtain & blue sky. Although laboured his work was direct & sensitive. He developed a brilliant technique of very delicate cross-hatching in pale luminous colour & created graceful forms as in George Bethume 1800 (The Met). After London his delicate brushstrokes became freer & slightly broader with smoother transitions between paint areas. His backgrounds were now generally sky & clouds Grove20 p184

..MALCZEWSKI, Jacek, 1858-1929, Poland:

**MALEVICH, Kasmir, 1878-1935, Russia; Tzarist Impressionism Movement

Background: He was born in Kiev, the son of a foreman in a sugar factory. His parents were ethnic Poles OxDicMod, Lucie-S 2009, Wikip

Training: Initially he studied at the Kiev School of Art, 1895-6; at the Stroganov School in Moscow, & at Ivan Rerberg’s Moscow studio Grove20 p193

Influences: Monet & Cezanne, having been seen in private Moscow collections S&K pp 13, 16. Also Goncharova & Larionov OxDicMod. The idea of a new language of meaningless words, called zaum, devised in 1913 by Kruchenykh, Matyushin & Malevich encouraged him to stop painting reality Tate2014 p6. He was a devout Christian mystic Hamilton1967 p200

Career: In 1896 the family moved to Kursk. He set up a studio with other painters, became a clerk & worked as a technical draftsman in a railway office. By 1904 he had enough money to go to Moscow for training with Fyodor Rehberg & at the School of Painting, 1904-5 S&K pp 8-9, OxDicMod; In 1905 he faught on the barricades during the Moscow uprising S&K p13. He became a member of the Knave of Diamonds which was formed in 1910 with Goncharova & Larionov but left with them left in protest at Parisian domination; & founded the Donkey’s Tail to promote Russian based art OxDicMod . In July 1913 he published a manifesto with the musician Mat Yushin & the poet Kruchenykh calling for the dissolution of language & the rejection of rational thought. In 1913 black Suprematism was launched with black in Malevich’s designs for the opera Victory over the Sun in which the Sun was captured by a Strong Man & locked in a house of concrete. It was supposed that victory over nature would lead to a futurist realm in which time was abolished S&K pp 31, 48. At the end of 1915 the Suprematist, Last Futurist or 0.10 exhibition was held at St Petersburg with 39 Malevich paintings together with those of other radical artists. Malevich’s Black Square, a white bordered black square, was positioned as an Orthodox icon, indicating that it represented what was Abstract & sacred Aronson pp 70-2. He found his black square so exciting that he was unable to drink, eat or sleep for a week S&K p46.

After the Revolution he was appointed to the new State Art Workshops, running that for textile design. In 1919 at Chagall’s invitation, he joined the art school at Vitebsk School of Art & was reported to be like a prophet preaching Supremacism. In 1920 he established a faction, named UNOVIS, which stood for Champions of the New Art. Its slogan was “Integrate Suprematism into Life” & its supporters wore symbolic black squares. The group was for Malevich like a modern monastic community. Its supporters painted trams & covered the town with posters of squares & circles etc until this was banned by the authorities. At Vitebsk he worked closely with El Lissitzky & group work was produced S&K pp 56, 66-7, Elliott p15. Malevich took over the school profiting from Chagall’s frequent absences & Chagall returned to find that it had been renamed Suprematist School & went to Moscow, & said that Malevich’s methods were old-fashioned & irrelevant Gray p240, Lucie-S 2009 p108. During 1922-7 he taught at the Institute for Artistic Culture in Leningrad/INKhUK, accompanied by a large part of UNOVIS OxDicMod, S&K p56. In 1927 he was dismissed, visited Berlin, via Warsaw, to exhibit pictures, & probably hoping to obtain a Bauhaus job, but his work was viewed as Romanticism. In 1929 it was termed bourgeois at an exhibition & branded as formalist in the press. He was arrested, accused of Polish espionage & threatened with execution, 1930. However, when he died his body lay in state at the Leningrad Artists’ Union & his coffin was born to the cemetery with full Suprematist honours including a black square S&K pp 72, 78-80, Wikip, Elliott See Return to Realism Bown1991 p122

(i) He painted early Impressionism works but was interested in colour not light S&K pp 14-15

(ii) Around 1910, he produced Post-Impressionist Neo-Primitive works in strong colours S&K pp 22-25

(iii) From around 1912 in his First Peasant Cycle he depicted their lives in a massive tubular, Expressionist style as in Peasant Woman with Buckets & a Child, c1912; or in a Cubist manner S&K pp 25-6, 28-9, 37-8, OxDicMod, as in his Lumberjack, 1912-13 (Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam both). In both paintings his figures are human beings engaged in human activity & not, as in later works, inhuman dummies S&K pp 15, 25-6, 28-9, 37-8, OxDicMod, Art Archive on web, Preston

(iv) During 1914 he began painting monochrome squares & rectangles in larger Cubist paintings S&K pp 38-9. In 1915, he painted single shapes in red & in 1918 in white but no single shapes in other colours S&K p48. After the square Malevich turned to circles, coloured geometric forms floating on a plain background S&K pp 50-3. His geometric Suprematist compositions were painted on white backgrounds with an apparent virtual absence of natural & organic shapes. There was no natural green such as leaf green. He always employed hard green in the few places where it occurs, but then virtually abandoned abstraction RARev pp 151-52, 158-160-61, OxDicCon. Together with El Lissitzky at Vitebsk he developed architects which were three dimensional white bodies of cubic shape S&K p68. From the late 1920s in a new departure he portrayed female figures, sometimes with outstretched arms, in a cross configuration as in (???)

(v) During 1928-32 in his Second Peasant Cycle he painted peasant pictures recalling icons as in Girls in a Field & Head of a Peasant (Russian Museum, St Petersburg). Such paintings have featureless faces; lack arms that are missing as in Suprematism, Female Figure, 1928-32 (???). On the back of a 1928 work he wrote that its composition indicated hopelessness. He also painted abstract landscapes sometimes composed of horizontal strips in different colours or with figures & houses that look lost & out of place as in the window-less Red House, 1932 (Russian Museum), S&K pp 76, 82-3, RARev pp 166-73.

(vi) Finally, during 1933 he returned to realism & painted [the as in] Self-portrait which is a Durer-like work in which he presents himself as a painter prince thereby laying claim to artistic freedom, together with Girl with a Red Flagpole, 1933 (Tretyakov, Moscow She has arms & human features, 1933 (Tretyakov, Moscow) S&K pp 84-85, Elliott at The Cultural Revolution section)

Beliefs: He desired “to free art from the burden of the object” & was opposed to thinking based on the notion of causation OxDicMod. “Imitative art must be destroyed like the army of imperialism”. Old towns & villages should be demolished every 50 years Golomstock pp 17, 23. The straight line is man’s ascendancy over nature; the square is the repudiation of the world of appearances & the art of the past; white fields are limitless space beyond the confining blue sky: “I have broken the blue boundary of colour limits, I have emerged into white” R&S. pp 137-8. White is pure excitation & the black square is not empty but the sensation of non-objectivity. The square & derived forms are a new direct representation of the world of feeling in which black produces a sense of rhythm & is valued as the opposite of light & a repudiation of the Christian tradition in which black is evil S&K pp 50-1; 1920, in Vitebsk Manifesto, he wrote ,“There can be no talk of painting in Suprematism. Painting has been long abolished; the artist himself is a prejudice of the past”. In the 1924 UNOVIS manifesto Malevich opposed two dimensional art & advocated spatial design S&K p68

Problem: How could Malevich have thought that he had somehow discovered black, red, & white, together with squares, circles & crosses. The answer appears to be that he regarded them as non-objective & hence as his own creation; as Minimalist Donald Judd puts it “Before 1914 neither form, nor colour, nor anything else existed per se”, meaning by itself & independently S&K p50

Verdict: With Mondrian he was the most important pioneer of geometric abstraction OxDicCon. In some late work he painted figures with realistic faces & hands in Suprematist clothing. This was an uncomfortable coupling. Others which are of great interest & originality feature peasants in flat & bright colouring & simple modulations with blank faces as in Three Female Figures, 1928-32 (Russian Museum, St Petersburg) Bown p122. [From an early stage until around 1930 Malevich’s creations are of a purest nature, divorced from any human warmth & emotion. They are coldly rational & intellectual & antipathetic to the world of nature: fundamentally inhuman with blank faces as in Peasants, c1930 (Russian Museum, c1930, both). Malevich has the dubious distinction of being the outstanding artist who dehumanised 20^th century art.

Pupil: Ilya Chashnik S&K p58

Influence/Legacy: Not only in Russia but also, through Lissitzky & Moholy-Nagy, in Central Europe & elsewhere OxDicMod etc.

Reception: Alexandre Benois regarded the 1915 Suprematist Exhibition as a blasphemous replacement of human art by a machine mentality that was arrogant, haughty & trampled over all that was dear & tender. Moreover, he thought that Suprematism & his Black Square would have dire consequences. To this Malevich replied that he was happy in not being like you as it gave him strength to proceed into the empty but transforming wilderness. From the standpoint of art history Malevich won this exchange hands down, Benois’ work was not avant-garde . However when viewed form a historical perspective he was right because the trajectory on which Malevich had embarked led to Communist slaughter & the repudiation of his own art under Socialist Realism Aronson pp 74 -5, etc. That Benois was hostile Malevich is not surprising but what is significant is that avant-garde artists disliked Malevich. They were offended by his quarrels with Tatlin & Alexander Rodchenko described him as “not sincere, with disagreeable shifty eyes, he was most infatuated with himself & seemed particularly biased in his judgements” Lucie-S, 2009 p108.

Repute: Although celebrated for painting his squares, they have been anticipated by the French writer & humourist Alphonse Allais who in the late 19^th century painted a series of monochrome works including Negroes Fighting in a cellar at Night. This was intended as a satirical comment on the avant-garde art movement. Moreover Claude Bragdon had also produced geometric forms. Nevertheless, Malevich is now recognised & implicitly celebrated as a forerunner of abstraction of a severe geometric nature OxDicCon, Grove20 p193, Brigstocke, WestS1996, Google

Verdict: Although Malevich’s squares were not unprecedented what was crucial was his own claim that, by painting a black square on a white ground, “all reference to ordinary objective life had been left behind & nothing is real except feeling…the feeling of non-objectivity” Hamilton1967 p199. [Why a blank area of paint, ie a painting of nothing, should elicit any feeling, except perhaps boredom or annoyance at his pretentious claim, is not apparent. It would however be wrong to conclude that Suprematism with its paintings of faceless peasants was an empty exercise. It represented the dehumanisation of art & Malevich’s contribution to the Stalinist terror. The dehumanisation of art was an outstanding feature of his work, although he was not the only painter of his time to engage in this activity, witness Picasso.]

Legacy: Josef Albers & other painters went on to paint square paintings, although in his case the colour was not completely uniform webimages

Collections: The Tretyakov, Moscow; The Russian Museum, St Petersburg; & The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

..MALIAVIN, Filipp, 1869-1940, Russia:

*MALOUEL/MALWAEL, Jean/Jan, 1396-1415, Netherlands:

Background: He was the son of the heraldic artist Willem Mabelvale Grove20 p207
Career: By 1397 he was in Dijon, painter to Philip the Bold Duke of Burgundy, in 1401 he was in the ducal residence at Conflans outside Paris, & after the Duke’s death was employed by John the Fearless. In 1413 he went to Nijmegen Grove20 p207
Oeuvre: Altarpieces, other religious paintings & artisan activities Grove20 p207
Characteristics/Legacy: A beautiful attributed to don Pieta indicates his familiarity with Tuscan painting & his influence on his nephews Brigstocke

-MALTON, Thomas, the Younger, 1748-1804, England:

Background: Born in London, he was the son of the cabinet maker Thomas the Elder, 1726-1801, a perspective lecturer, etc.   He worked at a time when wars with France increased patriotic pride in London Grove20 p220
Training: Under his father, & the RA Schools from 1773 Grove20 p220
Influences: Sandby L&L
Career: From 1783 he was a drawing master & he published A Picturesque Tour through the Cities of London & Westminster, 1792, a collection of his etchings with coloured aquatint Grove20 p220
Oeuvre: Paintings, etchings, architectural drawings, scenery painting Grove20 p220
Characteristics: His etchings were precise, & he adopted a low view point depicting London as a bright, clean city with grandiose architecture.   They revealed its social make-up were enhanced with shadows using a crisp grey wash & the addition of delicate local colour Grove20 p220
Pupil: Turner who praised his skill.   He influenced Girtin Grove20 p220

..MANCINI, Antonio, 1852-1930, Italy:

Background: He was born at Albano Laziale Grove20 p240.
Training: The Instituto di Belle Arti, Naples, from the age of 12 Grove20 p240.
Career: He vested Paris in 1875 meeting Manet & Degas, & again in 1877 Grove20 p240. Mental illness necessitated his return from Paris to Rome in 1883. Here he developed his own individual style, travelling widely. Norman1977
Phases/Characteristics: He began by painting Neapolitan street boys, musicians & dancers. After 1872 he lightened his previously sombre palette & his style became more decorative. Throughout the 1880s & 1890s his work became increasingly flamboyant & he mainly painted society portraits, though often returning to genre. In his late painting he used thick impasto & added colored glass & foil etc for greater luminosity Grove20 p240. The lovingly painted still-life elements of his work are not worthy Norman1977
Grouping: Verismo Grove20 p240
Repute: Sargent considered him the best contemporary Italian painter Grove20 p240.

Mander. See van Mander

-MANDYN/MANDIJN, Jan/van Haarlem, Netherlands, 1502-c1650, Belgium; Renaissance, Early Italian

Background: He was born in Haarlem L&L
Career: He was active in Antwerp to which he moved before 1530. Mandyn lived with Aertsen after the latter’s move to Antwerp, in about 1535 L&L, Grove20 p249
Characteristics: His work is Bosch-like but less fantastic & more decorative L&L. Mandyn’s paintwork is looser than Bosch’s, & his colours & fantastic creatures are less harmonious. He is altogether less expressive Grove20 p249
Pupils: Hans van Elburcht, Mostaert & Spranger Grove20 p249

-MANES, Josef, 1820-71, Czech:

Background: His father, Antonin, was a Prague landscapist Norman1977
Training: Under his father & the Prague Academy, 1835-44 Norman1977
Influences: Cornelius, Genelli & Schwind Norman1977
Characteristics: He painted in a careful Realist style Norman1977
Career: During 1843-6 he was in Dresden & Munich. He then travelled in Slovakia, making studies of traditional rural life, but mainly worked in Prague. His illustrative work, particularly of Czech folk songs (1856-62) helped to form his mature style. Manes painted twelve-month scenes for Prague’s town hall, 1865-6. He visited St Petersburg in 1867 & Rome in 1870. Manes was the first president of the artists group in the Artistic Forum. This was founded in 1863 to establish a unified Czech national programme with which artists in different field would be associated Grove2 p546.
Politics: Manes was a patriot Norman1977
Phases: His early works are conventional, intensely Romantic history paintings, together with portraits Norman1977
Status: Manes is seen as the founder of Czech national culture rooted in folk traditions & patriotic hopes Norman1977, L&L
Collections: National Gallery, Prague L&L

***MANET, Eduard, 1832-83, France; Victorian Modern Life

Background: His father was a senior civil servant & his mother the daughter of a diplomat L&L

Training: At Couture’s studio, 1850-6, together with evening sessions at the Academie Suisse L&L

Influences: While training he spent many hours copying Giorgione, Titian, Velazquez & Delacroix in the Louvre. These were followed by further work in Holland, Italy & Austria L&L. He was influenced, as his 1868 portrait of Zola shows, by Japanese woodblock prints, now available since the opening of Japan to the West, 1853 GroveMtoC p286

Career: He was expected to study law &, after art studies had been forbidden, he went to sea. Only in 1849 did his father yield. Manet’s first Salon entry –The Absinthe Drinker- was in 1859. His first works were portraits & his first significant outdoor scene was Music in the Tuileries Gardens, 1862, a studio work. His father’s death (1862) left him financially secure & in 1863 he married his mistress of thirteen years L&L, GroveMtoC p284. In 1865 he went to Spain where he first saw major works by Velasquez & Goya GroveMtoC pp 284, 286. He began giving more attention to landscapes & townscapes &, especially after the war of 1870-1, did some outdoor painting. In the summer of 1874 he painted at his family property at Gennevilliers, near Argenteuil. Here he met Monet, Caillebotte & Renoir, & painted Argenteuil & Boating. In 1875 he went to Venice & painted in a brilliant quasi-Impressionist style GroveMtoC p288, L&L. His later work included restaurant & music hall scenes, culminating in 1882 with the Bar at the Folies-Bergeres, together with portraits & still-lifes L&L. In the late 1870s Manet suffered from locomotor ataxia, a disease associated with late stage syphilis. This caused bouts of pain & extreme tiredness & he increasingly preferred to work in pastels OxDicArt.

Technique: This is notable for its brilliant all prima approach GroveMtoC p284. Instead of painting on a dark ground he worked directly on a white or lightly coloured canvas. This meant that his paintings had an instant impact instead of having to be studied in order to fully appreciate their meaning as in Courbet’s dark-ground forest landscapes Fried1996 pp294. Although his work often has a feeling of freshness & spontaneity, he would often repaint & rework pictures, or even cut them up OxDicArt

Oeuvre: Although his great strength was in modern-life subjects, his work was highly varied, & included religious paintings. He was also a skilled etcher & lithographer OxDicArt, L&L. His career as a printmaker began around 1860GroveMtoC p286

Phases: His early style was marked by dramatic light-dark contrasts based on Spanish 17^th century painting etc. Its direction changed in 1862 with the Old Musicians, which still referred to Spanish & Old Master painting but dealt with marginal city life, & Music in the Tuileries Gardens, his first straightforward contemporary urban scene GroveMtoC p284. During the early 1870s he abandoned dark backgrounds, adopted a higher-keyed colouration, & his brushwork became extremely free & sketchy GroveMtoC pp 284, 288.

Characteristics: He was a master of black & it plays a notable part in many of his paintings Gage2006 p61. Dark acid greens also figure prominently W-B Pls 65, 74, 77-8, 92, 94, 104, 107, 120, 160. He made notable use of emerald green in The Balcony & some other major works Gage1999 p39. Another feature was the suppression of half tones which first occurred extensively for the seated woman in the Dejeuner Fried1996 p294.

Innovations: He introduced a new era of modern urban subject matter GroveMtoC p284. In his work he flattened pictorial space & tuned away from perspective L&L. Olympia is almost the first post-Renaissance nude of a real woman in probable surroundings Clarke1956 p162.

Feature: A mood of enigmatic isolation pervades Luncheon in the Studio, 1868 & The Balcony, 1689-90: the figures do not relate in any formal or psychological sense GroveMtoC p287. [The same can surely be said of both] Olympia & A Bar at the Folies-Bergere GroveMtoC p289.

Beliefs: When painting his portrait of Zola, he declared: “I don’t know how to invent. No matter how hard I tried to paint according to the lessons I have learned, I have not produced anything of value” Weisberg1982 p235.

Circle: From 1865 he was considered the leader of a group including Degas & the younger Impressionists whom met regularly at the Café Guerbois. In 1868 he met Berthe Morisot who was briefly his pupil & modelled for The Balcony & Luncheon in the Studio. She married his brother, Eugene, in 1874. His literary associates included Baudelaire, Mallarme & Zola GroveMtoC pp 286-7, 292.

Grouping: Once generally regarded as an Impressionist and is still often represented as their leader, Manet has now come to be seen as a Realist L&L, GroveMtoC p284.

Politics: He had life-long Republican sympathies, but did not engage in overt political activity. From his lithographs it appears that he opposed the suppression of the Commune GroveMtoC pp 287, 292.

Personal: Despite being classed as a rebel, he sought traditional honours & cut an impeccable figure as a man-about-town OxDicArt

Enemies: He loathed Degas Denvir p11

Reception: The first clear signs of unfavourable critical reception emerged in 1863 & his three Salon entries were turned down. Dejeuner sur l’herbe aroused a critical storm at the Salon des Refuses. It intensified in 1865 when Olympia was shown at the Salon GroveMtoC p285. His colour was strongly condemned. It was described as sharp, acidic, eye piercing & dispirate (Dejeuner, Olympia, etc). The violent contrasts of light & dark & the suppression of half tones were also criticised together with failure to complete a work Fried1996 pp 303, 331. The rejection of The Fife by the Salon in 1866 infuriated Zola who became his champion. He was seen as the standard bearer of the emergent Naturalist Movement & his Gare Saint-Lazare, 1873, was endorsed by Castagnary Weisberg1992 p13.

Repute: By his death he had gained a grudging reputation as an important innovator but there were few understanding defenders. Independent studies of his life & work did not appear until the 20^th century. By the 1920s & the dominant formalism his work was primarily viewed as pure painting. However, during the 1930s left-wing intellectuals saw his apparent lack of interest in subject-matter as bourgeois formalism, a view revived in the 1980s by T. J. Clark GroveMtoC p292.

Legacy: His light & vivid outdoor painting attracted painters reluctant to commit themselves to full Impressionism L&L

Collections: Musee d’Orsay

-MANFREDI, Bartolomeo, 1582-after1622, Italy:

Background: He was born at Mantua OxDicArt
Influences: Caravaggio’s tenebrism & his early, though light-hued, genre subjects L&L
Career: He was mainly active in Rome OxDicArt
Oeuvre: About 40 paintings are attributed to him, but there are no signed or documented works OxDicArt
Speciality: Low-life scenes of taverns, guardrooms, card-playing etc OxDicArt
Verdict: He exaggerated the low-life aspects of Caravaggio’s work to the detriment of its spiritual qualities OxDicArt
Legacy: He popularised low-life scenes especially among French & Dutch painters who visited Italy. Among those influenced by Manfredi, & directly or indirectly by Caravaggio, were Dirch van Baburen, Gerrit van Honthorst, Jan van Bijlert, Simon Vouet, Valentin de Boulogne OxDicArt, Grove5 p719

*MANGOLD, Robert, 1937-, USA:

Training: At the Cleveland Art Institute & Yale L&L
Career: He worked as an assistant librarian etc at MoMA L&L
Speciality: What he calls his ‘Frame Paintings’, i.e., works with a central opening, usually combined with a dominant but disrupted geometric form L&L
Phases: Work associated with Minimalism but by the late 1960s he used more expressive forms, including shaped canvasses, stronger colours & then blatant brushstrokes L&L

-MANGUIN, Henri, 1874-1949, France:

Background: He was born in Paris OxDicMod
Training: Ecole des Beaux-Arts, 1894 OxDicMod
Career: In 1905 he exhibited at Salon d’Automne show & went to St-Tropez. He loved the light & landscape & stayed OxDicMod.
Oeuvre: Riviera scenes, nudes & still-life generally on a small scale OxDicMod
Characteristics: Bright colour but he toned down Fauvism creating stylish & exuberant art OxDicMod.
Friends: His fellow students: Camoin, Marquet & Matisse OxDicMod
Patrons: He was very popular with private collectors as the acceptable face of Modernism OxDicArt
Grouping: Fauvism L&L

..MANN, Alexander, 1853-1908, Scotland; Rural Naturalism Movement

Background: Born Glasgow, the son of a wealthy merchant. His father wanted him to enter the family firm & the initially worked for seven years in a warehouse Grove20 p276, Garstin p302

Training: From the age of ten with Robert Greelees; evening classes a Glasgow School of Art, where Greelees was headmaster. In Paris from 1877 he was at the Academie Julian, & then under Mihaly Mukasey &, 1881-5, under Carolus-Duran Grove20 p276

Influences: The Hague School & Bastien-Lepage Grove20 p276

Career: He exhibited at the Salon in 1882. In 1886 joined NEAC & in 1877 he settled at West Hagbourne & later at nearby Blewbury, Berkshire. He travelled extensively in Britain, Europe, the Americas, & during 1890-2 lived in Tangiers. His industry was untiring Grove20 p276, Billcliffe p25, Garstin p300

Oeuvre: Landscapes & townscapes, barn interiors, figure compositions, oil sketches on small mahogany panels, still-life & portraits Grove20 p276, Garstin p301, Billcliffe pp 158, 169-1, webimages

Characteristics: He was a tonal plein air painter & his paintings with their strong clean handling are constructed in a very professional manner with a careful attention to varying light effects. His oil sketches in Tangier are his liveliest & most colourful works Billcliffe pp158, 169-71, Webimages, Grove20 p276

Reception/Verdict: [His work did not receive the attention it deserved probably because, due to his wealth, he did not need to exhibit]

Friends: Lavery, Thomas Millie Dow & Norman Garstin Grove20 p276

Grouping: He was associated with the Glasgow Boys around 1886 but was not an intimate or continuing member of the group Billcliffe pp24-5, 171

Mannozzi. See da San Giovanni

Jacob MANN, Germany; Nazi:

Career: Unknown but he could be Hans Jakob Mann, 1887-1963 Wikip
Oeuvre/Characteristics: The Fatherland Calls shows a Nazi agitator calling upon a group of people to join the Nazi party. It is painted in a highly realistic style with dramatic use of chiaroscuro Golomstock pp 242-3.

***MANTEGNA, 1430/1-1506, Italy:

Background: Because of the way in which Sienese, Burgundian & Gothic art was rooted in Northern Italy, together with the gorgeousness of the East, the environment was less favourable to the Renaissance than in Florence Venturis p156. He was born at Isola di Carturo, near Padua, & his father was a carpenter Grove20 p304.

Training: By 1442 he had become a pupil of Squarcione, who legally adopted him, but whom he left following disagreements in 1448 Grove20 p304. Squarcione passed on his interest in antiquity & an expressive use of line Murrays1963 p134, L&L.

Influences: Donatello’s works in Padua (Lamentation, Gattamelata) & its university’s deep interest in the antique world Murrays1963 pp 134-5. Classical antiquity was his ideal as reflected in the contents of his paintings, particularly in the works of his youth. His incisive drawing & illusionist perspective looks like Donatello’s sculpture transcribed into paint Venturis p153

Career: Between 1448 & 1557 Mantegna worked on the (now destroyed) Eremitani frescos, although there were interruptions Grove20 pp 304-6. In 1460 he settled in Mantua as Court Painter to the Gonzagas Murrays1963 p139. Here he remained apart from 1488 until about 1490 when he was summoned to Rome by Innocent VIII Grove 20 p311. In Mantua he & his assistants engaged in a variety of work including designs for tapestry, stage sets & dinner services Venturis p156

Characteristics/style: His art is characterised by brilliant compositional solutions, bold & innovative use of perspective & foreshortening, & a precise & deliberate manner of execution Grove20 p304. Mantegna’s use of colour & tone varied widely. The St James series were in a greeney-grey without felicity of tone, whereas the Martyrdom of St Christopher was painted in silvery & pinkish colours with a delicate sense of tone, probably under the influence of Piero della Francesca Clark1983 p117. Mantegna’s work is uneven. The groups of saints at the sides of the main section of the S. Zeno altarpiece are conventional & tiresomely drawn. This work shows how dull a painter he could be when his imagination was not touched Clark1983 p117, 119-20, 120. On the other hand, the predella panels are painted with intense feeling, the St Bastian in the Louvre, both in facial expression & in the way he rises above his brutal executioners, is an embodiment of Christian faith Clark1983 p120. Mantegna used Broad Manner engraving (See Engraving) Murrays1963 p190. He continued to work in tempera L&L

Firsts: He was the first north Italian Renaissance painter, & the first Renaissance artist, to be entirely in the service of a humanist prince Venturis p156. He was also the first Renaissance painter to create a convincing picture of classical antiquity. Mantegna ventured to have a vanishing point outside the frame (in St James Led to Execution) Venturis p156, Clark1983 pp 109, 116-7, 123. He is the only artist of the period to have left a group of self-portraits Grove20 p304

Reception: He was greatly esteemed by his contemporaries for his learning & skill. However, Vasari recorded that the Eremitani frescos were criticized for their dull colouring & Squarcione claimed that the figures were hard & without the softness of living beings Grove20 pp 304, 307

Personal: He was touchy, self-opinionated & above all arrogant Venturis p156. As a litigant he was tireless Clark1983 p109

Followers/Influence: Cossa, Carlo Crivelli, Tura, Durer Murrays1963 pp 142, 190,192; L&L. His influence in Venice, Lombardy & Emilia during the latter half of the 15^th century was similar to that of Masaccio in central Italy Venturis p153

Repute: Berenson saw Mantegna as naively & romantically obsessed with the grandeur of Imperial Rome. He forgot that the Romans were creatures of flesh & blood & painted them as “statuesque in pose, processional in gait & godlike in look & gesture”. His religious paintings have little Christian feeling & are treated as occasions for the depiction of the Antique world both in their settings & in the figures themselves. This is not a criticism but a description of his purpose & if he remains inspiring it is because he failed to accurately reconstruct the Roman world but instead provided a romantic dream of a noble humanity living in noble surroundings Berenson pp 241-6

.. MANZO, Jose, 1789-1860, Mexico; National Romantic

Background: He was born in Puebla which was a major centre for the depiction of regional subject matter Grove20 p351 & 21 p385
Career: He was Director of the Academia de Dibujo in Puebla from its foundation in 1814, receiving a scholarship which enabled him to study in Paris, 1827-7. After returning he engaged in intense activity which included both the completion of the altarpiece & the interior at Puebla cathedral in a Neo-Classical style, & local subject matter Grove20 p352, & 21p385
Oeuvre: Paintings, sculpture, architecture Grove20 p351

-MARATTA/MARATTI, Carlo, 1625-1713, Italy; Baroque Classical

Background: He was in a line of descent from Ludovico & Annibale Carraci, & then through Albani & Saachi NGArt1986 p366

Teacher: 1637-61 Andrea Sacchi OxDicArt

Influences: Counter-Reformation dogmas OxDicArt. His friend Bellori who championed the Classical Waterhouse1962 p77

Characteristics: Baroque tendencies together with Sacchi’s Classical manner, which produced a Grand Manner, sometimes dramatic & always clear & dignified L&L

Status: He was the leading painter & finest portraitist in Rome during the latter 17^th century with an international reputation particularly for those of the Madonna & Child. However his reputation suffered due to confusion with his pupils’ inferior work OxDicArt

Patronage: Cardinal Antonio Barberini (UrbanVIII’s nephew) after Sacchi’s death in 1661, for whom Maratta painted exceptional portraits Haskell p60. He obtained negligible papal commissions under Clement X & Innocent XI (1670-89) Haskell pp 161-63.

Grouping: His work has been regarded as both Classical & Baroque [but is better seen as Classical in the Baroque Era] OxDicArt

– MARC, Franz 1880-1916, confusable with Macke, Germany; Expressionism:

Background: He was born at Munich, the son of a landscape painter & a Huguenot mother from Alsace. Many German artists seemed like Nolde to be oppressed by the middle-class materialism & hypocrisy that dominated Europe prior to the Great War & sought escape Grove20 p380, OxDicMod, Rosenblum1975 p138

Training: At the Akademie der Bildeenden Kunst, Munich, under Gabriel von Hackl & Wilhelm von Dietz, 1900-2 Grove20 p380, OxDicMod

Influences: Vân Gogh & Gauguin, 1907 ; & crucially Robert Delaunay, 1912 Grove20 p380, Dube p125, Rosenblum1975 pp 139-41

Career: From 1902 he engaged in self-training at Kochel in Upper Bavaria; went on a study trip to Paris, 1903; returned to Munich; went to Greece with his brother, 1906; went briefly to Paris, 1907; made nature studies & depicted animals at Lenggries & Sindelsdorf in Bavaria, 1908 & 1909; in 1910 he started exhibiting his work for the first time & began receiving a monthly stipend from the collector Bernhard Koehler, the uncle of his friend Auguste Macke, moved from Munich to Sindelsdorf; joined the Neue Kunstlervereinigung Munchen, but resigned with his friend Kandinsky & mounted their Blaue Reiter exhibition, 1911; & published their Blaue Reiter almanac, 1912. Later that year Marc & Macke visited Robert Delaunay in Paris; in 1914 he volunteered to fight & was killed near Verdun Grove20 pp 380-2, Dube p128

Oeuvre: Paintings & occasional prints & sculpture OxDicMod

Beliefs: In 1908 he wrote that he was trying to perceive the spiritual impulse that animated all things by developing a “pantheistic sympathy for the …flow of blood in nature, in trees, in animals in the air – I am trying to make a picture from it, with new movements & colours which make a mockery of the old kind of studio picture”, which he condemned along with the Impressionists. They rightly looked to nature but their works were unspiritual & materialist. In the almanac he said that young artists should seek “To create in their work symbols for their age, which will go on the altars of the coming spiritual religion” Dube pp 125-6.

Characteristics/Phases: During 1909-10 he began using extremely intense Fauve-like colour & his work had a new monumentality. Unlike other painters he now began to seek spiritual revelation not through landscape but in the animal kingdom. This commenced with Deer in the Forest, 1909 (Niedersachsiches Landes museum, Hanover) of an Impressionist type in which these gentle reclusive creatures are in harmony with nature. This was followed by works in which Marc has brough the animal forward, & from behind & over its shoulders, has pictured what the animal is seeing as in Horse in a Landscape, 1910 (Following Museum, Essen). However now he has substituted Parisian rainbow hues for those which are descriptive & local. Hitherto the mood in these paintings had been tranquil & pastoral. It now veered to apocalyptic climaxing just before the outbreak of war in his Fate of the Animals,1913, subtitled “And all being is flaming suffering” (Kunst Museum, Basel), a scene of total destruction in which the world of corruption & degeneration is being swept away, presumably to be replaced by a heaven of innocence & purity. Meanwhile the unfortunate animals are being destroyed by bolts of spiritual lightening, inspired by the Futurist & Rayonism lines of force recently invented by Italians & Russians while the red rays of destruction while the green horses in complimentary colour employ the chromatic theory & practice of French Neo-Impressionism & Orphism Grove20 p381, Rosenblum1975 pp 139-43.

Coda: In early 1915 a friend sent a postcard reproduction of Fate of the Animals. He was astonished how accurately it predicted what was now happening Rosenblum1975p142

-MARCOUSSIS/MARKUS, Louis, 1883-1941, France (Poland)

Background: He was born in Warsaw into cultured family which had converted to Catholicism OxDicMod.
Training: Academy, Cracow, 1901-3 OxDicMod
Career: After training he moved to Paris & during 1907-10 was a cartoonist. In 1910 he met Apollinaire, Braque & Picasso, & joined the Cubist group. He served with distinction in the French army OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Paintings & illustrations OxDicMod
Characteristics: Clarity, simple structure & delicate handling OxDicMod.
Repute: He is regarded as an appealing minor master of the Cubist movement OxDicMod
Grouping: Cubism throughout his career OxDicMod

Marees. See de Marees

**MAREES, Hans Von, 1837-87, Germany:

..MARIESCHI, Michiel, 1710-43, Italy=Venice:

Background: His forerunners were the masters of the loaded brush, which listed backwards were Marco Ricci, Magnasco, Maffei, Fetti, Leys Wittkower1973 p503
Career: In about 1735 he returned to Venice from Germany Levey1959 p93
Oeuvre: Initially he was a scene-designer, painter of harbour scenes & vaguely landscape caprices in Marco Ricci’s style, he turned to view paintings Levey1959 p93
Characteristics: He handled paint in a lively, nervous , rapid manner anticipating Guardi, & his figures were vivacious Levey1959 p93 Usually they were brightly coloured & he employed strong chirascuro glittering with warm, brilliant light Levey1959 p93, Wittkower1973 p501
Influenced: Guardi who probably worked in his studio Wittkower1973 pp 501, 503

..MARILHAT, Prosper, 1811-47, France:

Background: Born in Vertaizon, Puy-de-Dôme Norman1977
Training: Studied with Roqueplan Norman1977
Oeuvre: One of the great French Orientalists Norman1977
Phases: Marilhart painted in a traditional Neoclassical manner until he toured Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt from 1831-35. On his return to Paris, his Oriental scenes brought him immediate success Norman1977
Characteristics: His preoccupation was with landscape and the play of light Norman1977
Personal: Marilhart’s career was cut short by mental illness Norman1977

-MARIN, John, 1870-1953, USA:

Background: Born at Rutherford, New Jursey OxDicMod
Training: At the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts under Anshutz, 1899-1901; & then at the Art Students League, 1901-3 OxDicArt
Influences: Whistler’s watercolours & etchings, & the Armoury Show, especially German Expressionism & Cezanne OxDicMod
Career: He worked for several years as an architectural draftsman.   From 1905 to 1910 he mainly lived in Paris.   In 1911 he settled in New York where he joined Stieglitz’s circle OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Paintings & prints OxDicMod
Phases/Characteristics: Initially he painted powerful watercolours of the Maine coast, where he spent many summers, & city life in a distinctive semi-abstract style with their delicate linear structures & striking light effects. Part of the picture was left bear & lines & wash interact.    From the 1930s oils became more important OxDicMod, L&L
Beliefs: “The whole city [of New York] is alive; buildings, people, all are alive” L&L.   He stressed the need to go sometimes to the elemental big forms of nature to recharge.   It was necessary to love them in order to express them OxDicMod
Repute: From the 1920s he enjoyed a high reputation & was considered an outstanding watercolourist OxDicMod

Marinus van Reymerswaele. See Van Reymerswaele

*Jacob MARIS, 1837-99, brother of Matthijs & Willem, The Netherlands:

Background: Born The Hague Grove20 p433

Training: He was apprenticed to Johannes Stroebel, attended classes at the Academies in the Hague & then Antwerp Grove20 p433

Influences: The Dutch 17^th century masters particularly Vermeer & de Hooch; the Barbizon School, particularly Corot & Jongkind; & his brother Matthijs Grove20 p433, Norman1977

Career: He moved from The Hague to Antwerp in 1854 but returned in 1857; was commissioned, with his brother Matthijs, by Princess Marianne of Orange-Nassau to copy family portraits, which enabled them to work in Oosterbaan, the Dutch Barbizon, & to travel in Germany, France & Switzerland. In 1865 he went to Paris, worked in the studio of Ernest Hebert, under whose influence he painted a series of Italianates. Around 1865 he visited Barbizon & Fontainebleau & painted the [as in] View of Montigny-sur-Loing, Boymans-van Breuninger museum, Rotterdam, which foreshadows his grey period Grove20 p433

Oeuvre: Dutch country scenes, townscapes & harbour views in oils & watercolour. He also painted some portraits & figure studies Norman1977, Grove20 p434, OxDicCon

Phases: His early works are mainly figure studies but he was converted to landscape in France Norman1977

Characteristics: Atmospheric paintings using contrasting tones, generally employing a limited palette dominated by pearl-grey as in Five Windmills, 1878 (Central Museum, Utrecht) or by golden-brown Norman1977, Grove20 p434

Friend: Alma-Tadema Grove20 p433

Status: He was one of the leading painters of the Hague School along with Jozef Israels & Anton Mauve Grove20 p432

Pupils: Willem de Zwart & Bernard Blommers Grove20 p434

Legacy: Anton Mauve’s interest in light effects Grove20 p434

Brothers: Matthijs, 1839-1917 & Willem, 1844-1910, were both painters. Willem latterly became a leader of Dutch Impressionism & advocate of plein air painting Grove20 pp 434-55, OxDicCon

..MARKO, Karoly, 1791-1860, Hungary:

Background: Born in Löcse Norman1977
Career: After studying in Vienna from 1822-30, Marko returned to Hungary where he made landscape sketches and painted portraits. Thereafter he lived mostly in Florence, but retained strong links with Hungary Norman1977
Characteristics: Marko painted in the classical tradition, his warm golden-toned countryside peopled with mythological or biblical figures Norman1977
Influenced: Had three sons who were also landscape painters. Gaining an international reputation, Marko had a considerable influence on many Hungarian landscape artists and contemporary Italian landscape painting Norman1977

..MARKS, Henry Stacy, 1829-98:

Training: Leigh’s art school before & after work in father’s coach building business; & at the RA School M&M p61
Career: In 1852 he visited Paris with his friend Calderon & joined Picot’s atelier M&M p61. His first success was in 1856 with Toothache in the Middle Ages Treuherz1993 p165. He helped found the St John’s Wood Clique & became an RA in 1878. He was a notorious practical joker WoodDic
Oeuvre: Oil & watercolour paintings, stained-glass, mural design; ceramic designs for Minton etc. Also book illustrations; & art criticism for the Spectator WoodDic, M&M pp 61-2
Phases: Literary & historical genre, often humorous, but he later specialised in parrots & other ornithological subjects often with facetious anthropomorphic titles WoodDic, Treuhertz1993 p165
Characteristics: His animals were painted with sympathy, accuracy & lack of sentiment WoodDic
Innovations: Pictorial posters & advertisements M&M p62

-MARQUET, Albert, 1875-1947, France:

-MARSH, Reginald, 1898-1954, USA:

Background: He was born in Paris to wealthy painter parents but returned to America in 1900 OxDicMod, Grove20 p476. His grandfather had made a fortune as a Chicago meat packer P&S p7

Training: Yale until 1920. In the early1920s he was at the Arts Student League under Sloan, Luks, & Kenneth Miller who encouraged him to paint the earthy social life of New York. During 1925-6 he made a study trip to Paris, where he discovered the florid early Baroque style & Delacroix’s colourism. He also admired the way in which Rubens, Rembrandt & Michelangelo organised their large figure groups OxDicMod, L&L, Barter p160, Grove20 p476

Influences: He learned how to use egg tempera from Benton in 1929 Grove20 p476

Feature: He was forever educating himself & dissected cavers at the New York medical schools in 1931 & 1934. During the season he visited Coney Island at least three time a week P&S pp 7-8

Career: Until 1930 he mainly worked as a newspaper illustrator but after Paris he began painting seriously. His first wife (Betty Boroughs) was a sculptor OxDicArt. In 1928 Marsh inherited a steady income & established a studio overlooking bustling Union Square Barter p160. His pictures were featured in the Xmas 1934 issue of Time together with the Regionalists Hughes1997 p438. He taught at the Art Students League from the 1930s & became a full member of the National Academy in 1943 P&S p7

Oeuvre: This was mainly in tempera. During the 1930s he mainly depicted shabby & tawdry New York life, including Coney Island, Times Square amusement arcades & Bowery street life. He also engaged in bitter satire against the smug complacency of the wealthy, which was partly a rejection of his affluent upbringing OxDicArt

Characteristics: He emphasised forms in the round, occupying an airy dimensional space & with movement more Baroque than classical. Marsh moved in the direction of spatial illusion at a time when modernism increasingly emphasised the the silhouette & flatness. Despite the often frenzied activity in Marsh’s scenes, there is a vacuum of purpose & a lack of communication, together with the commercialisation of sex. Hopeless Bowery drunks are portrayed as if natural while in his street scenes women are shown as attractive office workers & shoppers who form part of the economic system P&S pp 4, 8, 12.

Aim: To depict contemporary life in an Old Master manner OxDicArt

Beliefs: It is better to paint an old suit possessing character than a new one: reality exposed not disguised OxDicArt. He was strongly opposed to propagandistic painting, though he attended John Reed Club meetings & contributed illustrations to the Communist leaning New Masses Barter p160.

Status: He was the Regionalists’ city cousin Hughes1997 p438

Gossip: He kept a pair of binoculars on the windowsill at Union Square so as watch pretty girls at the bus stop P&S p7

..MARSHALL, Ben/Benjamin, 1768-1835, England; The British Golden Age:

Background: He was born at Seagrave Leicestershire Grove20 p477

Training: He was apprenticed to the portrait painter Lemuel Abbott but probably never completed Grove20 p477

Influences: He was a follower of Stubbs L&L

Career: Between 1795 & 1810 he had a studio in Beaumont Street, Marylebone, & in 1812 moved to Newmarket but returned to London in 1825 Grove20 p477

Oeuvre: Sporting & animal paintings together with portraits of sporting characters. His friendship with the printmaker John Scott led to many of his sporting pictures being engraved for the Sporting Magazine L&L, Grove20 p477

Phases: He emerged as a sporting painter in 1792 & from1812 concentrated on paintings of horses & dogs & on hunting & racing scenes. He exhibited at the RA1801-12 &1818-19 Waterhouse1953 p297, OxDicCon, Wikip

Patronage/Reception/Feature: He executed commission for patrons of the turf & masters of hounds throughout the country. He was admired by sporting enthusiasts for his skilful delineation of horse flesh. What is surprising is the apparent absence of paintings of public race meetings at Newmarket or elsewhere. In the bulk of his paintings which depict horses they are standing still as in Diamond with Dennis Fitzpatrick Up, 1799 (Yale Centre for British Art) Wikip, Grove20 p477, Webimages

Status: He deserves a respectable niche in the history of British sporting painting Waterhouse1953 p297

Son: Lambert, 1809-70, was also a sporting painter but appears to have given up painting after his father’s death Grove20 p477

..MARSTRAND, Vilhelm, 1810-73, Denmark:

Background: Born Copenhagen Norman1977
Training: Copenhagen Academy under Eckersberg Norman 1977
Career: He spent 1836-9 in Italy & visited Paris & Munich in 1840. He later spent long periods in Italy. In 1843 he became Professor at the Copenhagen Academy & in 1853, its director Norman1977
Oeuvre: Satirical genre with humorous depiction of petit-bourgeois; literary scenes; some religious paintings & large historical fresco later on Norman1977
Speciality: Italy oil sketches notable for naturalism & free brushwork Norman1977

-Agnes MARTIN, 1912-2004, USA:

Background: Born Macklin Saskatchewan into a Scottish Presbyterian farming family in lonely Canada, which induced a desire for austerity & renunciation, though she grew up in Vancouver Grove20 p486, SpenceFT 6/6/2015
Training: Art at Colombia University, 1941-2, & 1951-2, & at the University of New Mexico, 1946-7 Grove20 p486, SpenceFT 6/6/2015
Influences: Ellsworth Kelly, Ad Reinhardt, & the all-over compositions of the Abstract Expressionists SpenceFT 6/6/2015, Grove20 pp 486-7
Career: She settled in USA, 1932; lived at Taos; moved to New York, 1957; & went back to New Mexico, 1967 SpenceFT 6/6/2015, OxDicMod, L&L
Personal: “I paint with my back to the world”; “My paintings are… about formlessness”, & a world without interruption. She suffered from bouts of schizophrenia; had electric shock therapy; & explored Taoism & Buddhism. Her life was fairly solitary life though she did lunch with friends. She never owned a TV; & from about 1955 never read a newspaper SpenceFT6/6/2015,OxDicMod
Phases/Verdict: Her early Taos paintings were explorations of the desert environment with biomorphic forms which lacked intensity. From, around 1955 she turned to Abstraction of a minimalist nature with a penchant for repetition producing grids of pencilled lines & later coloured bands on fine-grained squared canvases stained with washes of colour which often seems to be floating off the canvas as in White Flower, 1960 (Guggenheim, New York) & Morning, 1965 (The Tate). Finally she produced disappointing paintings featuring triangles, squares, & polygons SpenceFT 6/6/2015, OxDicMod, L&L, Grove20 pp486-7
Verdict: Her work was an aspect of the progressive Dehumanisation of Painting for which see Section 7 Influence: The development of Minimalism in America, especially Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings Grove20 pp 486-7.

..David MARTIN, 1737-97; Scotland

Background: He was born at Anstruther in Fife Grove20 p487
Teacher: Alan Ramsay from about 1752, & then as his assistant into the 1760s Grove 20 p487. Waterhouse1953 p332
Influences: Reynolds for a more forceful style & rough paint texture; & latterly Raeburn for free & bolder handling, Waterhouse1953 pp 332-3, Grove20 p487
Career: He joined Ramsay & studied in Rome 1755, worked for him in London until 1775 painting drapery during the early & middle 1760s; he began an independent practice while still in Ramsay’s studio; painted a fine, informal & intimate portrait of Benjamin Hamilton, 1765 (The White House, Washington), & after Ramsay’s death in 1784 settled in Edinburgh & became the leading Scottish portraitist until displaced by Raeburn in the late 1790s. He was Painter to the Prince of Wales Grove20 p487, Waterhouse1953 pp 332-3
Oeuvre: Portraits in oils & engravings. He preferred three quarter length works but produced some full lengths as in William 1^st Earl of Mansfield (Scone Palace, Tayside) Grove20 p487
Characteristics/Verdict: His execution was solvently with hands that were often astonishingly feeble. Nevertheless his portraits are distinctive & sympathetic as in his masterpiece George Murdoch, 1793, with its Scottish face (City Art Gallery, Glasgow) Waterhouse1953 pp 332-3

..Elias MARTIN, 1739-1818, Sweden:

Background: Born in Stockholm to a family of artists Norman1977
Training: In 1763 under Schultz & in Paris under Claude-Joseph Vernet, 1766 Norman1977
Influences: Gainsborough, Wilson, & Hogarth Norman1977
Career: He moved to London in 1768 & became an RA in 1781. Martin returned to Sweden in 1790 & became a member of the Stockholm Academy. Though back in London from 1788 to 91 he was commanded home Norman1977
Speciality: Romantic but painted carefully detailed views of London & Stockholm Norman1977
Oeuvre: Landscapes & portraits Norman1977

*John MARTIN, 1789-1854, GB:

Background: He was born into a large, loving but very poor family at East Landends, near Haydon Bridge, Northumberland Laing p20. One brother was mad & the other wildly eccentric Vaughan1978 p176. The extraordinary popularity of Martin’s pictures was due to belief in Apocalypse. Most Christians were then looking forward to the second coming but there was a dispute as to whether this would only occur when world was spiritually ready or whether it would precede the millennium. The French Revolution was seen as an anticipatory event. The second quarter of the 19^th century was unusual in that pre-millenarian beliefs were widespread in the British elite (Coleridge etc) Hilton pp 401-4.

Training: At Newcastle he studied for a year with a drawing teacher but was otherwise self-taught Laing p20.

Influences: The beautiful countryside around East Landends & the powerful Old Testament Bible stories his mother told Laing p20. Later there were the Persian, Egyptian & Hellenistic monuments in the Near East, as depicted in Luigi Mayer’s books. His Imagery was taken from industry in his illustrations of Hell for Paradise Lost, 1826 Klingenderpp122, 124

Career: The family moved to Newcastle when he was 14 hoping to help his artistic ambitions. He trained with a coachbuilder for a year to learn heraldry painting. When 17 he moved to London where he got a job painting ceramics Laing p20. In 1812 his dramatic & novel Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion was exhibited at the RA Solkin2015 pp 316-7.From 1827 he was more & more interested in metropolitan improvements such as water, waste disposal, Thames bridges & embankments Klingender1968 p125. After these had come to nothing, he returned to painting Laing p20. He made a large income from entry fees to see his pictures & mezzotints Vaughan1978 p176

Oeuvre: Paintings & extremely accomplished mezzotint prints Laing p20

Speciality: Scenes of crisis & destruction based on Bible stories & poems Laing p20.

Characteristics: His interpretations of the Romantic Sublime featured enormously exaggerated landscapes & architectural settings with masses of tiny figure, using powerful colours & dramatic light effects Laing p20

Status: He was part of the reaction against propagandistic art of the war years & subsequent disappointments which led to the politics of disillusion & pictures of apocalyptic destruction: a supra-political fatalism Craske pp 104-5.

Beliefs: Like Ivanov & Blake he thought that materialism & war signalled the imminent end of humanity L&L. His sublime pictures reflect both doubt, terror & exultation at the growing power of science Klingender1968 p125

Friends: John & Leigh Hunt Solkin2015 p317.

Features: He was an outsider scathingly criticised by an RA insider (Westmacott) for extravagance & lack of naturalism; & Martin was in turn hostile to the RA, which he accused of conspiracy against him Craske pp 212-4.

Reception & Repute. The theatricality of his paintings was often attacked by critics. Even before his death he was becoming unfashionable. Interest in Martin revived soon after World War Two Laing p20

*Kenneth MARTIN, 1905-83, GB:

Background: Born in Sheffield OxDicMod
Training: 1927-9 part time at Sheffield School of Art & at the Royal College of Art, OxDicMod
Career: In 1930 she married Kenneth Martin, a fellow student OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Paintings & constructions OxDicMod
Phases/Characteristics: To begin with his paintings were naturalistic & close to Euston Road work, but during the 1940s his work became less representational & in 1948-9 he produced his first abstracts. In the early 1950s he began making abstract constructions, notably his mobiles in highly polished brass which produce constantly changing reflections & outlines OxDicMod, L&L
Status: With his wife he was regarded as a leading English Constructivist OxDicMod
Beliefs: “The moment I became a purely abstract artist I began to realise what I’d been missing …That I’d really missed the whole of the modern movement” OxDicMod

-Mary MARTIN, 1907-69, GB:

Background: Born Folkestone, Kent OxDicMod
Training: 1925-9 at Goldsmith’s College & at the Royal College of Art, 1929-32 OxDicMod
Career: In 1930 she married Kenneth Martin, a fellow student OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Paintings & maker of constructions OxDicMod
Phases/Characteristics: To begin with she painted landscapes & still-lifes in a style close to Camden Town but during the 1950s she moved towards abstraction, making her first pure abstract by 1950, her first geometric abstract relief in 1951 & her first free standing construction in 1956. They have projecting & receding wedge forms, etc OxDicMod, L&L
Status: With her husband she was regarded as a leading English Constructivist OxDicMod

..MARTINEAU, Robert, 1826-1829, England:

Background: His mother Elizabeth Batty was a talented amateur watercolourist WoodDic
Training: At the RA Schools, & in the studio of his friend Homan Hunt, c1851-2 WoodDic
Career: He studied law, 1842-6, but turned to painting & began exhibiting at the RA in 1852 . He shared a studio in Pimlico with Hunt & Michael Haliday WoodDic.
Oeuvre: Genre & historical scenes WoodDic
Grouping: Pre-Raphaelite WoodDic
Feature: His most successful work The Last Day in the Old House, 1862, like other Pre-Raphaelite works, is a critique of aristocratic decadence Basrringer p101

..Alberto MARTINI, 1876-1954, Italy: Symbolism

Background: He was born in Oderzo on the Veneto, the son of a portrait painter & professor of drawing Wikip
Training: His father Wikip
Influences: 16^th century German drawings particularly Durer & Cranach GibsonM p236
Career: In 1895 he began engraving & illustrating Dante, Poe, Mallarme etc. He lived in Monaco & worked as an illustrator for Dekorative Kunst & Jugend, 1898-1910; produced a series of anti- Austro-Hungarian propaganda postcards on the outbreak of the War. Disappointed that his work was being ignored by Italian critics he spent 1928-31 in Paris; but was back in Milan from 1934 until his death. Around 1940 he published an illustrated satirical journal GibsonM pp 199, 236, Wikip
Oeuvre: Drawing & watercolour, pen & Indian ink wash, pen; & increasingly painting especially pastels GibsonM p236, Wikip
Characteristics/Phases: His work had dreamlike elements & tended towards the fantastic, macabre & grotesque. He mostly used pastel during 1915-20 & a speciality was the elegant elongated woman as in Casati, 1912 [source Wikimedia Commons]. Latterly he produced lithographs for the Life of the Virgin & other Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke but continued to paint expressive works as in Le cortege de Venus, 1949 GibsonM pp 200-1, 236
Status: He was Italian Symbolism’s greatest illustrator GibsonM p200
Grouping: He was a late exponent of Symbolism & decadent art GibsonM p236
Innovation: He has been seen as anticipating Surrealism Wikip
Wife: In 1924 he married the artist Maria Petringa who inspired many of his works Wikip

Francesco (Maurizio) di Giorgio MARTINI (Pollaiolo), 1439-1501, Italy=Siena:

Background: He was born in Sienna, the son of a civil servant Grove11 p687.
Training: Vecchietta? Grove11 p687, L&L
Influences: Liberale da Verona & Girolamo da Verona with whom he had contact Grove11 p692.
Career: He may have entered the service of Federigo da Montefeltro as early as 1472 & he was in Urbino from 1477 to 1487. Here he completed the Palazzo Ducale & worked on the new cathedral etc. Around 1486 he returned to Siena but from 140 he worked in numerous places Grove11 pp 688, 691-2.
Oeuvre: Architecture, engineering, paintings & frescos, illuminations, sculpture, metalist, writer Grove11 pp 687. 693
Phases/Characteristics: Early on he painted cassone panels & miniatures in manuscripts. During 1472-4 he painted the Coronation of the Virgin, his first important & large work Grove11 pp 692-3. After being overburdened & contrived his work, under the influence of Florentine painting, became for a time less linear & more naturalistic both in terms of human form & light Grove11 pp 692-3.
Status: He was the most outstanding artistic Sienese figure in the second half of the 15^th century Grove11 p687

**Simone MARTINI, recorded c1284-1344, Lippo Memmi’s brother-in-law, Italy=Sienna; International Gothic and Fantasy Movements

Training: According to tradition, Duccio Grove20 p504

Influences: Duccio; Pisano & French Gothic art, which was current in Siena; Byzantine art OxDicArt, Murrays1959,

Career: Nothing is know until 1315. In 1315-6 he completed the Maesta on the wall of the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena; & in 1317 the altarpiece of St Louis of Toulouse & probably went to Naples to paint it. If, as now universally accepted, he painted frescos in the chapel of St Matino at Assisi, it was probably before 1319-22. In 1324 he married the sister of Lippo Memmi & bought a house in Sienna. Here he worked consistently for the Commune, mainly on small jobs Grove20 pp 504-6. The large fresco of Guidoriccio da Fogliano before Montemassi in the Palazzo Publico was painted around 1331. Between 1321 & 1333 Martini was the only important painter to appear in the communal accounts & he appears to have prospered. However at least by 1336 he moved to Avignon where he does not appear to have worked for the popes. although he may have joined the household of someone in the curia. Most of work from this period was private, small & of unusual content Grove20 pp504-8.

Characteristics: Graceful line, harmonious colour, refined detail, hieratic sumptuousness C&C3 p1

Circle: Petrach OxDicArt

Innovations: Martini encouraged the appreciation of the features of Gothic & court art: grace, elegance, finesse, dexterity in the handling of detail, & an appreciation of secular pomp & grandeur Martindale p200. He pioneered commemorative images (Guidoriccio da Fogliano) & the Madonna of Humility, &painted the first known individual portraits in Italy Murrays1959, Grove20 pp 508-9. There was also a newish emphasis on facial characterization, the convincing depiction of extreme emotion (Annunciation); & the use of a predella below the altarpiece Martindale pp 202-5.

Grouping: He was the first stage of International Gothic due to his merging of French grace with the naturalism of Giotto & Duccio, flavoured by antique art of late Rome OxCompArt p584

Status: Duccio apart, he was the most distinguished painter of the Sienese School & was one of the outstanding European painters of the 14^th century OxDicArt, Grove20 p504.

Legacy: Opinions differ about his influence. According to one authority (Martindale) his reputation lasted into the 15^th century in Siena & his polyptchs of around 1320 were models for later 14^th century artists. However his style had no certain influence in Avignon & its locality, & his wider influence is questionable Grove20 p510. On the other hand it has also been stated that his style & compositions were used by French & Flemish illuminators & that he was copied by generations of Italian & Flemish (& possibly Spanish) panel & fresco painters OxCompArt p1066, Cutler pp 19, 92, 131, 249.. His re-evaluation during the 19^th century reached a highpoint with Crowe & Cavalcaselle Grove20 p510.

..MARTORELL, Bernardo/Bernat, Master of St George / S Jorge, c1400-52, Spain=Catalonia

Career: By 1427 he was a mature & independent artist Grove20 p514
Influences: Italian & Netherlandish painting Brigstocke
Oeuvre: Altarpieces, donor portraits & manuscript illustrations Grove20 pp 514-5
Characteristics: His works are refined, expressive & serene. Figures are delicately & intricately drawn with dreamy, pensive expressions. His work reveals an increasing observation of reality & everyday life using soft & subtle colours. They have great narrative interest due to the emotional response of his characters Grove20 p514-5, Brigstocke
Innovation: He was the first Catalan painter to explore light effects, & his works often include backlighting & reflections, which must have been the result of direct observation Grove20 p515
Workshop: It was large with many pupils & continued after his death Brigstocke
Status: He was recognised as one of the finest Catalan painters of the 14^th & 15^th century Grove20 p514

Marzal de Sax. See de Sax

***MASACCIO/GIOVANNI, Tomasso di Ser, 1401-28? Italy=Florence:

-MASEREEL, Frans, 1889-1972, Belgium:

Background: He was born in Blankenberge OxDicMod
Training: At the Academy, Ghent, 1907-8 OxDicMod
Career: Before the War he travelled extensively. during it settled in Switzerland, moved to Paris in 1920, in 1940 fled to the south of France & thereafter mainly lived in Avignon & Nice OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Paintings, woodcuts & graphic art OxDicMod
Characteristics: His work, which was semi-Expressionist & motivated by social concern, featured images of human activity chiefly the suffering caused by war & the oppression & constriction from capitalism & in the modern city. He used strident colours & marked chiaroscuro OxDicMod, L&L, webimages.
Reception: His work was widely admired during the 1920s & 30s L&L

-MASIP/MACIP, Juan Vincent, c1475-1545, Juan de Juanes’ father, Spain: Valencia

Influences: Raphael’s Vatican Stanza frescoes, & elements of North Italian painting as introduced by Fernando Yanex & Fernando de los Llanos Grove20 p9
Career: He almost certainly visited Italy before 1527 Grove20 p9
Oeuvre: Altarpieces & other religious works Grove20 p9
Characteristics: He had a vigorous & austere classical style which in his Martyrdom of St Agnes, c1535, features crowded figures, spatial compression & deliberately confusing composition, unclear space & contorted postures Grove20 p9, Moffitt.
Status: He & his son were probably the most significant artists in Valencia in the 16^th century & beyond Grove20 p9

MACIP/MASIP/ JUAN DE JUANES/JOAN DE JOANES, 1523-79, Juan’s son, Spain=Valencia:

Background: He was born in Valencia Grove20 p9
Influences: North Italian painting as introduced by Fernando Yanex & Fernando de los Llanos, Paolo de San Leocadia, Raphael’s prints, Quentin Metasys, & Counter-Reformation spirituality Grove20 p9, L&L, Brigstocke
Career: During 1530-50 he worked with his father & his most important work was produced during 1550-60. He visited Italy around 1560 Grove20 p9
Oeuvre: Altarpieces & other religious paintings, mythological works & portraits, Grove20 pp 9–10.
Phases: After about 1550 his work, hitherto strongly influenced by that of his father, had a more marked delicacy & fluidity in line & colour. From 1560 his work gained a sense of movement, & became more dramatic by means of facial expression, although his use of Italian models was much calmer, particularly in his monumental Last Supper, c1570 Grove20 p9, Moffit p97.
Characteristics: His paintings were highly idealised, delicately drawn with brilliant, luminous enamel-like colour in a conservative sometimes bland Romanist style as in the Last Supper. c1560. His work is sweeter & softer than his father’s & he used sfumato L&L, Brigstocke, Grove20 p9.
Status: He & his father were probably the most significant artists in Valencia in the 16^th century & beyond Grove20 p9
Legacy: His Counter-Reformation spirituality was continued in Valencia well into the 17^th century Brigstocke

*MASOLINO da Panicale, c1483-1447, Florence:

Influences: Monaco & briefly Masaccio with whom he collaborated L&L
Career: In 1423 he made it into Florence guild. In c1423-7 Masolino collaborated with Masaccio. He moved to Hungary in 1727 and in c1430, to Rome, working in Milan c1435 L&L, Murrays1959
Characteristics: Extravagant perspective, more decorative detail than Masaccio, more naturalistic but delicately charming figures L&L
Status: Normally IntGth Murrays1959
Patrons: Felice Brancaccio, who was his new wealth BurkeP p82
Verdict: He was at his best painter of great distinction OxDiArt

MASON, George Heming, 1818-72, England:

Background: He was born at Stoke on Trent, the grandson of Miles Mason the potter Newall1989 p73

Influences: Costa’s open air sketches of Campagna peasants & during the early 1860s Barbizon paintings & works by Jules Breton etc seen in Paris Treuherz p187, Grove20 p569.

Career: After training as a surgeon for five years he suddenly left with his brother for Italy in 1843. He painted souvenir landscapes around Rome until he met Costa in 1852. They made sketching trips lasing several weeks into the Campagna sleeping rough . In 1857 Ploughing in the Campagna was exhibited at the RA. In 1858 he married & set up home at Wetley Abbey, the family home in Staffordshire. Financial problems due to the failure of his father’s pottery firm & the end of his allowance severe depression. He did not resume painting until 1862. During the 1860s he lived in Hammersmith & in 1868 he became an ARA. Latterly he suffered from ill-heath & depended on friends for financial support Newall1989 p73,, Grove20 p568.

Oeuvre: Landscapes with figures Newall1989 p73

Speciality: The effects of mist, subset & moonlight Wood1999 p295,

Phases: From 1859 he painted landscapes in his native Staffordshire Treuherz p187

Characteristics: His works are full of romantic & poetic feeling. They are gentle classicism & display gentle reverie. His English works feature graceful girls & boys in smocks & bonnets harvesting & tending animals. His woks are highly contrived but effective Wood1999 p295, Treuherz p187

Grouping: The Etruscan School Newall1989 p73

Friends: Leighton from 1853, George Howard, & Watts. Leighton provided life-long financial support Newall1989 p73, Grove20 p568

*MASSON, Andre, 1896-1987, France; Surrealism:

Background: Born Balange & moved at eight to Brussels OxDicMod
Training: He studied part-time in Brussels & at the Academie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1912-4 OxDicMod
Influences: Initially Cubism OxDicMod

Career Initially he worked in an embroidery studio; went to Paris, 1912; during the first World War he was seriously wounded & became deeply pessimistic; he lived in the South of France; returned to Paris, 1922; joined the Surrealist movement, 1924, but left in 1929 in protest at Retton’s authoritarianism, feeling closer to Bataille’s rival grouping. In 1936 he went to Spain until the Civil War drove him back to France. During 1941-5 he lived in the USA, returned to France, 1945; & settled at Aix, 1947 where he painting strange haunted landscapes OxDicMod, Alexandrian p239

Oeuvre: Paintings, prints, stage design & sculpture OxDicMod
Beliefs/Aim: He was worried about man’s destiny, believed the universe had a mysterious unity, & devoted his art to its penetration & expression OxDicMod

Characteristics/Technique: His work belongs to the spontaneous, expressive & semi-abstract variety of Surrealism. He engaged in automatism starting work with a vacant mind, & then depicting the images that sprang up, in contrast to Dali who stared fixedly at the canvas in a semi-trance & then, when images had firmed, transposed them. Masson also used strange material, sometimes sprinkling sand onto glue painted canvas as in Battle of Fishes, 1926 (MoMA) incorporating sand in his paintings. His work was dominated by themes of metamorphosis, violence, psychic pain, eroticism & sacrifice. In America he painted a series of paintings featuring disintegrating monsters symbolising the precariousness of human endeavour Brigstocke, Aides p72, OxDicMod

Beliefs/Aim: He was worried about man’s destiny, believed the universe had a mysterious unity, & devoted his life to its expression OxDicMod
Lifelong Friend: Miro who in 1922 had a studio next door OxDicMod
Status/Grouping: He was a major Surrealist, he influenced Achille Gorky & formed a link between Surrealism & Expressionism OxDicMod

**MASSYS, 1465-1530, father of Jan & Cornelis, grandfather of Quentin the Younger, Belgium:

Background: He born at Louvain L&L; Erasmus’ Praise of Folly, 1512, which castigates lustful old women JonesS p102
Training: perhaps self-taught L&L
Influences: Leonardo; Durer; van Eyck; van der Weyden; van der Goes, etc L&L
Career: 1491 joined Antwerp guild; may well have visited Italy OxDicArt
Characteristics: fused influences without own consistent style; just positioning of elegance & grotesque L&L
Innovations: scholars in their studies (influencing Holbein) OxDicArt
Circle: humanist including Erasmus & Pieter Gillis Jones p102
Status: Antwerp’s leading painter from c1510 L&L
Influence: Satirical & moralizing genre by van Reymersale etc L&L

** MASSYS/MATSYS/METSYS, Quinten/Quentin, the Elder 1466-1530: Belgium; Northern Renaissance:

Background: He was born at Leuven/Louvain the son of a blacksmith who undertook decorative work, etc Grove21 p352

Training: According to Van Mander he was self-taught Cuttler p418

Influences: Leonardo’s sfumato & grotesque, Durer, van Eyck, van der Weyden, van der Goes, etc. Erasmus’ Praise of Folly, 1512, castigates lustful old women Brigstocke pp 455-6, Grove21 p355, L&L, JonesS p102

Career: He became a master in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke,1491; subsequently settled there; & by the 1620s had lived in two luxurious houses. In 1507-9 he painted his great triptych the St Anne Altarpiece (Musee Royaux des Beaux-Arts Brussels). This was followed by other works which included the Deposition /St John Altarpiece, 1508-11 (Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp) Grove21 p353, Cuttler p419

Oeuvre: Altarpieces, other religious works including small panels for private use, genre works & portraits Grove21 pp 353-5

Characteristics: His work features tonal, atmospheric, sfumato chiaroscuro as in the St Christopher, c1503 (Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp) &, above all, in the St Anne Altarpiece in which the projecting faces weave a tapestry of broken-colour movements across the surface, & where, in the left panel, the greens turn to crimson in the shadows of the angel’s garments Cuttler p419

Innovations & Influence: His sophisticated use of cool, pale colour in, for instance, the St Anne Altarpiece was a significant departure from the bright, jewel-like reds, blues & greens of the 15^th century. The three-zone landscape -brown, green & blue- in the St Anne Altarpiece anticipates those of Joost de Momper, etc. His Unequal Lovers is an important example of emerging secular, moralising subjects, & his portrait of Erasmus, 1517 (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome) was another new type: the scholar in his study Grove21 p353, Cuttler Pl 8-10, 13, 15, 29, Brigstocke, OxDicArt.

Verdict: He has been seen as an artist whose work was derivative & who lacked a consistent style of his own L&L. [This ignores the way in which, building on the work of other artists, he developed his own style of painting with identifiable characteristics which he embodied in a number of latish works]

Circle: Humanists including Erasmus & Pieter Gillis JonesS p102

Status: He was Antwerp’s leading painter from around 1510 L&L

Influence: Satirical & moralising genre by van Reymerswale etc L&L

Progeny: His sons Jan, c1509-1575, & Cornelis,1510-56, together with his grandson Quentin Metasys the Younger, c1543-89, were all painters Grove 21 p357, 359, Wikip

.MASTELLETTA, Giovanni, 1575-1655, Italy=Bologna:

Background: He was born in Bologna Grove20 p597
Training: Under the Carracci Grove20 p597
Influences: Pietro Faccini, Annibale Castelli, Nicolo dell’Abate & other Emilian Mannerist painters, Tintoretto, Reni Grove20 p597
Career: He went to Rome after 1610 & to Venice probably in 1612 Grove20 p597
Oeuvre: Frescos & paintings large & small Grove20 pp597-8
Characteristics: His early works have overtones of Mannerist elegance & extraordinary spontaneity. Later works have classical tendency. Some of his works have a deeply felt religious pathos but his later works are less evocative & more derivative but continued to be highly competent Grove20 p597-8

-MASTER OF THE AIX ANNUNCIATION, active1445:

Master of Anjou. See Rene of Anjou

Master of Alkmaar. See Buys

Master of the Bambino Vista. See Starnina

-MASTER OF THE BEDFORD HOURS:

Master Bertram. See Bertram of Minden

-MASTER OF THE BLESSED CARE:

-MASTER BOUCICAUT:

-MASTER OF THE BRUNSWICK MONOGRAMMIST:

.MASTER OF DELFT, active early 16^th century, Netherlands:

-MASTER E. S. /MASTER, active 1540-late 1460s, Germany:

Career: He was a pioneering & prolific engraver on copper plate in upper Rhine valley. He signed himself E. S. which may refer to the Benedictine Monastery of Einsiedeln in Switzerland L&L
Oeuvre: Religious, profane & fantastic subjects OxDicArt
Innovation: Earlier engravers used pure outline but he produced rich tonal effects by hatching & cross-hatching OxDicArt
Influenced: Mantegna L&L

-MASTER OF THE FEMALE HALF-LENGTHS, Belgium:

Influences; Patenier L&L
Career: He was probably active in Antwerp L&L
Oeuvre: Numerous paintings of varying quality are associated with him L&L

-MASTER FRANCKE/FRATER, first half of 15^th century, Germany:

He was active in Hamburg, led the North German version of International Gothic, had close links with the west & Burgundy in particular, & was influential in North Germany & along the Baltic OxDicArt. His work was realistically detailed & narratively inventive & replaced that of Master Bertram & his followers L&L

-MASTER HONORE, active 1288-c1316, France; International Gothic and Fantasy Movements

Career: He was an illuminator who worked in Paris. In 1296 he was paid for the Breviary of Philip the Fair, which is more naturalistic in its figure modelling than earlier French manuscripts L&L
Characteristics: His work features tall swaying figures with triangular-shaped heads, curling hair & flowing beards. However, his figure modelling was more naturalistic than previously with bolder forms, the use of shading, foreshortening & interaction between figures through less formal gestures Grove14 p726
Status: He was the link between the earlier style of the St Louis Psalter & Purcelle’s Innovative grisaille Grove14 p726

– MASTER OF LIESBORN, c1475, Germany=Westphalia:

He is named after the dismembered altarpiece from the Benedictine Abbey at Liesborn & was influenced by the current style in Cologne L&L

-MASTER OF THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN, active second half of the 15^th century, Germany=Cologne:

He is named after a series of eight panels (Alte Pinakothek, Munich, & NG) but there is another attributed work. An outstanding Cologne painter of his time, his work has affinities with that of Dirk Bouts & Rogier van der Weyden, which suggests he trained in the Netherlands OxDicArt, L&L

-MASTER OF THE MANSI MAGDALEN, active early 16^th century, Low Countries:

He was a follower of Quinten Metsys & had access to humanistic erudition & patronage L&L

Master of Mary of Burgundy. See Bening

-MASTER OF THE MORNAUER PORTRAIT, active c1460-80, Germany:

Two works are attributed to him L&L

-MASTER OF MOULINS, active 1483-1500, France:

Influences: van der Goes, though not his emotional intensity L&L
Speciality: His superbly individuated donor portraits L&L
Characteristics: His grave elegance & assured clarity of space, form & colour L&L
Verdict: He was one of the outstanding painters of his period L&L

MASTER OF THE PALA SFORZESCA, active 1490-5, Italy:

MASTER OF THE PLAYING CARDS, mid 15^th century=Germany:

* MASTER OF RENE OF ANJOU, active c1460-5, France:

Career/Status/Background: He was an outstanding illuminator who worked for Rene, Duke of Anjou, who ruled Provence & was King of Sicily & Jerusalem. For several decades after his accession his accession in 1454 his court at Angers was one of the most interesting in France Cuttler p224
Oeuvre: The Master’s best-known works are the Livre du Cuer d’Amour Esprits (Book of the Heart Seized with Love), c1465, & Book of Tourneys, a rule book for staging tournaments Cuttler p224, L&L
Characteristics: The illustration in the latter book are delicate & sketchy, heightened with translucent watercolour, almost impressionistic in its feeling for light & without parallel in Flemish painting or illumination. Its figures are delicately modelled, stocky & a bit too large for the architecture so producing a distinct style, though one reminiscent of Fouquet. The night scene in the Cuer presents a poetic, naturalistic & almost magical understanding of artificial light, exceptional for its period. It differs from the mystic lighting of Geertgen tot Sint Jans, & also from Piero della Francesco’s generalised & ideal night scene, the Dream of Constantine. The Master’s poetic naturism is also apparent from the natural lighting of dawn scene & again reveals his keen vision & artistic sensitivity Cuttler pp 224-5, L&L

MASTER OF THE ROHAN HOURS:

MASTER OF THE SAINT BARTHOLOMEW ALTARPIECE, active c1470-1510, Germany=Cologne:

Influences: Rogier van der Weyden, Dieric Bouts, & Geertgen tot Sint Jans L&L
Career: He may have been a Carthusian monk L&L
Oeuvre: His work ranges from a Book of Hours to altarpieces L&L
Characteristics: Many of his works have expressive & fully volumetric figures enclosed within a Gothic tracery framework against a landscape, golf-leaf or decorative textile background. They resemble both living people & polychrome sculptures L&L
Status: He was one of the greatest painters of his day L&L

MASTER OF THE SAINT CECILIA, c1315, Italy:

Apart from the altarpiece to Saint Cecilia from a Florentine church & now in the Uffizi, the three final scenes of the St Francis cycle in the Upper Church at Assisi are sometimes attributed to him L&L

-MASTER OF THE SAINT FRANCIS CYCLE, c1290, Italy:

The fresco cycle of St Francis in the Upper Church at Assisi is sometimes attributed to this unknown master L&L. For details on Giotto’s probable role see Giotto

-MASTER OF SAINT GILES, c1500, Netherlands:

He is named after two panels now in the NG. Other panels in the NG Art, Washington, may be by the same artist. His work is of a high order OxDicArt, L&L

-MASTER OF SAINT VERONICA, active c1420, Germany=Cologne L&L

–MASTER THEODORIC/THEODORICUS, active 1348-67, Bohemia/Czech Republic:

Career/Oeuvre: He was the first head of the painters guild founded in Prague in 1348 & was royal painter to the Emperor Charles IV in Prague & at Karlstein nearby, 1359-67. Here he executed 127 panels of saints, prophets & angles in the chapel L&L, OxDicArt
Characteristics/Innovation: He abandoned the earlier decorative linearity of earlier Bohemian art for softened contours & tonal modelling which provides his figures with spectacular volume. His faces have a new portrait-like naturalism L&L
Grouping: The Bohemian School of which he was a leading member OxDicArt

MASTER OF TREBON/WITTINGAU, active c1380, Bohemia/Czech Republic; International Gothic and Fantasy Movement

Oeuvre/Characteristics: He is named after panels from the Trebon monastery (now NG Prague). They combine linear rhythm with a strong sense of colour & arrangement which suggest space & depth OxDicArt. Christ & the saints have Gothic elegance whereas the plebeian figures have Theodoric’s naturalism. The general effect is one of expressive mysticism L&L
Status: He was the outstanding Bohemian painter of his day. With him the art of the imperial court in Prague climaxed L&L, OxDicArt
Status: International Gothic Eorsi p37

MASTER OF THE VYSSI BROD/HOHENFURTH, active 1350, Bohemia/Czech Republic:

He is named after an altarpiece for its monastery (now NG Prague). This combines the Gothic linear rhythms of the forms with the International Gothic realism of its background details L&L. Other works are attributed to his workshop OxDicArt.

MATEJKO, Jan, 1838-93, Poland:

Background: born Cracow Norman1977

Training: 1852-8 at the Cracow School of Fine Arts, 1859 in Munich under the history painter Hermann Anschutz, & 1859-60 in Vienna Norman1977, Grove20 p809

Influences: Rubens &, after his 1878-9 journey to Venice, Tintoretto & Veronese Norman1977, Grove20 p810

Career: He spent his life in Cracow where he taught at the School of Fine Arts, becoming its director in 1873. He was immensely popular during his lifetime but the Polish aristocracy were indignant at his suggestion that they had betrayed their country Norman1977, Grove20 p810

Oeuvre: After the 1863 Uprising, in which his brother died, he largely devoted himself to depicting the great moments in Polish history Grove20 p810. His work included portraits, notable for their psychological insight Norman1977

Characteristics/Phases: Vast historical canvases, richly coloured; they were mostly crowded dramas & full of narrative detail Norman1977. His works of the early 1880s had a softer, richer colouring & more sedate composition Grove20 p810

Features: He was an ardent patriot whose paintings evoke Poland’s glorious past Norman1977

Status: Poland’s most acclaimed 19^th century painter Norman1977. By his death Matjeko was a national cult figure Grove20 p811

Influence: It was profound on a generation of Cracow students Grove20 p810

-MATHAM, Jacob, 1571-1631, Netherlands:

Training: Goltzius, his stepfather & most gifted pupil L&L
Oeuvre: Engravings & also pen paintings Haak pp 58, 185
Speciality: Engravings after Goltzius Haak p71, L&L

-MATHIEU, Georges, 1921-2012, France:

Background: Born Bologna-sur-Mer, the son of a bank manager. He was brought up by aunt after his parents divorced, 1933 Grove20 p815, Wiki
Training: He was largely self-taught L&L
Career: After studying philosophy & law he began to paint, 1942, settled in Paris, 1947. In the 1950s he sometimes executed his paintings in public repeating the same configurations OxDicMod, OxDicCon, L&L
Belief: That he is a traditional history painter employing abstract means OxDicMod
Characteristics: By 1944 his work was abstract, though opposed to the geometric style he produced large expressive paintings, speedily executed by using paint tubes to draw on the canvas so producing sweeping, impulsive gestures in works featuring elaborate titles taken from battles or other events in French history. His works are of the scribble cum blotch type as in Rupture Frederique, 1990 [Wikiart] OxDic Con, L&L, OxDicMod, webimages
Status: He was one of the leaders of Art Informel L&L
Innovation: He has been considered one of the fathers of European lyrical abstraction. This is a misapprehension as Lyrical Abstraction dates back at least to Robert Delaunay See ABSTRACTION: LYRICAL, EXPRESSIVE & PAINTERLY, Section 9. What he did anticipate by painting in front of an audience was Happenings Wikip
Reception: His fame partly depended on a flair for publicity & during the 1950s he established an international reputation as the vogue for Gestural painting grew OxDicMod, OxDicCon

..MATANIA, Fortunino, 1881-1963, England (Italy):

***MATISSE, 1869-1954, France:

– MATTA/ESCHAURREN, Roberto, 1911-2002, Chile; Surrealism:

Training: Architecture & interior design at the Pontificia Universidad Catholica de Chile, Santiago until 1935, & in Paris in Le Corbusier’s atelier, 1934-5 Wikip, OxDicMod, Grove20 p837

Influences: The surreal features he saw when travelling after graduation from Peru to Panama; Yeves Tanguay, Duchamp, Picasso’s Guernica & the Mexican muralists. He was deeply impressed by Mexico’s dramatic landscape Wikip, OxDicMod, Grove20 p837,Alexandrian p166

Career: He went to Paris, 1933; met Salvador Dali, lived in Spain, 1935-37, went to Scandinavia & to Russia where he worked on housing design projects, 1935; turned to painting & joined the Surrealists, 1937; fled to New York, 1939; became part of the emigre Surrealist presence; & as he spoke fluent English made an unusual amount of contact with young New Yorkers including Robert Motherwell with whom he went to Mexico in 1941 exploring the Mayan & Incan cultures; was expelled by the Surrealists & returned to Europe, 1948; lived in Rome in the early 1950s & then mainly in Paris L&L, OxDicMod, Alexandrian pp 166, 240, Grove20 p837, Wikip, ShearerW1996

Oeuvre/Phases/Characteristic/Aim: During his trip with Motherwell, he became aware of the untameable nature of the primitive world & his paintings became increasingly dynamic with totemic images & strange forms. He now painted large nightmarish works featuring fantastic landscapes & mutating creatures with abstract elements floating & colliding in a vast fantastical space. He used a largely automatist technique. Later some of his paintings began depicting comic man-made hybrids while others became more lyrical & Expressionist as in The Unthinkable 1957 (Gallerie Art Moderne/Pompidou, Paris?). “I want to make pictures which leap to the eye”, he told Sarane Alexandrian, & with hands raised like a tiger’s claws he pretended to seize a spectator: they are not intended to depict day to day reality or even the inhabitants of a parallel world. In 1957 he began making sculpture & produced a construction in copper & aluminium Grove20 pp 837-8, OxDicMod, L&L, Alexandrian pp 168, 186, ShearerW1996

Politics: He had strong political views which were often expressed in his paintings, e.g. honouring an Algerian nationalist & protesting at the coup in Chile, having been a strong supporter of Salvador Allende OxDicMod, Wikip

Status: He was a key figure in 20^th century Surrealist & Abstract Expressionist art Wikip

Influences: He encouraged Gorky, Pollock, etc to experiment with automatism, & also influenced Rothco OxDicMod, Grove3 p435, WestS1996

Reception: His work was praised by Breton in 1942 as one the high points of the Surrealist vision but subsequently denounced by Clement Greenburg for its figurative elements, & also by the Surrealists. Marcel Duchamp described him as the most profound painter of his generation Grove 3 p837, Alexandrian p240

Matteo di Giovanni/Siena. See Giovanni

..MATTHEUER, Wolfgang, 1927-2004, Germany:

Background: He was born in Reichenbach. In Problembild art which was a feature of East German painting from the mid-1960s the meaning is ambiguous & work could denote political dissidence OxDicMod
Training: At the Leipzig Hochschule fur Grafik und Buchkunst but he was self-taught as a painter Wikip, Grove20 p847
Career: He taught at the Hochschule from 1956 but resigned in 1974 to work freelance Wikip, Grove20 p847
Oeuvre: Paintings, graphic work & sculpture OxDicMod, webimages
Characteristics: Highly dramatic figure compositions in the problem Bild manner together with landscapes often of a tranquil type. He made use of familiar myths as in Flight of Sisyphus, 1972 (Gemaldegalerie.Neue Meister), & invented his own allegories in which he achieved a distancing effect through a restrained style derived from poster art featuring smooth surfaces, sharp contours & garish colours. He specialised in suburban landscapes that suggest mild tension as in Bratsker Landscape, 1967 (Staatliche Museum, Zu Berlin) in which there are intersecting diagonals, a figure precariously balance on a pipeline, curious clouds one of which has an almost geometrical shape OxDicMod, webimages, Grove20 p847
Politics: He became an open critic of both Socialism & capitalism & left the Socialist Unity Party, 1988 OxDicMod, Wikip
Grouping: Together with Werner Tubke & Bernhard Heisig he a leading member of the Leipzig School, a type of figurative art in East Germany Wikip
Status: He played a prominent part in the development of East German art but was long seen as untrendy in the West but a large retrospective has raised his profile Grove20 p847, Wikip
Repute: He is not itemised in the Oxford Companion
Wife: The painter Ursula Mattheuer-Neustadt Wikip

..MATHIEU/MATHIEU, Georg David, 1737-78, Germany:

Background: Born Ludwigslust. He was the son of David, 1697-1755, Prussian court painter; & his stepmother & aunt was the painter Anna Lisiewska, c1715-83 Grove20 p848
Training: His father & aunt Grove20 p848
Career: During 1762-4 he stayed with & painted portraits for Adolf Friedrich von Olthof the Swedish Governor in Stralsund, Swedish Pomerania. He became court painter to Duke Frederick of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1764 & long remained at the ducal residences, Ludwigslust & Schwerin Grove20 p848
Oeuvre: Portraits & engravings Grove20 p848
Characteristics: In his portraits of court members & servants etc sitters seem serenely cheerful & at their best his works are lively images as in Charlotte of Mecklenberg-Strelitz, 1762 (National Portrait Gallery, Stockholm) Grove20 p848, Hempel pp 281-2, Pl 176, Webimages
Status: He was the most important painter in 18^th century Mecklenburg Grove20 p848
Grouping: Rococo Grove20 p848, Wikip
Collections: Staatliche’s Museum, Schwerin

-MAULBERTSCH/MAULPERTSCH, Franz, 1724-96, Austria; Rococo

Background: He was born at Langenargen on Lake Constance & his father, Anton, was a painter Hempel p29, Grove20 p855

Training: Van Roy in Vienna & the Vienna Academy under Jakob von Schuppen & Troger Hempel p297, Grove20 p855

Influences: Troger, Rubens &Venetian painters, notably Bencovich’s dramatic chiaroscuro L&L; Rubens Hempel p297

Career: He became imperial court painter in 1770 & worked throughout the Hapsburg lands in Austria, Bohemia & especially Hungary L&L.

Oeuvre: Frescos & some paintings of genre scenes, small biblical scenes in the manner of Rembrandt, & historical & mythological compositions, & portraits & in the early 1760s some etchings Grove20 pp 856-57, Wikip

Characteristics/Phases: His figures often have outflinging gestures & extreme facial distortion as in his Visitation, 1770-71 (high alter mural Vac Cathedra, Hungary). His work features mysterious shadowy backgrounds, sudden light flashes, & irregular colour patches whish often do not corresponding to boundaries H&P p405, Kaufmann, following p52. They seem to skim across surface creating an illusion of flowing movement. He used light colours, especially white & blue, intensified with pink & achieved a dreamlike interweaving of the real & unreal, though even his reality was fantastic with figures & features without logical function as in his Assumption of the Virgin, 1763, nave ceiling, chapel, Schloss Erdody, Trencianske Bohuslavice, Slovakia Kaufmann preceding p85. Nevertheless he always started from a precise idea of position & movement which were carefully explored, as his studies show, with figures positioned to maximise expressive fervour Hempel p297-8. After 1765 in response to the advance of Neo-Classicism his style changed, his work becoming more balanced & static, & his light more uniform as in a frescoed barrel vault ceiling, 1766 (Theologiensaal, Vienna University). During his last decade he received fewer large-scale commissions & produced genre scenes, & historical & mythological works as in his panel painting Coriolanus before Rome, 1790-93 (Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart). Hower his late frescoes show signs of weariness & reliance on assistants Grove20 pp 856-57.

Verdict: He was the most painterly Viennese painter & a colourist comparable to Tiepolo. His work was a passionate revolt against the rationalism of the era. He was the last & most important Rococo decorative painter Hempel pp 297-8, Grove20 pp 855-86, L&L

Feature: In accord with late Baroque artistic custom his patrons carefully specified the nature of the composition & he would provide preliminary sketches Grove20 p857

Reception: He painted art for churches & Church dignitaries Wikip

Repute: His work was long neglected but he is now seen as a leading painter of his century Grove20 p855

*MAURER, Alfred, 1868-1932, USA:

Background: Born New York. His father, Louis (1832-1932) worked for Currier & Ives, the popular printmakers OxDicMod
Training: At the National Academy of Design, 1884, & briefly at the Academie Julian OxDicMod, Grove20 p860
Influences: Initially Whistler & William Merritt Chase but in 1907 Gertrude Stein introduced him to Fauvism OxDicMod, Grove20 p860
Career: He was in Paris between 1897 & 1914 except for a short trip home. When he became 34, he apparently suddenly changed course, turning his back on representational art, began painting like a wild man & was never again the light-hearted gay man his friends had known. In 1909 his paintings in the Fauvist style were shown, together with those of Marin, by Stieglitz at the 291 Gallery. He returned permanently to New York, 1914, helped Arthur Davis & Walt Kuhn prepare for the Armoury Show at which he exhibited. Although he had several one-man exhibitions from 1924, he seems to have lost confidence in his work, & his father bewildered by his modernism was anything but supportive. He hanged himself OxDicMod, Rose p45, Grove20 p861, Brown1955 pp132
Oeuvre/Characteristics/Phases: Initially academic paintings of single females in interiors & genre scenes of cafe society as in At the Cafe, c1905 (The Hermitage, St Petersburg); then vigorously executed Fauvist landscapes which he painted into the 1920s. During the 1920s he painted still-life; & his work became more naturalistic & melancholier with his tormented self-portraits, & the doleful woman with large, hypnotic eyes & an elongated face as in Two Heads (Abstraction), 1931-2 (Williams College, Chapin Library, Williamstown, Massachusetts). In the early1930 he painted some pictures with Cubist features Grove20 p860, OxDicMod, Brown1955 p132
Status/Innovation: He was a leading American modernist & his Cubist paintings of the 1920s are the finest produced in America Brown1955 pp 95, 132
Repute: In the mid-1950s it was observed that he had not received the recognition that might have been expected & & he has still only enjoyed a marginal status & he is not itemised in the Oxford Companion though he does figure in the Yale Dictionary Brown1985 p133, Wikip

..MAURIN, Charles, 1856-1914, France: Symbolism

Background: Born Le Puy Grove20 p861
Training: At the Ecole des Beaux Arts under Jules Lefebvre, 1876-9, & at the Academie Julian Grove20 p861
Influences: Japanese art Grove20 p861
Career: He taught at the Ecole des Beaux Arts & exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Francois becoming a member in 1883. A contributor to the Revue Blanche, 1882-90, he exhibited at Rose Croix Salon Grove20 p861
Oeuvre: Paintings, prints & wood engravings, his best work being lightly washed grey & pink etchings of nudes Grove20 p861
Phases: He moved from a solid, classical style to a Synthesist manner GibsonM p237
Characteristics: His works are clear cut & forceful webimages
Politics: He was deeply anti-clerical & admired Kropotkin etc Wikip
Innovations: He experimented with colour plates & patented a new technique for colour printing Grove20 p861
Friends: His pupil Felix Vallotton & Toulouse-Lautrec GibsonM p237, Wikip
Grouping: Symbolism GibsonM p237

..MAUVE, Anton, 1838-88, Van Gogh’s cousin, Netherlands; Rural Naturalism Movement

Background: He was born at Zaandam into a family of clergymen Grove20 p871
Training: Apprenticed to the animal painter Pieter Van Os & briefly under Wouterous Verschuur who gave him his love of horses Norman1977
Influences: Millet, profoundly, & Coro & Daubigny Norman1977
Career: He worked with Willem Maris & Gerard Bilders in the Dutch Barbizon of Oosterbeck, 1859-69; lived in The Hague from 1871; & sometime after about 1880 settled in the artistic colony of Laren Norman1977, Grove20 p871
Oeuvre: Prolific paintings of sheep, cows & horses; & later beech scenes as in Morning Ride on the Beach, 1876 (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). Shellfish gatherers were a speciality Norman1977, Grove20 pp 871-2
Characteristics/Phases/Innovation: His horses were worn-out & he painted poetic, scenes of plodding peasant life in soft silver & grey. The concentration on the central motif gives his work, like that of Willem Maris, a strange immobility. During his Hague period he began applying the paint in thinner layers & in distinct but close touches thus anticipating pointillism. At Laren, he painted more peasant genre as in Digging up Potatoes (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam ) Grove20 p871, Norman 1977, Fuchs p154
Influenced: Van Gogh who worked in his studio, 1881-2; & also Liebermann & Giovanni Segantini Grove20 p871-2
Grouping/Status: The Hague School, being one of its finest painters; & also the Laren School Grove20 p871
Reception: He was very popular in America Norman1977

MAURIN, Charles, 1856-1914, France; Symbolism:

Background: Born Le Puy Grove20 p861
Training: At the Ecole des Beaux Arts under Jules Lefebvre, 1876-9, & at the Academie Julian Grove20 p861
Influences: Japanese art Grove20 p861
Career: He taught at the Ecole des Beaux Arts & exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Francois becoming a member in 1883. A contributor to the Revue Blanche, 1882-90, he exhibited at Rose Croix Salon Grove20 p861
Oeuvre: Paintings, prints & wood engravings, his best work being lightly washed grey & pink etchings of nudes Grove20 p861
Phases: He moved from a solid, classical style to a Synthecist manner GibsonM p237
Characteristics: His works are clear cut & forceful webimages
Politics: He was deeply anti-clerical & admired Kropotkin etc Wikip
Innovations: He experimented with colour plates & patented a new technique for colour printing Grove20 p861
Friends: His pupil Felix Vallotton & Toulouse-Lautrec GibsonM p237, Wikip
Grouping: Symbolism GibsonM p237

..MAYER, Constance, 1775-1821, France:

Background: She was born in Paris, the daughter of a successful government official.   There were an increasing number of women artists working as portraitists & genre painters Grove20 p890, Wikip
Training: Under Joseph-Benoit Suvee, Jean-Baptiste Greuze & David Grove20 p890
Influences: Grove20 p890
Career: After entering Proudhon’s studio in 1802 she became his mistress & childminder, his unbalanced wife having been placed in a nursing home.   She herself she became depressed & ill.   When after the death of his wife Proudhon refused to marry him, she committed suicide.   She exhibited at the Salon Grove20 p891, Wikip
Oeuvre: Genre, allegorical subjects & portraits.   It is difficult to separate her work form Proudhon’s.   He usually produced drawings which she worked up but sometimes she began & he finished Grove20 pp 890-1
Characteristics: She had a direct & simple style employing soft brush strokes Wikip#

*MAYNO/MAINO, Juan, 1578-1649, Spain:

Background: He had a Milanese father, a Spanish mother & was born at L&L. He was born in Pastrana (Guadalajara) Brown p88
Teacher: El Greco although there is no sign of his influence L&L|
Influences: Caravaggio. Velazquez’s portraits & for landscape Carracci, Tassi & Elsheimer L&L, Grove20 p125.
Career: During the mid-1600s he was in Italy. By 1611 he was in Toledo working for the cathedral Brown, & during 1612 he was hired by the Dominican monastery of S. Pedro Martir to paint altarpiece & frescos. Here he joined the Dominican order in 1613 & his artistic career virtually ended. Around 1620 he moved to Madrid becoming drawing master to the future Philip IV Brown1998 p88, L&L
Oeuvre: Narrative paintings, religious works, landscapes, & portraits, which were outstanding L&L
Characteristics: To judge from his as in Adoration of the Shepherds, 1613 (Museo del Prado). He loved intricate, studied & precisely drawn compositions with precise. His surface effects for which he used using brilliant, intense colour & were dazzling. Telling details showing the display of human emotion were included here & elsewhere. The silver colouring of his landscapes was new in Spain Brown1998 pp 88-9, 124, Grove20 p125.
Features: He helped Velazquez win court favour by judging him victor in a painting competition & was the only important Spain artist strongly influenced by Caravaggio L&L, Brown1998 pp 88, 91

..MAX, Gabriel von 1840-1914, Czech Republic:

Background: Born in Prague the son of a sculptor Norman1977, Wikip
Training: Under Eduard von Engerth at the Prague Academy of Arts, between 1855-8. Then at the Vienna Academy from 1858 and under Karl Piloty from 1863-7 Wikip
Influences: Delaroche Norman1977
Career: He lived a retired life devoted to art & to studying anthropology & psychology, although from 1879 to 83 he was professor of history painting at the Munich Academy. Max was caught up in the fashion for spiritualism & psychic investigation & in 1884 he joined the Theosophical Society. From 1869 to about 1873 he kept a herd of monkeys Norman1977, Wikip
Feature: He painted from a hypnotised model Norman1977
Oeuvre: Genre, fancy pictures, religious works as in The Last Token: A Christian Martyr (The Met) allegorical, literary & musical subjects, & religious works as in The Last Token: A Christian Martyr (The Met). His speciality paintings were featuring monkeys Wikip, webimages
Characteristics/Phases/Verdict: He first employed the dark palette of the Pilot School but it later became lighter & clearer. He was a fine draftsman Wikip, Norman1977
Sons: The painters Cornelius, 1875-1924, & Columbus, 1877-1970 Wikip

..MAXENCE, Edgar, 1871-1954, France; Symbolism

Training: Elie Delaunay & Gustave Moreau at the Ecole de Beaux-Arts GibsonM p237, Wikip
Career: He exhibited with Rose Croix during 1895-7, & at the Salon des Artiste Francais, 1894-1939 GibsonM p237, Wikip
Oeuvre: Portraits & flowers Webimages
Characteristics: He had a highly trained & accomplished technique with a taste for medieval & mythical subjects in paintings featuring head & shoulders women with carefully painted faces & using looser brushwork elsewhere Wikip, webimages
Grouping: Symbolism GibsonM p237

..MAXWELL, John, 1905-1962, Scotland:

Background: He was born at Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire Wikip
Training: Dumfries Academy; Edinburgh College of Art, 1921-7; & in Paris at the Academie Moderne under Leger & Ozenfant, 1927-8 Wikip, ArtUK site
Career: When in Paris he travelled to Italy & Spain. He exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy from 1935 & joined it in 1949. Taught at Edinburgh College of Art intermittently from 1928 to 1961 Wikip, ArtUK site
Oeuvre: Imaginative & fantastic topics, landscapes, still-life & portraits, Wikip, ArtUK site
Characteristics: His paintings range widely in technique & colouring from non-challenging portraits & landscapes to highly expressive works forcefully painted in strong, sometimes acidic, colours Webimages
Verdict: His works have been described as subjective poetry Macmillan1994 p94
Friends: William Gillies Macmillan1994 p65
Innovation/Status: He helped evolve a style that became identified with Edinburgh & was a dominant influence in Scotland in the middle decades of the 20^th century Macmillan1994 p65

Mazo. See del Mazo

.. MAZZANTI, Ludovico, 1686-1775, Italy; Romantic Melodramatic:

Background: Born Rome Grove20 p903
Training: An apprenticeship under Giovanni Gaulli from 1700 Grove20 p903
Influences: Maratti’s classicism & Lanfranco’s Baroque tendencies, Odazzi & Ignaz Stern Grove20 p903
Career: He joined the Accademia di S Luca, 1744, & the Accademia Clementina, 1748; settled in Naples, 1733; was active in Rome, Orvieto, Viterbo & the Marches, 1740s; & settled in Rome,1752-3 Grove20 p903
Oeuvre: Paintings & frescoes of religious & historical subjects, frescoes, mosaic design & portraits Grove20 p903, webimages
Characteristics: His paintings have a clear chromatic range & his works are lively & dramatic, including Judith & Holofernes Grove20 p903, webimages. His work is extraordinarily similar to that of Federico Barocci & not unlike that of Giambatista Piazzetta See Lingo & webimages
Feature: His painting of St Joseph of Cupertino flying as in the friary of Osimo, not far from Ancona, is the most widely reproduced depiction of this subject Eire pp 128-9
Patrons: The Jesuits Grove20 p903
Reception: His fame was considerable because he received foreign commissions Grove20 p903
Associates: Sebastiano Conca, Francesco Trevisani, & Nicolo Pomerania Grove20 p903, Wikip

Mazo. See del Mazo

-MAZZONI, Sebastiano, c1611-1678, Italy=Venice (Florence); Baroque

Background: He was born in Florence Wikip
Training: In Florence under Baccio del Bianco, 1632-3 Wikip
Influences: Bernardo Strozzi’s free brushwork, & possibly Rembrandt L&L, Waterhouse1962 p129
Career: Around 1648 he was forced out of Florence for satirizing somebody of importance & settled in Venice where he joined the Accademia del Digegno. He wrote poetry L&L, Wikip
Oeuvre: Religious & mythological works Wikip, webimages
Characteristics: His work features free bravura brushwork, rich colouring & chiaroscuro, together with dynamic & unusual composition employing awkward perspectives or in which or in which a big figure who dominates the painting as in The Annunciation (Fondazione Cini, Venice) L&L, Wikip, webimages
Verdict: He was one of the most individualistic of Italian Baroque painters & a minor master OxDicArt, Waterhouse1962 p129
Comparable Painters: Lorenzo Lotto & Francesco Maffei Wikip
Pupil: Andrea Celesti Wikip
Grouping: Baroque OxDicArt, Waterhouse1962 p129

Mazzuchelli. See Il Morazzone

..MCCULLOCH, Horatio, 1805-67, Scotland

Influences: Initially Thompson of Duddington’s loose & atmospheric handling of paint, he had the potential for dramatic landscape, especially the Highlands. Turner was another influence Macmillan1990 p226
Career: Around 1825 he left Glasgow for Edinburgh but returned around 1827. He spent a period in Hamilton & painted on the spot in Cadzow Forest. In 1838 he went back to Edinburgh in 1838 & was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy Macmillan1990 pp 226-7
Oeuvre: Landscapes and during the 1840s townscapes Macmillan1990 pp 224-8
Characteristics: His early work is the most naturalistic. His Cadzow pictures have an undramatic natural grandeur, spaciousness, feeling for light & shade, & a respect for the actual forms of nature. Later he produced large & grand views of the Highlands which made his reputation. Although this was largely studio work it was not wild or slapdash but had a continued feeling for light & air Macmillan pp 227-8.
Legacy: Highland landscapes of a classic type which lasted until 1900 and was painted by John MacWhirter, Peter Graham, & Joseph Farquharson Macmillan1990 p229

..Arthur Ambrose MCEVOY, 1878-1927:

Background: Born Crudwell, Wiltshire Shone1977 p223
Training: The Slade, 1893-6 Shone1977 p223
Career: He joined the New English Art Club in 1902 & from around 1915 became a successful portraitist. McEvoy taught briefly at the Slade & was a war artist during 1916-8. In 1924 he became an Associate of the RA Shone1977 p223
Oeuvre: Mostly [society & establishment] portraits, [especially of women], but also some landscapes Shone1977 p223
Characteristics/Phases: [Probably due to the pressure to produce his later work is very uneven. In his later work he painted the face clearly & carefully but executed the body & background in a very loose style. Sometimes this is very effective but at other times arms & hands spoil the picture because they are crude & careless, e.g., the Hon Mrs Cecil Baring, c1917 (Tate). Moreover, messy backgrounds also spoil the general effect] Exhibition at the Philip Mould Gallery
Verdict: He squandered his talents (& a critic during the war sugar shortage said he was an asset to the nation) Shone1977 p13, Pl 6
Friends: Sickert & Augustus John Shone1977 p223

..Mary MCEVOY, 1870-1941, England:

Background: She was born at Freshfield, Somerset Wikip
Career: During 1900-6 she exhibited at NEAC but after her marriage in 1902 largely ceased painting. After Ambrose died she resumed and exhibited 12 works at the Royal Academy Wikip
Oeuvre: Portraits, interiors & flowers Wikip
Characteristics: Her work is Impressionistic & her colouring harmonious Wikip

..MCKAY, William Darling, 1844-1923, Scotland; Rural Naturalism

Background: He came from East Lothian Macmillan1990 p254.
Influences: McTaggart & French & Dutch painting Macmillan1990 p254
Career: He made an early visit to Holland Macmillan1990 p254.
Phases: During the 1870s & early 80s he painted deliberately unsentimental agricultural scenes with the apparent aim of linking art with the land & engaging in the labour of the fieldworkers; of which Turnip-Singlers: A Hard Task Master, 1883. Is an example Macmillan1990 pp 254-5.
Grouping : The East Lothian painters along with J. Campbell Noble & Robert Noble Macmillan1990 p254.

..MCKENNA, Stephen, 1939-2017, England:

Background: He was born in London OxDicMod
Training: 1859-64 at the Slade under Harold Cohen. However, McKenna reacted against McKenna’s modernist view of discovery through process OxDicMod
Influences: Poussin, David, Bocklin, de Chirico OxDicMod
Career: In 1973 he moved to Donegal & was President of the Royal Hibernian Academy from 2005 to 2009 Wikip
Oeuvre: It was extremely varied, including landscapes, interiors, still-life & historical paintings Wikip
Characteristics: His work was figurative but not of the traditional British Tonks-Coldstream type. There was a strong element of revivalism in his art which looked back to the French classical tradition & incorporated ideas, symbols & historical references. Nevertheless, he aimed to comment on the present. The City of Derry, 1982, is about the Ulster tragedy despite referring to Giorione’s Tempesta OxDicMod
Grouping: Postmodern figurative painting Wikip

..MCKENZIE, John, 1897-1972, Scotland:

–MCIVER, Loren, 1909-98, USA:

Background: Born New York OxDicMod
Training: She was self-taught apart from lessons at the Art Students League, 1919-20 OxDicMod
Career: During the 1930s she worked for the Federal Art Project OxDicMod
Characteristics: Her works are subtle and mysterious and have something of a Surrealist sense of fantasy. They hover between figuration & abstraction & with fleeting images of beauty or magic in what is commonplace OxDicMod
Aim: To make something permanent out of the transitory OxDicMod

..MCKAY, William Darling, 1844-1923m Scotland:

Background: He came from East Lothian Macmillan1990 p254.
Influences: McTaggart & French & Dutch painting Macmillan1990 p254
Career: He made an early visit to Holland Macmillan1990 p254.
Phases: During the 1870s & early 80s he painted deliberately unsentimental agricultural scenes with the apparent aim of linking art with the land & engaging in the labour of the fieldworkers; of which Turnip-Singler’s: A Hard Task Master, 1883. Is an example Macmillan1990 pp 254-5.
Grouping : The East Lothian painters along with J. Campbell Noble & Robert Noble Macmillan1990 p254.

-William MCTAGGART, 1835-1910, William’s grandfather, Scotland:

Background: He was born on the Mull of Kintyre into a Gaelic speaking family L&L, Macmillan1990 p250

Training: At the Trustees’ Academy after 1852under Robert Lauder Grove20 p33

Influences: Constable, Turner & Millais Treuherz1993p192

Oeuvre: Landscapes & seascapes in watercolour & oils, early genre works, & portraits L&L, Macmillan1990 p240

Phases/Characteristics: After 1867 he concentrated on landscape & especially seascape. Initially he used detail & bright colour but without the contiguous painted surface of pre-Raphaelite painting. During the 1870s he began painting finished watercolours outside which directly influenced his oils. In Through Wind & Rain, 1880, with its greens, greys & blacks he eschewed warm colours. However, in other works he used a light palette & figures & settings were dissolved into a rich, open network of swilling paint, though not apparently under French Impressionist influence. During the 1870s he began painting finished watercolours outside which directly influenced his oils Macmillan1990 pp 240-1, 245-52, Treuherz1993 p192.

Feature: Many of his best works were painted at Machrihanish on Kintyre where Atlantic breakers driven by constant breeze produced fleeting light effects. From the early 1880s even, his large canvases were en plein air & he preferred to virtually complete in a day Bilcliffe p55, Grove20 pp 33-4.

Verdict: He was the most original of later 19^th century Scottish painters of marine & coastal views Treuherz1993 p192

Grouping : Scottish Impressionism Billcliffe p55

-Sir William MCTAGGART, 1903-81, William’s grandson:

Training: At the Edinburgh college of Art, 1918-21 OxDicMod
Influences: His grandfather, Matthew Smith, Derain, Rouault, Nolde , Soutine & Munch L&L, Macmillan1990 p365
Career: During the 1920s he regularly visited southern France for health reasons. He taught at the Edinburgh College of Art, 1953-8 & was president of the Royal Scottish Academy, 1959-64 OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Mainly landscapes & still-lifes OxDicMod
Characteristics/Phases: Soft black outlines around richly glowing colours using heavy paint OxDicMod, Macmiilan1990 p365
Verdict: His earlier works have a poetic intensity but later his paintings are almost incoherent Macmillan1990 pp 365-6
Grouping: His work has an Expressionist tendency L&L

-MEDINA, Sir John, c1679-1710, Scotland (Brussels):

Background: He was born in Brussels into a Spanish family, the son of an army officer or sea captain. The Scottish market for portraits was crying out for a talented painter L&L, Grove21 p34, Macmillan1990 p82
Training: Under Duchatel in Brussels Macmillan1990 p82
Influences: Kneller although not his colour harmonies L&L
Career: He moved to London, 1686, & settled in Edinburgh around 1688; success came quickly; & between about 1697 & 1708 painted oval 30 portraits of members of the Surgeons Company L&L
Oeuvre: Portraits & a few history paintings & book illustrations Grove21 p34
Characteristics: He had a repertory of well-worn poses & specialised in portraying Scottish nobles often in full armour. Medina’s sitters are more stiffly posed than Kneller’s & he particularly liked red & blue draperies. His occasional paintings of children & servants are more freely painted as in the Earl of Wemyss & March, Scottish National Portrait Gallery Grove21 p34
Verdict: He used assistants & his work is uneven but at its best it is marked by sharp observation & rich & lively execution, & his female portraits are remarkably frank Macmillan1990 p81
Status: He was the most successful Edinburgh portraits of his time L&L
Collections: Surgeon’s Hall, Edinburgh L&L
Pupil: William Aikman L&L
Son: John Medina the Younger. -1764, was a less successful Edinburgh portraitist Grove21 p34

..MEHOFFER, Joszef, 1869-1946, Poland; Symbolism

Background: He was born in Ropczyce but the family moved to Cracow in 1870 OxDicMod
Training: At the Academy of Fine Arts, Cracow, under Matejko in 1887. The Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, 1890 and then the Academie Colarossi & the Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1891-6 GibsonM p237
Influences: His fellow student Wyspiavski & the Vienna Sezcssion which he joined in 1896 GibsonM p237, OxDicMod
Career: His masterpiece The Strange Garden, 1902-3 (National Museum, Warsaw) with its intense colour attracted attention. He illustrated Polish magazines & belonged to the Young Poland movement GibsonM p237, Artvee site
Oeuvre/Phases: He worked in oils & fresco, began by painting portraits but turned to Symbolist paintings. He also produced etchings, produced book covers & illustrations, & engaged in stained glass design GibsonM p237, OxDicMod, Artve site
Characteristics: [He was a fine draftsman & his paintings were very clear & precise] as in Strange Garden, 1903, & Sun in May, 1911 (both National Museum, Warsaw). Although the former painting has a Symbolist feature [the latter does not his work might in general be better described as realism of an academic nature.]
Grouping/Status: He is regarded as a leading representative of Polish Symbolism OxDicMod
Collections: Jozef Mehoffer Museum, Cracow

-MEIDNER, Ludwig, 1884-1966, Germany; Expressionism Movement

Background: He was born Bernstadt, Silesia, where his Jewish parents ran a textile business JRS p492

Training: At the Breslau Academy, 1903-5, & the Academie Julian, 1906-7, but unaffected by avant-garde developments OxDicMod

Influences: The exhibitions at the Sturm Gallery of Futurists , Cubists & above all Delaunay encouraged Meidner to give free reign to his passionate nature Dube p 179

Career: During 1905-6 he subsisted as a fashion artist in Berlin. In 1908 he returned to Berlin & in 1912 helped found Die Pathetiker, See Section 8, which held an exhibition at Herwarth Walden’s gallery but then broke up. He now began painting apocalyptic scenes of city destruction together with ecstatic literary work. His atelier became a weekly meeting point for Berlin’s artistic & literary avant-garde including Conrad Felixmuller & George Grosz. Although adamantly anti-was he had to serve in the army, 1916-8. In 1935 he left Berlin for Cologne where he became drawing master at the Jewish Hochschule & in 1939 fled to England. He was interned during 1940-1, returned to Germany in 1953 OxDicMod, L&L, JRS p492, Hess

Oeuvre: Paintings, graphic art & literary work OxDicMod

Phases: His extreme Expressionist phase ended abruptly & & in painting & drawing turned mainly to Jewish themes. During the 1920s he made highly emotional figure drawings but had growing doubts about his talent. He gave up painting & finally graphic work, though he did produce two cycles of drawings in 1935 & 1938 OxDicMod, JRS p493.

Characteristics: The apocalyptic & emotional works he produced from 1912 are unrestrained by any formal considerations. Figures & buildings are distorted & skies sometimes have strange shafts of light or they pulsate or explode . Everything is in a state of agonised flux Dube p178-9, JRS Pl 74-8.

Friend: Modigliani in Paris L&L

-MEISSONIER, Ernest, 1815-1891, France:

Background: He was born in Lyons Norman1977

Training: Briefly with Jean Potier & Leon Cognier, but he was largely self-taught TurnerMtoC p296.

Influences: Metsu, ter Borch & other Dutch & Flemish masters; Chardin, Gravelot & Greuze; & also contemporary romantic theatre & costume design Turner MtoC p296.

Career: Meissonier’s first painting was exhibited at the Salon of 1834. He led the jury to exclude Courbetr from the Salon because of his activities during the Commune TurnerMtoC pp 296-7. In 1890 he led a secession from the Salon to found the more innovative Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts TurnerMtocC pp296-7.

Oeuvre: Scenes with tranquil 17^th & 18^th century artists & musicians, gentlemen relaxing, & rowdy cavaliers. Also military subjects set in the Revolutionary & Empire periods, including Napoleon’s career TurnerMtoC p296.

Speciality: Tiny genre works featuring costumes & accessories which were exquisitely & meticulously rendered TurnerMtoC p296.

Characteristics: Many of his military works portray Napoleon or Napoleon III as a great leader aloft on a horse either at the head of his troops or surveying a battle which is far away. Others show massed soldiers who are not yet in combat. What his paintings do not show is bloodshed or dead bodies. His military paintings are paradoxically almost all of a pacific nature. The obvious exception is The Siege of Paris, 1884. There are dead & dying soldiers but the picture celebrates French bravery Webimages, etc

Reception: From 1840 he received effusive reviews by Gautier etc. However, for Baudelaire, Balzac & Zola he epitomised nouveaux-riche taste, & after the 1850s he was increasingly the target of critics & younger artists including Degas, Manet & Toulouse-Lautrec TurnerMtoC p297.

Repute: After his death his reputation declined rapidly & in 1960 his work was said to have led to the costume piece & a ghostly & entirely unreal form of reportage Novotny p287. Since the 1970s his work has been reappraised GroveMtoC p297

Purchasers: The financial & social elite under Louis-Philip & Napoleon III, eg the Rothschilds TurnerMtoC p297

Status: He was the most famous & expensive French painter of his era Leymarie p153

Pupils: Edouard Detaille TurnerMtoC p287.

Influence: This was international & he inspired the costume works of Saddler, John Seymour Lucas & Frank Topham in England Maas p240.

..MELBYE, Vilhelm, 1824-83, Denmark:

Background: Born Elsinore Wikip
Training: His brother Anton, 1818-75, who was a marine painter, at the Academy of Fine Arts Copenhagen, 1844-7, & with Theodore Gudin in Paris, 1848. He also studied with Dahl Wikip, Life stations site
Influences: Andreas Achenbach & the Dusseldorf School Wikip
Career: He initially trained to become a merchant, visited Iceland in 1847, painted in Skagen in 1848, returned from Paris in 1849, was based in London between 1852 &1867, made trips home & on the Continent (including the Rock of Gibraltar), returned to Denmark, joined the Copenhagen Academy of Arts in 1871, & became professor at the Academy, Copenhagen, in 1880 Wikip, Life Stations site, webimages
Oeuvre: Seascapes featuring boats of all types, coastal & harbour scenes, Wikip, webimages
Characteristics: His paintings, which were based on plein air oil sketches, are atmospheric & lively. They depict the sea in all types of weather & at all times day. Some are highly dramatic but others tranquil. He started using broad brushes & sweeping strokes to capture the impression produced by untamed nature Life Stations site, webimages.
Grouping: At least some of his works are Luminist Wilmerding p225

Meldolla. See Schiavone

– MELENDEZ/MENENDEZ, Luis, 1716-80, Spain:

Background: He was born in Naples, the son of the painter Miguel, 1679-1734, but taken to Madrid in childhood Grove21 pp 79-80
Training: His father & Academia de Belles Artes de S Fernando, Madrid, around 1746 Grove21 p80
Influences: Linnaeus’ plant studies Grove21 p81
Career: He became the assistant to the court painter Michel van Loo; settled in Naples, 1748; & assisted his father for 5.5 years painting miniatures for splendidly coloured choir-books for a new royal chapel. During the 1760s he became a still-life specialist. He worked for Charles III Grove21 pp 80-1
Oeuvre/Characteristics: In his monumental, sober still-lifes of foodstuffs he conveyed the solidity & precise texture of the objects which were shown in sharp light against a neutral background so creating depth. Phases: His early kitchen still-life were more compact than those later L&L, Grove21 p81
Brother: Francisco, 1682-1752, painted portrait miniatures Grove21 p80

-MELLERY, Xaviere, 1845-1921, Belgium:

Background: He was born at Laeken, near Brussels, the son of a gardener Norman1977, Grove21 p86
Training: Under the decorative artist Chales Albert & then decorative design at the Brussels Academy, 1860-7 Norman1977, Grove21 p86
Influences: Mantegna in Italy & the Realist generation of De Groux Grove21 p86, Norman1977
Career: In 1870 he won the Belgian Pride Rome & went to Italy; visited what are now the Czech & Slovak Republics, 1887; returned to Italy, 1878; stayed on the Dutch island of Marken, 1878-9; exhibited with Les Vingt & at the last Salon de la Rose + Croix, 1896; & was elected to the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts, 1903. He taught at the Brussels Academy but after 1900 lived a retired life at Laeken Grove21 pp 86-7, Norman1977
Oeuvre: Paintings & drawings. His work was extraordinarily varied in style & subject matter. In approximate date order it included the working lives of the Bagian poor in a social realist manner, sombre views of Venice, designs for the decoration of public buildings inspired by Puvis de Chavannes, drawings of rooms & hallways, Symbolist works, scenes of monastic life & bleak landscapes. Moreover, he worked in a wide range of media including oils, watercolour, pen & ink, & charcoal Grove21 p86-7
Characteristics: Strangeness & muted tones appear to be the only common features of his oeuvre. He specialised in works of an atmospheric, poetic & melancholic nature in which there is a solitary person, usually female, who is often facing away & appears to be pausing or moving slowly down a corridor, upstairs or in some other enclosed space & lost in contemplation as in The Staircase, c1889 (Konicki Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp). Such works are strongly reminiscent of those by Vilhelm Hammershoi webimages
Beliefs: There was a hidden harmony underlying the universe Grove21 p86
Innovations: He was a forerunner of Symbolism in Belgium Norman1977
Pupil: Fernand Khnopff Grove21 p86

-MELONE, Altobello (da), born c1490 & died before 1543, Italy=Cremona; High Renaissance:

Background: Born Cremona Grove21 p93
Training: Perhaps by Romanino L&L
Influences: Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Durer, Titian, Geromalo Romanino. He reacted against the classicism of previous Cremona artists like Boccaccio Boccacino & Tomasso Aleni L&L p17,
Career: From 1517 he continued Bocaccio’s fresco cycle in Cremona cathedral L&L
Oeuvre: Religious works in oils & frescoes, together with portraits Grove21 pp 93-4, webimages
Characteristics: He had a highly expressive style with lyrical Venetian elements. His [as in] Christ Carrying the Cross, c1515 (NG) is work of outrstanding beauty, & religious & spiritul intensity, featuring the extremes of light & dark in which Christ advances out of the picture & with raised hand seemigly blesses the viewer. Another outstanding [as in] work Massacre of the Innocents, c1517 (Presbytery, Cremona Cathedral), is highly dramatic with remarkably expressive light & colour. In contrast a second group of frecoes are more conservative L&L, Grove21 p94, NG comment & web images.
Phases: From around 1508 until about 1605 he was closely associated with Romanino & some of their works are confusable. During the late 1520s his work was influenced by Guilio Romano’s Mannerist elegance Grove21 p94
Influenced: Romanino L&L
Repute: Mannerism did not suit him. He is not itemised in the Oxford Companion Grove21 p94

Melozzo da Forli. See Da Forli

..MELVILLE, Arthur, 1855-1904; Rural Naturalism & The Glasgow Boys etc.

Background: He was born at Loanhead-of-Guthrie, Angus, Tayside but his family soon moved to East Linton, near Edinburgh Grove21 p99, Bullcliffe p25

Training: Under James Campbell Nobel in Edinburgh for two years, at the Royal Scottish Academy Schools, & then at the Academie Julian in Paris, 1878 Grove21 p99; Wikip, Bullcliffe pp 25-6

Influences: Monet’s movement, colour & light during his training in Paris. His foreign travels led to the use of intense colours Wikip, Flemings p70

Oeuvre: Paintings in oils, & in watercolour his principal medium Wikip, Grove21 p99

Career/Phases/Characteristics: Early tonal oils, fluid & blotchy watercolours. His early eastern pictures feature dramatic light contrasts including Venetian nocturnes; & a developing interest in crowd movement & spatial contrast as in his bullfight pictures. After his move to London in 1889 he had a Whistlerian phase Bullcliffe pp26,116, Grove21 p99, Bullcliffe pp26,116, Grove21 p99, Macmillan1990 p254

Career/Works/Phases: Initially he was apprenticed to the village grocer & was a clerk at Dalkeith, his parents being opposed to him having a career as an artist. In 1878 he discovered Grez & settled there in 1879 Flemings p68, Wikip. He spent 1880-2 in Egypt & Arabia sketching; returned to Paris & painted masterly Egypt pictures; returned to Edinburgh & went to Cockburnspath where he painted with Guthrie, 1883. During the next few years, he temporarily turned away from eastern subjects & made frequent visits to the Boys’ Glasgow studios Wikip, Bullcliffe pp 25-6, 117, 115-6. In 1885 he visited Orkney with Guthrie & painted fine watercolours as in Kirkwall,1885-6 (Glasgow Art Gallery Bullcliffe pp 189, 193. During 1890-93 he made annual trips to Spain, & again in 1899. Here he painted the magnificent [as in] Orange Market, Saragossa 1902, in which decorative elements are now dominant Flemings pp 70-71.

Feature: He was extraordinarily versatile & inventive producing the all-over Audrey & Her Goats, 1889 (The Tate), the Whistlerian White Piano, 1897 (Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, together with paintings of Spanish bullfights with their acute spatial contrasts as in Banderilleros a Pied, c1896, in which the figures dissolve in a blaze of sunlight (Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museum). During his last years he worked on a series of monumental canvasses which were almost entirely in oils including Christmas Eve, 1900-04 (NG Scotland). He moved to London in 1889 Macmillan1990 pp 276, 285-88, Grove21 p99

Innovations: His [as in] Cabbage Garden, 1877 (NG Scotland), was a pioneering work, [& was followed by numerous paintings featuring cabbages] Macmillan1990 pp 255-56, Wikip

Technique: Watercolour dropped on paper saturated with Chinese white, then sponge & brushwork to clarify form. This was his blotesque manner which he developed around 1880, & which became a hallmark of his greatest works of the 80s & 90s as in Pangbourne,1889 (The Flemmings Collection) Grove21 p99, Flemings pp 68-69

**MEMLING/MEMLINC, Hans, c1440-94, Netherlands/Germany; Northern Renaissance:

Background: He was born at Seligenstadt near Frankfurt OxDicArt
Training: Van der Weyden according to Vassari Brigstocke
Influences: Van der Weyden’s figure poses & compositions L&L
Career: He settled at Bruges, 1465, & became one of its wealthiest citizens L&L, OxDicArt
Phases: His work displayed little change OxDicArt
Oeuvre/Characteristics: His serene, restrained & pious religious works lack Weyden’s intensity & pathos but are impeccably crafted. The Donne Triptych, c1479 (NG) contains elegant, tranquil figures harmoniously arranged & with spiritual expressions set against an ideal landscape. His colours are glowing, jewel-like & almost Mediterranean, & his figures are of a standard type: tall with emotionless, oval, narrow faces, high foreheads & narrow noses. However, his late work the Martyrdom of St Ursula, 1489 (Hospital of St John, Bruges) is in contrast painted in light delicate colour. Although dignified & elegant his portraits are more individualised than Rogier’s, & he experiments with different formats & the relationships of figures to backgrounds. Individuality is however based only on physiognomy & not on character & expression OxDicArt, Brigstocke, L&L, Grove21 p105, Cuttler pp177-8
Innovations: The realistic painting of devotional & mystical subjects. He was the first Belgian artist to set a portrait against a landscape background Grove21 pp 100, 105.
Technique: He used considerably fewer paint layers than Van Eyck Grove21 p105
Patrons: Italians living in Bruges L&L
Status: Along with Dieric Bouts I & Hugo Van Der Goes, he was one of the most important exponents of the new artistic developments in Belgium after the era of Van Eyck & Van Der Weyden Grove21 p100
Patronage: He was the most eminent painter in Bruges & worked for wealthy merchants, clerics & occasional aristocrats. It included Italians with mercantile & diplomatic links Brigstocke, Grove21 p100.
Legacy: His work influenced Gerard David, Michel Sittow, Juan de Flandes, & numerous anonymous Masters including those of the Legends of St Ursula & St Lucy, & the Baroncelli Portraits Grove21 p105
Repute: He was the favourite early Belgian painter of 19^th century art lovers, & was taken to represent mystic Christian medieval art. During the early 20^th century when abstraction & expression were celebrated his work was less highly regarded L&L, Grove21 p105
Collections: Memling Museum, Bruges OxDicArt

-MEMMI, Lippi, active 1317-57, Simoni Martini’s brother-in-law, Italy=Sienna/Avignon:

Background: His father Memmo De Filip Puccio was a painter Grove19 p454
Influences: Simone Martini Grove19 pp 454-5
Career: He worked at the papal court in Avignon OxDicArt
Oeuvre: Religious paintings in tempera & fresco Grove19 p454
Characteristics: The signed & generally accepted works are highly competent with considerable charm, refined draftsman ship, delicate palette & extremely sensitive modelling but limited invention as in the signed Virgin & Child, 1335 (S. Maria dei Servi, Siena) Grove19 p454,OxDicArt

Mena. See de Mena

Menabuoni. See de’Menabuoni

Mengozzi Colona. See Colona

.. MENAGEOT, Francois-Guillaume, 1744-1816, France; Romantic Melodramatic:

Background: Born London the son of Augustin, art dealer & adviser to Denis Diderot Grove21 p113
Training: Jean-Baptiste Deshays & Boucher Grove21 p113
Influences: Grove21 p113
Career: He won the Prix de Rome, 1766, & went to the Academie de France, Rome, 1769-74. In 1787 he became its director but resigned in 1792, moved to Vicenza, returned to Paris in 1801, & was elected to the Institute de France, 1809. However, his exhibits had little success & during 1809-13 he designed costumes for the Opera Grove21 pp 113-4.
Oeuvre: History paintings, mythological & religious works & portraits Grove21 p113
Phases/Innovation/Characteristics: Along with Gabriel-Francois Doyen, Jean-Baptiste Deshays & Francois-Andre Vincent, he created a new, more serious & passionate type of post-Rococo painting without Neoclassical drabness: one which anticipated Romanticism as in Death of Leonardo da Vinci in the Arms of Francis I, 1781 (Hotel de Ville, Amboise). From 1783 his colouring became increasingly cold, the drapery less fluid the architecture more monumental in a return to Neoclassicism. However, he continued to favour gentle, happy or intimate scenes as in Adoration of the Shepherds (Notre Dame de assumption, Villeneuve-sur-Yonne) Grove9 p209 & 21 pp 113-4, Brigstocke, Wakefield pp 107-12, Wikimedia Commons

Mengozzi Colona. See Colona

*MENGS, Anton Raffael, 1728-79, Germany; Rococo and Neo-Classism

Background: His father, Ismael, was court painter at Dresden L&L. He was brought up with harsh severity to be a great artist OxDicArt

Training: His father & then under Benefial in Rome L&L

Influences: The theories of Winckelmann, whom he met in 1755, & the models he found at Herculaneum & Pompeii L&L

Career: During 1771-4 he visited Rome Novotny p50. He became court painter in Dresden in 1746, but soon returned to Rome, where he became a Catholic in 1748. His first major works were the frescos at the Villa Albani, 1761. He was court painter in Spain 1771- 9 & 1773-7. Here he painted at the palaces at Aranjuez & Madrid, which are less austere than at Albani. During the intervening years he decorated the Camera del Papiri in the Vatican, & become principal of the Academy of St Luke L&L, OxDicArt

Oeuvre: History painting, & portraits, which are now considered vastly superior OxDicArt

Status: Raffael was one of the most important painters of Classical, allegorical & religious subjects in the second half of the 18^th century L&L. Mengs was Batoni’s main rival as the leading Roman portrait painter OxDicArt

Beliefs: The salvation of art lies in the combination of expression from Raphael, colour from Titian & grace from Corregio Andrews1964 p2

Friends: Winckelmann OxDicArt

Grouping: Neoclassicism OxDicArt

Repute: He was widely regarded as the greatest living painter OxDicArt

Legacy: His stilted recipe for concocting good painting was highly influential in the continental Academies & his followers & pupils became directors at Copenhagen (Johannes Wiedewelt) & Vienna (Heinrich Fuger). This helps explain why painting in Germany was in a cul-de-sac towards the end of the 18^th century Andrews1964 p2

..MENINSKY, Bernard, 1891-1950, England (Ukraine)

Background: He was born in Konotop son of a Yiddish-speaking tailor. The family moved to Liverpool when he was a baby Wikip

Training: Evening art classes while working as an errand boy & then at the Liverpool School of Art, 1906-11, briefly at the Academie Julian & Slade in 1912Wikip

Influences: Cezanne Wikip

Career: Just before the war he began teaching at the Central School of Arts & Crafts. He served in the Royal Fusiliers, applied to be a war artist, was given an assignment, & was discharged from the army due to neurasthenia, After the war his wife walked out on him & their children, he resumed teaching at the Central School, from 1919 became active in the London Group in 1919, & joined NEAC in 1923 where he exhibited regularly. During the war he & his second wife moved to Oxford Wikip, Chamot p117

Oeuvre: Landscape, still-life, the nude & theatre design Wikip

Speciality: Mother & child works Wikip

Characteristics: His compositions are clear cut using colours ranging from muted in war paintings & some landscapes etc to strong. He focused on form & during the 30s & 40s his figures have a monumentality indebted to Picasso’s neo-classical style but, despite his membership of NEAC, his work is seldom impressionistic Wikip, webimages

Personal: He was moody, unpredictable & a hypochondriac who had electro-shock treatment Wikip

Friends & Circle: William Roberts, his contemporary at the Slade, was a lifelong friend & colleague at the Central school . After 1914 Meninsky was one of the ne, replacement members of the Friday Club along with Bomberg, Frederick Etchells, Wadsworth & the Nash brothers. Post-1945 Churchill occasionally visited his studio for lessons Wikip, Farr pp 195-6

Patrons: Churchill’s secretary Edward Marsh & Lord Glenconner who in the late 30s paid him an allowance Wikip

Collections: The Imperial War Museum

*MENZEL, Adolf von, 1815-1905, Germany; Victorian Modern Life and Rural Naturalism

Background: He was born in Breslau. His father was a headmaster who resigned to set up a lithography workshop, 1818, & his mother was the daughter of an art teacher K&R p49

Training: He briefly & sporadically attended drawing class at the Academy, 1833, but decided to teach himself K&R p49

Influences: Blechen, Dahl, & also Constable whose work he saw at a Berlin exhibition in1839. He studied the work of Durer & 17^th& 18^th century Venetian, Dutch & French painters in the Berlin collections, 1836, & visited Dresden for study purposes, 1840 K&R pp 18,50, 79, 211; Novotny p280

Career: The family moved to Berlin, 1830; he takes over his dead father’s lithography business to provide for the family, 1832; went to Paris for the International Exhibition & visited Courbet’s Pavillon du Realism, 1855, made a further visit for the Universal Exhibition , 1867, & another in 1868 when his Coronation, etc, was exhibited at the Salon; became a professor at the Royal Academy of Arts, Berlin, 1856. In 1898 he was ennobled & the Emperor William II staged a spectacular state funeral for him K&R pp 49,54, 57, 61,103

Oeuvre: Oils from 1836, watercolour & gouache, wood engravings, & etchings from 1843 K&R pp 50-51. Landscapes, moonlight scenes, interiors with & without figures, theatre, opera & concert paintings, historical subjects, religious observance, artisans at work, the dead & dying, public parks, street scenes, the Franco-Prussian war, ruins, animals & portraits K&R pp 36, 50-51, & illustrations

Politics: He was as a liberal member of the middle class in sympathy with the 1848 Revolution which he commemorated in his [as in] Funeral of the Martyrs of the Berlin Revolution, 1848 (Alte National Galerie, 1848). When much later Bismark forbade artists to take part in the Universal Exhibition of 1889 in Paris he nevertheless did so K&R p138

Beliefs/Aim: History painting is the greatest type of painting & his consequent belief in the need to idealise combined with his conflicting belief that the representation of the visible is self-justificatory Novotny p280

Development/Characteristics/Innovations:

Between 1839 & 1842 he produces 400 wood engravings for Franz Kugler’s Geschichte Frierichs des Grossen/History of Frederick the Great who took a frankly affectionate view of the monarch which Menzel shared emphasised the monarch’s skills as a leader, learning & love of music, not his coldness & autocracy. He made a diligent & time-consuming study of the period whereas other painters were more or less content with a vague concept of a Zeitgeist whereas in Menzel’s work the past emerges as a living present K&R p50, Vaughan1980 p160, Novotny p278.

The year 1844 was a turning point & he enthusiastically told friends about his progress due to painting en plein air & on the spot. An early painting which reflect his belief that a subject justifies itself is his [as in] Rear Courtyard & House, 1844 which it has been suggested amounts to anti-art [because there seems no good reason why Menzel can have wanted to paint] such an unappealing non-subject. It challenges the prevailing practice of high finish & the generally accepted principle of mimesis, due to the vagueness of what is visible just beyond a nearby wall K&R pp 80, 178-80.

A year later he painted the [as in] Balcony Room (both National Galerie, Berlin). [Once seen it is a never to be forgotten.] There is an unprecedented combination of peace, tranquillity & activity with the breeze ever so gently moving the curtains]. It seizes what has been described as “the pure joy of the moment” Novotny p281. [It is also thought-provoking because of the way in which the two chairs are facing in opposite directions. To describe the picture as life-enhancing would be an understatement].

In 1846 he painted the [as in] Garden of Prince Albert’s Palace, slightly modified in 1876. Although it was a big work he described it as a “study”, using the term in its old sense of the reproduction of reality for its own sake & not concentrating on the depiction of content. It was painted on the spot from the balcony of his apartment &, like the Balcony, has the spontaneity & panache of Impressionism K&R pp 390-93

Menzel then went on to produce a dizzying array of other works including landscapes & moonlight scenes, & genre works such as interiors with & without figures; theatre, opera & concert paintings; religious observance; street scenes, & public parks, together with dead soldiers, animals, works celebrating the monarchy, & portraits, etc K&R illustrations. Works that are particularly notable & interesting include the dramatic & play of light landscape Storm over Tempelhof Berg, 1846 (Walraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne); the modern life Berlin-Potsdam Railway, 1847 (National Galerie, Berlin), K&R pp 193, 211-14; & later on Departure of King William I for the Army, 31 July 1870 (National Galerie, Berlin). This is a fine example of the crowd scenes he painted but may not be the super-patriotic work that it appears as indicated by the Red Cross flag which has been slipped in. It is significant that he had previously produced a powerful critique of war, unique in German art of the time in his [as in] his watercolour Two Dead Soldiers in a Barn, 1866 (Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin), after visiting the carnage on the battlefield of Koning Gratz where the Prussians had worsted the Austrians in the first stage of Bismark’s unification of Germany & the creation of the German Empire K&R pp 329-32, 350-54; Taylor1945

Specialities

(i): Frederick the Great, between 1839 & 1842 he produces 400 wood engravings for Franz Kugler’s Geschichte Frierichs des Grossen/History of Frederick the Great who took a frankly affectionate view of the monarch which Menzel shared. He made a diligent & time-consuming study of the period whereas other painters were more or less content with a vague concept of a Zeitgeist whereas in Menzel’s work the past emerges as a living present K&R p50, Vaughan1980 p160, Novotny p278.

After the 1848 Revolution Menzel returned to Frederick the Great in a series of oil paintings which depicted him playing music as in Frederick the Great Flute Concert in Sans Souci, 1849-52 (Alte National Galerie, Berlin), & war paintings as in the unfinished Frederick the Great Addressing his Generals before the Battle of Leuthen, 1858 (Alte National Galerie Berlin), & the destroyed Night Attack at Hochkirch, 1856 K&R pp 118, 293

(ii) The Empty Room, as shown not only in the Balcony Room, 1845, a work of 1848, but also [the as in] The Artists Room in Ritter Strasse, 1851 (The Met) K&R p250

(iii) Crowd Scenes: These contrasting works began tentatively with his Students’ Torchlight Procession, 1859 (National Galerie, Berlin), & continued decisively with [the as in] Borussia, 1868 (Berlin Museum), another work of 1868, [the as in] Weekday in Paris, 1869 (Kunstmuseum, Dusseldorf), another Parisian work, the [as in] Corpus Christi Procession at Hofgastein, 1880 (Neue Pinakothek, Munich), the Marketplace at Verona (Gemaldgalerie, Berlin); & a work of 1893, etc K&R pp, 287-8, 335-39, 341-42, 356-7, 414-5, 406-08 ,442-43

Features: For a long time, he kept his naturalistic paintings hidden; disparaged Impressionism which he dubbed ”the art of laziness” OxDicArt

Innovations: He painted the [as in] Iron Rolling Mill, 1875 (National Galerie, Berlin) the first major German factory painting with an emphasis on men, not machines & also his later [as in] Visit to the Ironworks, 1900 (Kupfertichkabinett, Berlin) K&R pp 58, 62, webimage

Grouping: Menzel was par excellence a German Naturalist & was not a Realist in the French sense because the work of Daumier & even Courbet cannot be described as naturalistic Novotny p277.

Friends: Meissonier & Max Liebermann from 1872, Brahms from 1890, & Paul Meyerheim Grove21 p140, Norman1977, Murrays 1959, K&R pp 58, 61,

Circle: At the house of his friend the factory owner Carl Arnold, who was a wallpaper manufacturer, he met the artists Schinkel, Rauch, Drake, Edouard Magnus & Eduard Meyerheim, 1833. He joined the Jungerer Berliner Kunstverein, an association of young Berlin artists, 1834; in 1850 the literary group Tunnel uber der Spree which included the art historian Franz Kugler, & well-known Berlin cultural figures, etc; & in 1852 its offshoot Rutli K&R pp 49, 52-53..

Patrons: Goupil K&R p53

Pupils: Carl Johann Arnold & Ludwig Von Hagn K&R p51, Norman1977 p104

Influenced: Degas Murrays 1959

Reception: To begin with his works depicting Frederick the Great were not a commercial success, King William IV rejected The Round Table, which depicts Frederick the Great dining, the critics rejected his Concert painting as mere historical genre, & The Coronation of King William I in Koningsburg, 1865 (Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam) was his only royal commission K&R p108. There was spectacular change after William II became King of Prussia & Emperor of Germany in 1888. Government policy towards the arts now assumed a more activist quality with Menzel being celebrated not only as a great artist but was also serving as a weapon in the nationalist armoury which was used against left-wing painters See Germany in Section 10

Repute: He gained an international reputation being made a corresponding member of RA in 1895 & gained similar recognition by the French Academie des Beaux-Arts. However, after his death he was more & more neglected abroad & even in Germany his modernity was only partially recognised K&R pp 14, 61, 138. The Nazis used his paintings for electoral posters Wikip. He is not mentioned in The Outline of Art by Sir William Orpen as revised in 1964, but is itemised in The Penguin Dictionary of Art & Artists, as revised in 1968. Nevertheless as late as 1996 it was authoritatively stated that his work was not well known outside Germany K&R p14

*MERCIER, Philip, c1689-1760, England (Germany):

Background: He was born in Berlin, the son of a Huguenot tapestry worker who went in exile to London L&L, Waterhouse1953 p188
Training: At the Berlin Academy under Pesne who moved his style in a French direction; & Watteau during the early 1720s etching after Watteau Waterhouse 1953p189
Influences: Teniers & Watteau Grove21 pp 147-8
Career: After Berlin he travelled to Italy & France; settled in London around 1716; & married in 1719.   From about 1728 to 1736 he was Painter to the Prince of Wales & produced portraits & occasional royal Conversation Pieces.   He settled in Covent Garden & painted portraits & created Fancy Pictures. By 1740 he was working in Yorkshire; & in 1751 returned to London.   In 1752 he virtually settled in Portugal Grove21 p147-8, L&L, Waterhouse1953 p190
Characteristics: His works were an agreeable compound of the formal composed in a French style & English simplicity, his wo; sometimes close to France Rococo Wakefield p41
Firsts: Around 1725 he introduced the Conversation Piece to England with his Party on a Terrace & Viscount Tyrconnel & His Family Grove21 p148.   He also created the Fancy Picture L&L
Verdict: His early work was somewhat clumsy & he was a limited painter who gave doll-like groups a Watteausque veneer Grove21 p148, Vaughan1999 p53
Legacy: A French influence on British painting, especially on Hogarth, Haymen, Morland, Gainsborough, & Reynolds with his pretty female portraits.   His work was popularised through engravings Waterhouse1953 p190, Grove21 p149

-Maria MERIAN, Maria, 1647-1717, Matthaus the Elder’s daughter, Swiss-German:

Background: She was born at Frankfurt am Main Grove21 p153

Training: Jacob Marell Grove2 p153

Career: In 1665 she married Johann Graff, the pupil of her stepfather Jacob Marell, a flower still-life painter. In 1670 the family moved to Nuremburg. She produced an illustrated book of flowers with Graff, 1675 & 1680, flowed by another on insects, 1713 etc. In 1685, after separating, she moved with her mother & daughters to Waltham in West Friesland where she joined a Protestant community, the Labadists. She moved to Amsterdam in 1690 & achieved success as a printer. During 1699-1701 she vested Surinam returning with paintings on parchment, specimens, etc. In 1705 her pioneering book on Surinamese insects Metamorphosis insectarium Surinamensium was published Grove21 pp 153-4

Oeuvre: Paintings of flowers & animals, & illustrations of flowers, fruit & especially grubs, flies, gnats & spiders. Besides watercolour she also used gouache & oils Grove21 p153, L&L

Characteristics: Her flower watercolours on parchment bring out the natural & fresh qualities of her subjects, & her work is poetic yet exact Grove21 p154

Verdict: Her illustrations of flora & fauna show her mastery of painting & engraving Grove21 p154

Innovations: She was a founder of entomology Grove21 p154

Collections: The best is in St Petersburg

MARIANI, Carlo, 1931-1921, Italy:

Background: Born Rome webBrooklynRail
Training: Academy of Fine Arts, Rome, during the 1950s webBrooklynRail
Influences: Titian, Tintoretto, Rubens & Modliani; & later on Neoclassical painting including Mengs & Kauffmann. Destruction during the war in Rome etc affected him webBrooklynRail
Career: After graduation he lived for two years in Denmark & during the 1960s supported himself as a mosaicist but returned to painting in the early 1970s. In 1990 he married an American & the couple gradually relocated in New York City & then Bridgehampton webBrooklyRail, OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Paintings referring to the history of Rome which look back to the classical tradition OxDicMod
Characteristics: In the 1970s he adopted a refined figuration with Pop Art elements in a hyperrealist style webBrooklyRail
Reception, etc: During the debate about Postmodernism his work received attention about the role of revivalism. His work was seen as reactionary & anachronistic, taking no account the revolutionary tenets of modernism. Mariani said he was trying to elevate the radical nature of art & the multifarious possibilities provided by art-historical research OxDicMod, webBrooklyRail
Grouping: He was associated with Pittura Colta & was a forerunner of Postmodernism OxDicMod, webBrooklynRail

-Matthaus MERIAN the Elder, 1593-1650, father of the Younger & Maria, Swiss-German:

Background: Born Basle Grove21 p151

Training: Glass engraving in Basle, etching under Dietrich Meyer I in Zurich, 1609-10

Career: From 1611 he travelled extensively including Strasbourg, Nancy & Paris where he made engravings of the court life of Maria de Medici & Louis XIII, etc. He became an engraver in Oppenheim at the publishing house of Johann Theodor de Bry, married his daughter in 1617, & during 1619-23 travelled around Basel & in southern Germany making drawings which he later transformed into prints. After the death of his father-in-law, he moved to Frankfurt from 1626 ran the great publishing house alone, rapidly building it up to become one of the most important in Europe. Until around 1645 he etched most of the plates himself or had them done in his own style. His greatest work was the Theatre Europium which was contemporary history Grove21 pp 151-2, L&L

Oeuvre: Engravings of all types including hunting scenes, topographical views, city plans, landscapes, & copies of work by others Grove31 pp151-2, L&L

-Matthaus MERIAN the Younger, 1621-87, the Elder’s son, Swiss-German:

Background: Born Basle Grove21 p152

Training: Etching with his father & & painting with Joseph von Sandrart, 1635 Grove21 p152

Influences: Simon Vouet & Jusepe de Ribera Grove21 p152

Career: In 1637 he accompanied Sandrart to Amsterdam, then worked under Van Dyck in England, & in 1641 he went Paris & Frankfurt. From 1643-5 he lived Venice, Rome & Naples, during 1648-50 he was mainly in the service of the Swedish field-marshal Carl Wrangel painting portraits, & after his father’s death in 1650 took over the management of the Merian publishing house in Frankfurt.

Oeuvre: Religious works, history paintings & portraits in oil & pastel, also engravings Grove21 pp 152-3, L&L

Characteristics: He had a liberal, eclectic style & his work was sometimes rather hastily executed Grove21 p153

Verdict: He was described as the best artist in Germany Grove21 p153

Patronage: He received commissions from Emperor Leopold I, the Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, the Margrave of Baden-Baden & Baden-Durlach, & the Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg Grove21 p153

..MERSON, Luc, 1846-1920, France; Academic

Background: Born Paris . His father, Charles-Olivier, 1822-1902, was a painter & art critic Grove21 p166, Norman1977

Training: At the Ecole de Dessin under Gustave -Adolphe Chassevent, & the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Isidor-Alexandre-Augustin Pils Grove21 p166, Norman1977

Influences: The Italian Primitives Grove21 p166

Career: He first exhibited at the Salon 1867, & won the Rome prize in 1869; spent five years in Italy; decorated a gallery in the Palais de Justice, Paris; became a member of the Institute, 1892; & a professor, & then director, at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, 1894 & 1906; but resigned protesting against modernism Norman197, Grove21 pp166-67

Oeuvre: Historical subjects & classical mythology, nudes positioned in the countryside, murals; tapestry & stained-glass window design; & book & magazine illustration Grove21 p166, Norman1977, webimages

Characteristics/Verdict/Beliefs: His paintings are clearly delineated & employ varying lights & colouring. This includes dullish brown, striking purple & bright mosaic patterning. A striking feature of his works is their range & contradictory content. This is strikingly shown by his [as in] Mademoiselle de Clermont et le comte de Melun au press a Chantilly, 1895. This is at first glance a naturalistic scene of a costume nature until one notices the supernatural figures up in the clouds. Elsewhere the contradiction & contrast is not internal but between realism in a particular work, as in his erotic, naturalistic female nude in Springtime Awakening, 1894, & his St Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Fish, 1880 (Musee des Beaux-Arts, Nantes). [Merson turns out to be a fascinating artist, not a dull academic painter whose work was of a contradictory nature. He declared that “Religious painting constitutes the highest level of painting of the ideal . It embodies the most sublime propensities, the most perfect types of beauty… Some of the most able of today’s painters, who no longer receive their inspiration from on high, are content with an exact imitation of nature”. Yet he was prepared to paint beautiful erotic nudes in the countryside despite having a successful career, & not it appears being short of money webimages, Grove21 p166,Celebonovic pp54-5

Feature: He was the official designer France banknotes for 30 years Norman1977
Status: He was one of the last feted 19^th century muralists Norman1977
Grouping: His work was Academic Norman1977, Celebonovic pp 53-55

..MERTENS, Hans,

Background: Born in Hanover Hayward1979 p128
Training: 1925-26 at the School of Arts & Crafts, Hanover Hayward1979 p128
Influences: Constructivism Hayward1929 p15
Career: He worked as a restorer in the Ptovinzialmuseum, Hanover, & from about 1930 did occasional & freelance graphic work as a commercial artist. He was killed in action at Albi Hayward1979 p128.
Circle: Kurt Schwitters Hayward1979 p128

-MERYON, Charles, 1821-68, France:

Background: He was born in Paris, the illegitimate son of English doctor and a French ballerina Norman1977
Training: Under the engraver Eugene Blery Norman1977
Influences: His early exotic travels and De Loutherbourg & Salvator Rosa Norman1977
Career: In 1847 he left the navy for painting but he was colour blind & turned to graphic work. He spent year in an asylum, in 1858 & died there Norman1977
Oeuvre : His masterful Parisian views Norman1977
Status: He was one of greatest etchers and engravers of the mid-19^th century Norman1977
Grouping: The French Romantic movement Norman1977

-MESDAG, Hendrik, 1831-1915; Alma Tadema’s cousin; Netherlands:

Background: He was born at Groningen into an old Mennonite family DSD p257
Training: Drawing & painting lessons in his spare time from C. B. Buys & J. W. Egenberger; & later in Brussels Willem Roelofs DSD p257
Career: In 1866 encouraged by his wife & having inherited money he abandoned the family profession of banking & became a painter. In 1866 he moved to Brussels & around 1866 to the German island of Nordeney where he became fascinated by the sea; then to The Hague from which he went to Scheveningen to paint, & in 1870 to Laan van Meerdervoort, the year he established his reputation as a marine artist. In 1881 helped by others began work a huge panoramic view DSD p247, OxDicArt
Oeuvre/Status : His speciality was sea & beach scenes in all weathers & seasons, & in varying lights. Many of the works have big skies & some are enhanced by fishermen & their activity as in The Return of the Lifeboat, 1876 (Museum Boymans -van-Beuningen, Rotterdam) DSD pp254-5, webimages
Status: He soon established an international reputation as a marine painter DSD p257
Grouping: The Hague School DSD p257
Collection: Mesdag Museum

..METCALF, Willard, 1858-1925, USA:

Background: Born Lowell, Massachusetts NGArtinParis p248

Training: At the Massachusetts Normal School of Art, Boston. He was apprenticed to a wood engraver; studied with landscapist George Loring Brown; classes at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1877-8; enrolled at the Academie Julian under Gustave Boulanger & Jules-Joseph Lefebre, 1883 NGArtinParis p248

Career: Went to Paut-Aven, 1884; & Grez-sur-Loing, 1884-6; Giverny,1885-8, & Tunis in 1887. He returned to Massachusetts in 1888; settled in New York in 1890; taught at the Art Students League & the Cooper Union; worked as an illustrator for Harper’s Weekly, Century, & Scribner’s Magazine; helped found Ten American Painters, 1897; spent the summers painting in New England & belonged to the Old Lume art colony NGArtinParis p248, Gerdts1984 p79

Oeuvre: Landscapes Gerdts1984 p79

Phases: He began as a figure cum genre painter but after communing with nature on the Damariscotta River in Maine shifted to an uncomplicated & joyous Impressionist interpretation of New England landscape Gerdts 1980 pp 40-1, & 1984 p79

Characteristics: Impressionist colour & brushwork, albeit with paint used thinly & smoothly, combined with sure draftsman ship & carefully delineated space Gerdts1984 p79, I&C p453

Feature: He illustrated article on the Zuni Indians for the Century, 1882-3 Gerdts1980 p79

Grouping: American Impressionism of the academic variety Gerdts 1980 p79

-Gabriel METSU, 1629-67, Jacques’ son, Netherlands:

Background: He was born at Leiden, the son of the painter Jacques, c1588-1629 Grove 21 p350
Training: Dou? (works very different) OxDicArt
Influences: Ter Borch/Dou/Maes/Vermeer Haak p489
Career: earliest known works, 1645 Haak p432; 1648 helped form painters’ Leiden guild L&L; 1654-57 in Leiden; 1657 settle Amsterdam& began most fruitful decade Haak pp 487-8
Oeuvre: Early broadly/fluidly painted historical/mythological scenes; strong movement in composition/pose; in Leiden almost exclusively domestic figure scenes which where complicated tend to over-cluttering; use of a finer brush L&L, Haak pp 432, 489; still-life; but especially genre of gentelle middle-class life OxDicArt
Innovations: Small-sized family picture Antal1962 p34
Verdict: Some of finest genre of period OxDicA

Metsys, Quinten. See Massys

-METSYS, Quentin the Younger, c1543-89, Quinten Massys’ son, Belgium:

*METZGGER, Gustav, 1926-, England/Germany:

-METZINGER, Jean, 1883-1957:

Background; He was born at Nantes into a military family Grove21 p363.

Training: At the Academie des Beaux-Arts, Nantes OxDicMod

Career: He moved to Paris after three paintings sold well at the Salon des Independents, 1903. He exhibited there in 1910 with Gleizes, Delaunay, Le Falconine & Leger, & again in 1911 when they had a separate room in the first organised Cubist show. During 1911 he was also a founder of Section d’Or & produced an article in which he was the first to argue that Cubists combined different views of the subject in a single painting to heighten the likeness. In 1912 Du Cubism, written with Albert Gleizes, appeared & he began teaching at the Academie de la Palette, Montparnasse OxDicMod, L&L, Grove21 p363.

Oeuvre: Still-life, landscapes & figure compositions OxDicMod

Phases: After phases of Neo-Impressionist & Fauvism, he became a Cubist. From 1912 he painted some works that dwelt with the exoticism of modern Parisian life but during 1914-9 produced sombre & haunting works in colours dominated by green & black or brown & blue. His later work was firmly representational beginning with port views & from 1925 his colour became much brighter. During the 1930s his work had a Surrealist tendency but he partially returned to his earlier manner from about 1940 OxDicMod, L&L, Grove 21 p364

Verdict/Repute: He is at best regarded as a not particularly distinguished painter & at worst as a painter of little imagination & no originality who did not properly comprehend Picasso’s methods. Although his work had Cubist features he did not want to recreate reality in its totality & merely produced a pleasing design as in Dinner in a Cafe, 1912, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo OxDicMod, Cooper pp 76-8

Friends: Robert Delaunay Grove21 p363

Grouping: Salon Cubism & he has been classified with Neue Sachlichkeit OxDicMod,Hayward1979 p10

Pupils: Popova Grove21 p364

Meulen. See Van der Meulen

*MEUNIER, Constantin, 1831-1905, Belgium; Rural Naturalism Movement

Background: He was born at Etterbeck a working class area in Brussels into a poor family & when hie was four his father committed suicide. He grew up in the shadow of his elder brother Jean Baptiste who was a genre painter & engraver Norman1977

Training: At the Brussels Academy studying sculpture & then painting with Navez L&L, Norman1977

Influences: De Groux with whom he later collaborated; Millet’s paintings of anonymous workers Norman 1977, L&L

Career: In 1851 he saw Courbet’ Stone Breakers which made him doubt social & artistic impact of sculpture & he turned to painting. Around 1880 he discovered the Borinage, Belgium’s Black Country, & was struck by its tragic & wild beauty in 1881 he had a more extensive trip with his colleague Xavier Mallery & made numerous studies. In 1882 he undertook a commission in Spain & on his return became a professor at the Louvain Academy of Fine Arts. He sent work to the Vienna Secession, 1898 Wikip, Weisberg1990 pp228-9, L&L

Oeuvre/Phases/Characteristics : During 1857-69 he only painted religious subjects, after being powerfully affected by a visit to a Trappist monastery. From 1870 he produced historical works, genre, intimate scenes of family life & portraits. Then from the early 1880s, having discovered the Black Country, he specialised in monumental paintings, & slightly later sculpture, depicting working class life, & the industrial landscape which is pictured as desolate & dark, filled with belching smokestacks & slagheaps as in Pays noir, Borinage (Musee Constantin Munier, Brussels). His work celebrates the pain & dignity of working-class life, particularly that of miners in the Borinage Norman1977, Wikip, Weisberg 1992 pp 226-7. However, it extended to many areas of proletarian life including dock workers, factories, & steel works. He featured female coal hauliers as in Les Troishercheuses/Three Female Hauliers, c1883 (Private) & mining disasters as in L’Hecatambe which depicts a fire-damp disaster. Butgnot all his is gloomy as shown by his genre painting Cabaret en Borinage /Tavern in the Borinage (Musee des Beaux-Arts, Tournai) Norman1977, Wikip, Weisberg 1992 pp 226-30, L&L

Aim: To reveal & portray the secrets of the coal mines, factories & glass works Weisberg1992 p227

Status: [He was the greatest painter of industrial scenes during the Victorian era]

Grouping: Naturalism Weisberg1992 pp 226-30

Reception: Meunir only came to fame around 1885, & was admired by progressives at home & abroad Norman1977, L&L

Collections: Musee Constantin Meunier, Brussels

..MEYERHEIM, Fredrich, 1808-79, Germany:

Background: Born in Danzig; his father and first teacher was Karl Friedrich. Meyerheim’s brothers were also artists Norman1977
Oeuvre: A genre painter, mostly of peasant scenes Norman1977
Characteristics: His small-scale paintings depict happy scenes of everyday life, often including children. They are painted with careful Realism and detailed finish Norman1977

..MICHALLON, Archille, 1796-1822, France:

Background: Born in Paris the son of a sculptor Norman1977
Training: Under Bertin, Valenciennes & David for four or five years from 1808 Norman1977, Grove21 p424
Career: In 1812 he first exhibited in the Salon & in 1817 was the first to be awarded the Prix de Rome for landscape, a new category introduced by Valciennes. He travelled through southern Italy & Sicily, 1819 & 20; & returned to France, 1821 Grove21 p425, Bouret p64
Beliefs: “Look closely & be truthful in rendering nature” Hours p16
Oeuvre/Characteristics: Oils & sepia wash drawings. His paintings are striking & boldly composed. He was skilled at the realistic rendering of atmospheric & other natural & man-made phenomena. His works range from tranquil poetic works to dramatic scenery featuring ruins, waterfalls, mountainous landscape, volcanic eruptions, passing storms. He also produced notable studies of trees Norman1977, Grove21 p425, webimages, See Section 3 The Tree Portrait
Innovation: He foreshadowed the new approach to landscape painting that flourished form the 1830s Grove21 p425
Pupils: Corot, his friend Norman1977

-MICHALOWSKI, Piotr, 1800-55, Poland:

Background: Born Cracow into a noble family Norman1977, Grove21 p425
Training: Drawing lessons with Brodsky & Frans Lampi,1821-33; he also studied at Gottingen & later in Paris with Charlet & Raffet Norman1977
Influences: Goya, Velazquez & the Spanish school, Daumier, Courbet & especially Gericault Norman1977
Career: After the failure of the 1831 Polish uprising for which he manufactured arms he went to Paris, 1831-5.   He then returned to Poland but visited Paris frequently Norman1977. He was mainly active in Cracow L&L
Oeuvre: Mainly watercolours & oil sketches Norman1977
Phases: His early work was dominated by horses & Napoleonic battle scenes.   He then painted peasants & portraits, especially of Jews Norman1977
Characteristics: As an amateur he did not aim at finish.   His dark toned work has a solid, primitive strength Norman1977
Status: He was Poland’s leading romantic artist L&L
Repute: He was little regarded during his lifetime & his high reputation did not come until the 20^th century Norman1977
Collections: National Museum, Cracow

-MICHAUX, Henri, 1899-1980, Belgium-France:

Background: Born in Namur Brigstocke
Influences: The death of his wife, 1948 OxDicMod
Career: He produced his first paintings in 1926, lived an adventurous life, took up art seriously in the late 1930s, & settled in France, 1940
Oeuvre/Characteristics/Phases: Works using gouache, then Indian ink & later ink & crayons. They are regarded as visionary & richly imaginative. Having experimented with automatism, & in the 1950s began to after taking a hallucinogenic drug L&L, OxDicMod
Verdict: [Much of his work appears to be of a standard abstract all-over pattern variety] webimages
Beliefs: Deeply religious OxDicMod
Grouping: His work was seen as extending Art Informal L&L

-MICHEL, Georges, 1763-1843, France; Romantic Naturalism/Sublime

Background/Feature: He was born in Paris & his father was quite poor Grove21 p429
Influences: Dutch 17^th century landscape; Romanticism L&L
Training: After apprenticeship to a mediocre history painter he studied with Vige-Lebrun’s husband in 1790 Grove21 p429, Champa1991 p180
Career: When young he fell in love with the countryside. Sometime after 1776 he returned to Paris; worked for the brother of Louis XVI who took him to Germany; made copies of Dutch paintings; became friends with the painter Lazare Braundet, painted with him in the Bois de Boulogne, & adopted his dissolute lifestyle; first exhibited at the Salon, 1791; & opened a shop in Paris selling furniture & paintings. Discouraged by numerous refusals he did not exhibit at the Salon after 1814 & never achieved success in his lifetime. After 1820 he began to live a reclusive life & was dependent on the patronage of a single patron with whom he fell out in 1830 Grove21 pp 429-30.
Innovations: He sketched outside from an early age L&L, Grove21 p428
Oeuvre: Landscapes L&L
Characteristics/Phases: From 1808 his Dutch inspired painting was of a more personal & distinctive type in which light & the treatment of the sky were his main concern as in the Plain of Saint-Denis (Carnavalet, Paris). After 1830 when his work was at a high point his style became even more lyrical & poetic using broader brushstrokes & thicker paint as in the stormy Landscape outside Paris (Musee des Beaux-Arts, Lille) with its dwarfed figures under a menacing sky. Man confronted by the immensity of Nature was a feature of Romantic painting Grove21 p429, L&L
Influenced: The Barbizon School, significantly L&L, Grove21 p429

****MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI, 1475-1564, Italy, High Renaissance & proto-Baroque

Background/Preface: He was born at Caprese near Sansepolcro where his father occupied an official position & a minor Florentine noble Brigstocke. This item is restricted to Michelangelo’s activity as a painter.

Training: Apprenticeship to Domenico Ghirlandaio where he would have learned basic frescoing, though he appears to have soon transferred to a school run by Bertoldo Giovanni Brigstocke

Influences: The frescoes of Giotto & Masaccio of which he made early figure drawings Brigstocke

Career: He left Florence for Bologna, 1494; was in Rome, 1496, where he sculpted; returned to Florence, 1501; & painted his only certain, surviving panel painting the [as in] Doni tondo (Uffizi) of the Holy Family featuring high-key colours, clear but complex design, with yet to be explained nude male figures in the background Brigstocke, Grove21 p442, BuckH p39. He received an official commission around 1604 to paint a huge but never completed battle scene of which there is a copy of part of a preliminary [as in] cartoon known as the Bathers (Holkham Hall, Norfolk). His two outstanding paintings were the frescoed ceiling & upper walls of the Sistine Chapel, 1508-12, & the Last Judgement on the altar wall, 1536-41. Finally, & very slowly he produced the frescoes in the Vatican’s Pauline Chapel, 1542-50 Brigstocke, Grove pp 447, HallM1999 p176

Oeuvre: Painting in fresco & oils, drawings, sculpture, architecture & poetry Grove21 p431, etc

Characteristics/Phases: The outstanding characteristic of his work is its grandeur & awe-inspiring nature or what is termed its terribilita meaning a terrifying intensity, a word which was often applied to his work. An obvious example is the [as in] the Creation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The resurrected elect located in the higher zone of The Last Judgement, which would have been painted first, have God-given Grace, as shown by their beauty & energy, but those in the lower part who are in hell, or resurrecting but not yet in their new spiritual bodies, are awkward & ungraceful. So also, are the figures in the Crucifixion of Peter in the Pauline Chapel reflecting Michelangelo’s new view of humanity as depraved & dependent on divine Grace Grove21 p431, HallM1999 p178. However, according to Hazlitt, his forms & faces are full of gusto, energy & will but they lack a proportionate sensibility Hazlitt p611

Beliefs & Attitudes: He was a close follower & supporter of the Catholic Humanist party, led by Vittoria Colonna, Pole & Sadoleto. This aimed at reform & at compromise with the Protestants Blunt1940 p65. Flemish painting has an external exactness of clothing, masonry, shadows & landscape. It appeals to women & the devout, but it lacks reason, symmetry, substance & vigour; although there is worse painting elsewhere Nash p35. He was hostile to landscape regarding it as mindless Clark1949 p5

Innovations: The indication of bodily activity by the depiction of muscles, joints & limbs, endowing them which with a life of their own which is super-real Wolfflin1899 p263.

Friendships: With Vittoria Colona & Del Piombo until Michelangelo quarrelled with him L&L, HallM1990 p132

Legacy: This was the belief that the crucial feature of high art was the representation of human figure in action together with a far-reaching elevation of the status of the visual arts. However, he also gave rise to an artistic crisis because of the belief that, due to Raphael & his own work, perfection had now been achieved. Moreover, through his example Florentine disegno became virtually synonymous with the representation of the nude, especially the male nude, & compositions which depict the complex manner in which active figures may relate to each other in space. This is evident in particular in his [as in] Conversion of Paul, 1542-5, & the Crucifixion of St Peter, 1546-50, in the Vatican Pauline Chapel. The former depicts movement of an explosive type with a frightened horse rocketing off & Saul & surrounding figures fleeing, while in the Crucifixion the movement is circulatory, slow & heavy L&L, Brigstocke, Murray1967 pp 14-15

Reception: His Pauline Chapel works were not received well which is unsurprising as Mannerism & much of his own work had promoted religious painting that was graceful, elegant & sensuous. These forceful works with their unattractive figures were almost the opposite extreme, only Christ & the angels in the Conversion having aesthetic appeal HallM1999 pp 179-80, Shearman p53. Moreover, the Last Judgement quickly came under attack with many finding the nude figures unseemly. Parts were destroyed & there was some overpainting Grove21 p446 .

Anticipations: Because of Michaelangelo’s focus on action of a dramatic nature his work foreshadowed the paintings of Rubens & Baroque painting. Rubens had a deep admiration for Michaelangelo by whom he was strongly influenced. This is shown in particular by his Fall of the Damned & Last Judgement Edwards p156, NGRubens pp 66-67

Collections: The NG & in particular Virgin & Child with Saint John & Angels/The Manchester Madonna, c1494

..MIDDLEDITCH, Edward, 1923-1987, England:

Background: He was born in Chelmsford OxDicMod
Training: After war service at the Regent Street Polytechnic, 1948, & the Royal College of Art, 1948-52 OxDicMod
Career: He taught at the Norwich of Fine Art, 1964-84. He was elected to the RA in 1973 & from 1984 was keeper of the RA Schools OxDicMod, Wikip.
Oeuvre/Phases: Paintings & prints, especially Landscapes & flower paintings. In the 1960s increasingly abstract work without complete abandon of subject-matter Wikip, OxDicMod
Characteristics: His earliest work are tranquil paintings in muted colours featuring dullish grey & red, grey-green, & yellow-brown, sometimes strikingly composed but without striking highlights. His later works are more colourful ArtUK
Grouping: The Kitchen Sink School of which with Derrick Greaves & John Smith he was a leading representative OxDicMod

-MIEL, Jan, 1599-1663, Italy (Belgium); Northern Realism Movement

Background: He was born at Beveren-Waes, near Antwerp Grove21 p482
Influences: Van Laer & latterly Raphael & the Carracci L&L, Grove21 p483
Career: He arrived in Rome in the early 1630s & soon joined the Schildersben, being known as Bieco, meaning threatening look, & he was the first northern Italianate artist to enter the Accademia di S Luca. In 1658 he moved to Turin & worked for Charles-Emanuel II, Duke of Savoy Grove21 pp 482-
Oeuvre/Phases/Innovation: During the 1640s & 50s he helped extend bambocciante painting into genre but his most original contribution was carnival scenes including actors from the commedia dell’ Arte as in Carnival in the Piazza Colonna, 1645 (Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut). Around 1650 he began concentrating on large religious paintings for Roman churches & small religious canvases for private buyer. In the north he also painted hunting scenes & mythological subjects Grove21 p483.
Grouping: The Bambocciante Grove21 p482

Mieris. See Van Mieris

Mierveld/Miervelt. See van Mierveld/Miervelt

*MIGNARD, Pierre, 1612-95, France; Baroque Classical

Background: He was born at Troyes Grove 21 p496
Training: Vouet L&L
Influences: Annibale Carracci, Domenchino & Poussin L&L
Career: Between 1636 & 1657 he lived in Rome but visited Venice etc during 1654-5. He was summoned back to France by Louis XIV & achieved success in house & church decoration but mainly as a portraitist. He sided with de Piles in the Quarrel of Colour Versus Drawing. In 1690 he succeeded Lebrun as First Painter to the King & Director of the Academy L&L, OxDicArt
Speciality: The Portrait history to which he gave renewed life L&L
Grouping: Academic Classicism OxDicArt
Brother: Nicolas, 1606-68, who successfully painted portraits, & religious & decorative works, first in Avignon & then in Paris Grove21 p496

-MIGNON, Abraham, 1640-79, Netherlands (Germany)=Utrecht:

Background: Born Frankfurt where his parents were religious refugees & owned a shop. He was baptised in the Calvinist Church L&L, Wikip
Training: With the flower painter Jacob Marrel & Jan Davidsz de Heem L&L, Haak pp 403-04
Career: He moved to Utrecht in 1659, where he mainly worked, through with periods in Germany; & he was a deacon of the Walloon church. L&L, Haak pp 403-04
Influences: Willen Van Aelst & Otto Marseus An Schrieck for his game & insect works Wikip
Oeuvre: Flower paintings, but also gloomy forest floor & cave interiors L&L
Characteristics/Speciality: Flower &/or fruit still life paintings with bright areas & dark contrasting backgrounds together with a few works just containing dead birds or live animals as in respectively A Vase of Flowers with Two Carnations (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) Still Life with Dead Poultry (Stadelmuseum, Frankfurt am Main), & Flowers, Animals & Insects (Musee Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels). He also produced a few sumptuous pronkstilleven still-lifes webimages, Haak p404, Wikip
Feature: His works often contain religious symbolism & are of a Vanitas type. This is most evident where there is a wilting flower, but may be disguised as in Still life with Fruits, Foliage & Insects, 1669 (Minneapolis Institute of Art) where the seemingly attractive fruit has started to rot & oak shows signs of blight Wikip, MIA re painting.
Verdict: He was especially adept at combining flowers, plants with small animals & insects, & had amazing technical skill, although some of his works seem overladen Haak p404
Reception/Repute: His works were sought after by 17^th & 18^th collectors form the highest ranks of society throughout Europe, & also by the Nazis Wikip
Pupils: Marian Sibylla Merian who was Marrel’s stepdaughter & became a distinguished flower painter; & Ernst Stuven Wikip

Mijtens. See Mytens

Milano or Giovanni da Milano. See Da Milano

– MILANO, Giovanni da, recorded 1346-69, Italy=Florence:

*MILLAIS, Sir John Everett, 1829-96, GB, Academic Painting from 1845; Pre-Raphaelite

Background: He was born in Southampton. His father had independent means & came from an old Jersey family & his mother’s family were prosperous Southampton saddlers Grove21 p601

Training: After being briefly at Henry Sass’ school, he went to the RA Schools at 11, being the youngest ever student Grove21 p601, OxDicArt

Influences: Rembrandt, Velazquez & Hals for his portraits R&S p208

Career: He first exhibited at the RA in 1846. During 1848 he Hunt & Rossetti founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He spent the summer of 1853 in Scotland with Ruskin where he & Ruskin’s unconsummated wife fell in love. In 1855 they married they married provoking scandal. Millais became an RA in 1863, a baronet 1885, & President of the RA in 1896 Grove21 pp 602-604, etc.

Oeuvre: History & religious paintings, landscapes, genre, fancy pictures, portraits & book illustration, especially for Trollope’s novels, & mainly between 1857 & 1864 Grove21 pp 602-3

Technique/Innovation: The precision required by the Pre-Raphaelite technique apparently caused Millais little difficulty. He painted his Pre-Raphaelite works with small brushes & by glazing thin coats of barely mixed translucent colour over a white ground produced high luminosity as in Ophelia 1851-52 (Tate Gallery). Here he used new materials: cobalt blue, chromium oxide & zinc yellow Grove21 p603, Ball p167

Phases: Between 1849 & the early 1860s he painted religious & historical subjects which have a strong narrative content. They included from the early 1850s a series of paintings in which women try to protect or comfort the men they love. These contrast with the drooping & drowning women that were a feature of Victorian painting from around 1850, but include his own [as in] Ophelia, 1852 (The Tate, London). During the mid-1850s he produced genre works which feature mood & aesthetic effect as in Autumn Leaves, 1855 (Manchester Art Gallery). These works were not popular & in the 1860s he began & continued to paint sweet, simple pictures of pretty children using his children & then grandchildren as models. In 1868 he started painting attractive young women in 18^th century dress. From about 1870 he built up an impressive portrait practice. He painted the great & the good who are portrayed as lofty & distinguished, together with society ladies & their children in a style that recalls Reynolds & Gainsborough. Millais, who usually spent his holidays in Scotland, began during 1870 to paint autumn & winter landscapes which are dour but evocative Grove21 pp 602-3, R&S pp 72, 76-7, 94-7, 108-9, 192-214, Treurerz1993 p162, Dijkstra pp 42-3, etc.

Characteristics: Between 1849 & the mid-1850s he painted in a strict Pre-Raphaelite manner. They are hard-edged, minutely detailed & the colouring is intense & high key. The genre-cum-aesthetic paintings of the mid-1850s are transitional because although they are largely Pre-Raphaelite, they contain areas of broader & more allusive brushwork or, if only because they are twilight scenes, there is a slight blurring of detail Barringer p140, Grove21 p140. However, it is impossible to draw precise boundaries because after some paintings had ceased to sell, he made a temporary return to Pre-Raphaelite painting R&S p112. By the early 1860s there had been a complete break as shown by The Eve of St Agnes, 1862-3 R&S pp142-3. He went on to developed a painterly technique using fluid, gestural brushwork often with a thick application of rich & striking colour R&S pp 150, 155, 158, 204 Grove21 p603. His portraits range widely from stately grandeur, as in his portraits of Gladstone & Disraeli, to ease & informality, as in Kate Perugini & Hearts Are Trumps, 1872 (Tate, London). A feature of his portraits is the impact & feeling of immediacy that he managed to create. One way in which he achieved this was to use dark & featureless backgrounds from which the sitters stare out R&S pp 191, 194-9, 204-151.

Speciality: Pictures featuring children as in Bubbles, 1886 (Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight), which was used to advertise Pears’ soap. An important aspect of the paintings showing children was the way in which many of them not only depicted episodes from British history as in Princes in the Tower, 1878 (Royal Holloway, Egham, Surrey), but also as in the Boyhood of Raleigh, 1869-70 (Tate, London), celebrate the British past. Here an old salt is telling young boys about distant lands, The work was inspired by an essay by the patriotic historian James Anthony Froude which described the lives of Elizabethan seafarers Grove21 p603, Wikip the Boyhood of Raleigh

Feature: [His versatility & ability, like Raphael, to transform himself.] Personal: He was easy going & popular. “I can honestly say I have never consciously placed an idle touch on canvas” OxDicArt.

Innovation: Together with Watts he was responsible for painting portraits of a national pantheon nature including Thomas Carlyle,1877, & his [as in] speaking likeness [as in] William Ewart Gladstone, 1885 (Christ Church, Oxford) with his eagle eye fixed on the viewer & demanding to know what he or she has done for their country Farr p63, Grove21 p603; The Picture.

Gossip: Louise Jopling was first introduced to Millais at an RA exhibition in 1871. When her companion remarked that it was a good show of Old Masters, Millais with a humorous glance walked off saying. “Old masters be bothered. I prefer looking at the young mistresses!” R&S p118

Friends: Holman Hunt, who was a fellow student at the RA Schools Grove21 p602

Patrons: Initially those with whom he was on close terms like his High Church friend Thomas Combe, then when better known important London art dealers: Gambart in the 1850s & Agnew’s from the 1860s. He later exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery Grove 21 pp 603-4

Reception: His [as in] Christ in the House of his Parents, 1850 (The Tate, London) featuring an ungainly Virgin & Joseph with dirty fingernails was attacked as blasphemous, & was savagely attacked by Dickens, but Ruskin came to his defence Brigstocke, Murrays, 1959

Status: He became the most celebrated artist of his time, lived in an imposing London mansion from 1878, & by 1865 is reported to have been earning £30,000 a year Grove21 p 604

Influence: His election as an ARA, which was hardly consistent with the ideals of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, hastened its break-up WestS1996 p631

Repute: His work came under scathing attack during the period when Victorian art was a subject for derision. His painting was described by eminent critics as lacking in taste & pictorial intelligence, philistine, commonplace, conceited & sentimental. Such criticism persists with the Oxford Companion to Western Art describing his [as in] The Boyhood of Raleigh,1870 (The Tate, London) as “vapid sentimentality” OxCompArt, Benoist et al p222, Brigstocke p479

Alfred MILLER, 1810-74, USA; National Romanticism:

Background: He was born at Baltimore Grove21 p605
Training: With Thomas Sully in Philadelphia, 1831-2, & at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts Grove21 p605
Career: After visiting Rome he returned to Baltimore & opened a portrait studio in 1834. In 1837 he was engaged by Captain William Drummond to accompany his expedition to the Rockies. Afterwards he resumed portrait painting in New Orleans & then Baltimore &, although he did not ravel west again, continued to use his raw material for further paintings of the area Grove21 p605, Groseclose p154.
Oeuvre: 200 watercolour sketches of Native Americans, & also depictions of the Far West fur trappers at their annual trading gatherings Grove21 p605
Characteristics/Verdict: His Rocky Mountain paintings are among the most romantic ever created: panoramic & dramatic or charming & intimate scenes, painted in a free, vigourous style Grove21 p605
Innovation: [Paintings of America beyond the Great Plains]
Collections: Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore

..MILLER. Kenneth Hayes11, 966, 1876-1952, USA:

Background: Born Oneida, New York OxDicMod
Training: At the Art Students League & the New York School of Art OxDicMod
Influences: Initially his friend Ryder but later Renaissance figure compositions OxDicMod
Career: He made a trip to Europe before teaching at the New York School of Art. Miller taught there intermittently until 1952. In 1923 he began working in a studio in 14^th Street in the heart of the shopping district OxDicMod. Here he became the focus of the Fourteenth Street School towards the end of the twenties Brown1955 p182.
Speciality: Women shopping OxDicMod
Phases: His early work was in a romantic vein but from about 1920 it became more solid & intellectual. He now painted scenes of everyday New York life OxDicMod
Characteristics: His figures never come to life but remain dummies Brown1955 p183
Status: He was the most influential teacher since Henri Brown1955 p182
Pupils: Bellows, Isabel Bishop, Hopper, Marsh & Tooker OxDicMod
Repute: He was virtually forgotten after his death but there was a great revival of interest in the 1970s OxDicMod

**Jean-Francois, MILLET, 1814-75, France:

Background: Born in Gruchy, a small peasant village, in Normandy, the son of a farmer. He was brought up by his devoted but puritan grandmother Bouret p152

Training: Under Langois de Chevreville, a pupil of David. Then in Paris he studied under Delaroche but left to attend Suisse’s drawing academy Bouret pp152, 154

Influences: Early on he acquired a great store of literary knowledge including Homer, Shakespeare, Goethe, Byron & Hugo. However, he was contemptuous of contemporary writers. He was inspired by the Masters like Correggio, Michelangelo & Poussin. From the latter he derived a sort of instinctive classicism Bouret pp 152, 156, 179, 184-5.

Career: He began by working on the land L&L. In 1837 he went to Paris & in 1840 a portrait was hung in the Salon. He endured long years of struggle with only brief respite Bouret pp152, 154, 187. In 1849 Millet & his family, who had been living in Paris since 1845, moved to Barbizon where they settled Bouret pp 149, 156, 160. After his death Corot had to provide the family with financial help L&L

Oeuvre: Paintings, pastels & drawings of landscapes & genre subjects L&L, Bouret p222

Phases: During the mid-forties he painted & drew a considerable number of female nudes & women bathing in the country, & a little later genre paintings of men & women labouring or in poverty. In 1848 he exhibited the Winnowers his first scene of rural life Bouret p159, L&L. From 1865 Millet devoted himself increasingly to landscape painting, & also to pastels TurnerDtoI p321. His great period for pastels & drawings was 1865-70 during which he produced over 100 Bouret p222

Characteristics: At Barbizon he almost seemed to ignore the forest & painted open ground & tilled fields stretching to the horizon. To begin with his brushwork was rather laboured & his manner was reminiscent of Daumier but from 1860 his tone became lighter Bouret pp179-80

Beliefs: “You should become accustomed to nature being the only source of your impressions, of whatever kind these are & whatever your temperament may be. You must…think only what she makes you think” And again, nature “demands an exclusive love” & we only love works “derived from her. The rest are merely works of empty pedantry” Bouret pp 179, 225. “It is never the happy side [of nature] that reveals itself to me…The most joyful thing I know is peace, the quiet, that gives one such delicious pleasure” Bouret p186. Millet refuted the charge that he did not see the charm of the countryside by saying, “more than charm, infinite splendours…But there on the plain I also see the steaming horses at the plough, & on the stony land I see an exhausted man, whose grunts have been audible since morning, stretching for a moment & trying to catch his breath. The drama is wrapped in splendours”. Bouret pp 217-8.

Politics: In 1848 he stayed well in the background & told Courbet he had no wish to be included with the Commune mob Bouret p182. He shrank from anything to do with revolution. It offended his Catholic beliefs & would disturb the harmony of the universe. He was politically naive Bouret p226.

Innovations/Legacy: According to Pevsner, no painter since Bruegel had taken the agricultural worker so seriously & it was Millet who discovered the farm labourer for the 19^th century NCMH 10 pp147-8. He broke with the tradition of landscape as a stage framed by trees & backed by hills Bouret p186.

Personal: He worked tirelessly, continually destroying & starting afresh. Although he married in 1841, his wife died in 1844. He soon began living with another woman but they did not marry until 1855, when they already had four of their nine children Bouret p156

Grouping: Sometimes Millet is simply classed as a member of the Barbizon School, but others treat him as a Realist. [However, he does not really fit in either group.] Although Linda Nochlin defines realism as a truthful, impartial & objective representation of the real world, she observes that Millet endowed the farm labourer with a pathos & nobility beyond sheer descriptive actuality L&L, Nochlin1971 pp 13, 117. Millet did not turn to landscape painting until he was fifty by which time the romantic form that he adopted had fallen out of favour in the Barbizon School Bouret pp 14,15, 219

Reception: The Winnower was praised by Gautier when exhibited in the Salon of 1848 Bouret p140. His work was attacked for its bestiality. It was declared the Comte de Nieuwerkerke, the director of the Beaux-Arts, “the painting of democrats, men who never change their linen…This art displeases & disgusts me” Bouret pp19-20. Baudelaire in 1859 dismissed Millet (& Corot), whom he condemned as sentimental & in 1866 Zola wrote a slashing attack on Millet (& Rousseau). Huysmans in 1889 said Millet’s pictures were bad Brookner pp 74, 84, 160, Bouret p226. Largely due to The Angelus he has been pigeon-holed as a purveyor of pious sentimentality OxDicArt.

Progeny: His son Jean , 1666-1723, & grandson Joseph, 1697-1777, were also painters L&L

..MILNE, Malcolm, 1887-1954, England:

Background: Born in Cheadle, Cheshire E&L p104
Training: 1908-11 at the Slade & then at the Westminster School of Art under Sickert E&L p104
Career: During the War he was an ambulance driver on the Italian front. He exhibited at the NEAC from 1912 & became a member in 1919. During the 1920s he travelled extensively in Italy & the Middle East. Milne became a Catholic in 1943 E&L p104
Speciality: Landscapes & still-life E&L p104
Verdict: Technically brilliant (Patrick Elliott) Times1/7/17 (Durrant)

..MINARDI, Tommaso, 1787-1871, Italy; Nazarene Movement

Background: He was born in Farenza Grove21 p623

Training: In Faenza under Zauli & around 1803 at the Academy of St Luke under Camuccini Norman1977

Influences: The Old Masters, the Nazarenes, & Ingres while the latter was in Rome, 1834-41 Norman1977, Grove21 p624

Career: In 1803 he moved to Rome where he had early contact with the Nazarenes. He embarked on lengthy commission for a detailed drawing of Michelangelo’s Last Judgement. This led to a severe period of self doubt, isolation squalor & inability to paint. He was director of the Perugia Academy, 1819-21, & from 1822 to 1858 was a professor at the Academy of St Luke, Rome Grove21 p624

Speciality: Frescos & altar panels in many Roman churches Norman1977

Phases/Characteristics: He imitated many styles before finding his own Norman1977. From around 1822 his work became increasingly linear & his subjects almost entirely religious, except for a few inspired by Dante. Many of his later works are sterile & monotonous compositions Grove21 p624

Status: Together with Overbeck he dominated religious art in Rome until about 1850 Grove21 p624

Beliefs: He was a devout Catholic & wanted his art to foster religion Norman1977

Grouping: The Purismo movement, whose manifesto he signed Norman1977

Influenced most Roman religious painting of the 19^th century either directly by his teaching or indirectly by his writing Norman1977

MINNE, George/Georg, 1866-1941, Belgium:

Background: Born Ghent, the son of an architect OxdDicMod
Training: The Ghent Academy & the Academy des Beaux-Arts Brussels, 1885-9 OxDicMod
Career: In 1886 he met the Symbolist poet Maurice Maeterlinck & began illustrating Symbolist books. He joined the XX Group in 1891 & exhibited at the Rose Croix Salons. From 1898 he lived at Laethem-Saint-Martin, apart from the war years. He taught at the Ghent Academy 1912-4 & 1918-9 OxdDicMod, GibsonM p237
Oeuvre: Paintings, graphic work & sculpture OxdDicMod
Characteristics: His Symbolist oils appear to be painted in harmonious colours in a textured manner GibsonM p105
Phases: From about 1908 his work became more realistic OxdDicMod
Grouping: Symbolism GibsonM p237

-MINTON, John, 1917-57, England; Neo-Romantic

Background: He was born at Cambridge & his father was a successful solicitor Grove21 p697, Yorke p168

Training: at the St John’s Wood School of Art, 1936-8 OxDicMod

Influences: Blake, Samuel Palmer, de Cherico, & the brooding sadness of Berman & Tchelitchew Spalding1986 p131, Yorke p173, Grove21 p 697, OxDicMod

Career: He went to Paris with Michael Aryton sharing a studio in 1938; served in the army till discharged for homosexuality, 1941-3; had a studio in the house where Colquhoun, MacBryde & Jankel Adler lived, 1943-6; under the influence of the first two became re-enamoured with Palmer; lived with Vaughan, 1946-52; taught at the Camberwell School of Art, 1943-7, at the Central School of Arts, 1947-8, & the Royal College of Art 1948-56; from about 1950 his work was increasingly unfashionable despite his efforts to adept. He committed suicide Yorke pp 169, 175, OxDicMod

Oeuvre: Oils, blue ink, ink combined with wash & gouache & wash. Landscapes & townscapes, figures in interiors, portraits, book illustrations & occasional stage designs Grove7 p697, L&L, Yorke p 173 OxDicMod, L&L

Phases/Characteristics: His style changed little. He painted melancholy bombed out churches & almost pastiche Plateresque pastoral scenes during the War as in Recollections of Wales, 1944 (British Council), scenes of urban decay as in Rotherhithe from Wapping, 1946 City Art Gallery, Southampton) & hot exotic places after OxDicMod, Yorke p173, Gayford, Spectator 15/717, Harris p126

Speciality: Young males in emotionally charged settings, partly homoerotic Grove21 p697

Circle: Andrews, Auerbach, Bacon, Burra, Craxton, Freud, Vaughan used to meet at the Colony Room, a private club in Dean Street Spalding1986 pp 143-5

Personal: He was charming, generous, melancholic, afflicted by self-doubt, & an exceptionally heavy drinker OxDicMod, Gayford, Spectator 15/717

Gossip: Freud said Minton was witty about being doomed & requested a bottle of Chateau Hysteria in a restaurant Gayford, Spectator 15/717

Verdict: He had a brilliant but lightweight talent but misguidedly wanted to paint big serious pictures Gayford, Spectator 15/717

**MIRO, Joan, 1893-1983, Spain; Surrealism:

Background: He was born at Barcelona the son of a prosperous goldsmith OxDicMod

Training: La Llotja Academy of Fine Arts, Barcelona, 1907-10; & at the Cercle Artistic de Sant Luc OxDicMod, Wikip

Influences: Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Matisse & Francis Picabia together with Fauve & Cubist exhibitions in Barcelona & Paul Klee Wikip, Lucie-S2009 pp 161-62

Career: To begin with he was a clerk at Francisco Gali’s liberal art School but turned completely to art after a serious nervous breakdown in 1911, the first of numerous episodes. In 1919 went to Paris, instantly met Picasso, & thereafter spent the winter & the summer in Montroig. He was extremely poor & occupied a crumbling & lice-ridden Parisian studio in Rue Blomet. Trips were made to Holland & Belgium, together with his first visit to Madrid 1928. He visited London, & Paris where he was caught by the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, 1936. In 1937 he painted a work for the Republican Pavillion at the Paris World Fair, 1937. In 1940 he fled to Spain, & in 1947 first visited America OxDicMod, Wikip, Lucie-S 2009 p162, Mink p92-93

Oeuvre: Paintings, frescoes, prints, sculpture, collage, ceramics & set design for ballets, together with a tapestry for the World Trade Centre, New York Grove21 p705, Wikip, Mink p92

Characteristics: His works display his Catalonian pride Wikip

Beliefs: In numerous interviews from the 1930s he dismissed conventional painting as support for bourgeois society calling for “an assassination of painting” Wikip

Development: Initially he had a Fauvist period producing works that were either bold & crude as in his Portrait of Nubiola, 1917 (Museum Folkwang, Essen) or highly detailed as in The Wagon Tracks, 1918 (Private) [but Wikiart]. His Surrealist era is said to have begun with The [as in] Tilled Field, 1923-24 (Solomon Guggenheim Museum, New York). [This was an early & pronounced piece of doodling or dream work in which miscellaneous objects, animals & shapes are randomly positioned]. Such works dominated his art for much of the rest of his life. He returned to a more representational form of painting with The Dutch Interiors of 1928 Wikip, Mink pp 14-21, 33, 36-53, 56-60, 62-65, 74-75, 77-81, 86-91.

Circle: Early on he belonged to a stimulating group when met at Rue Blomet which included many writers many writers & artists including his fellow tenant Andre Mason, etc. He worked with Max Ernst on the set for the Ballet Rouses production of Romeo & Juliet, 1926; met Alexander Calder in Paris, 1928; & Kandinsky, 1933. In 1940 he became friendly with Georges Braque Lucie-S2009 p162, Mink p92

Grouping: Fauvism, Expressionism & Surrealism from 1924, together with a personal style. However, he never committed himself fully to the Surrealist movement Wikip, LucieS2009 p159

Status/Repute: He was a pre-eminent figure in the history of abstraction Grove21 p705

Legacy: He was one of the most influential artists of the century with a significant influence on the Abstract Expressionists & Colour Field Painters, etc including Motherwell, Calder, Gorky, Pollock, Matta, Rothko, Frankenthaler, Olitski, etc Lucie-S2009 p159, Wikip,

Verdict: He was unquestionably the best pure painter among the Surrealists Hughes1991 p231. [Many of his works, though it is heresy to say so, are tedious & repetitive but at his best in his Constellation works] of 1940-41, painted in gouache & turpentine as in his Ciphers & Constellations in Love with a Woman, 1941 (Art Institute, Chicago). These works, painted in an intense burst of experimental activity, display great spontaneity & elegance Grove21 p707. [They are no longer the result of semi-random doodling but are careful designed works with modulated textures: the paintings of an artist who was apparently in love with paint itself.]

Collections: Fundación Joan Miro, Barcelona, & Pillar I Joan Miro

-MITELLI, Agostino, 1609-60, Italy:

Background: Born Battedizzo, near Bologna Wikip

Training/Influences: Gabriello Ferrantini, & Girolamo Curti who was the Bolognese specialists in quadrature, i.e. the painting of illusionistic architectural perspectives Wikip, Grove21 p732

Career: He had a long & fruitful Michelangelo Colonna in which he mainly executed the framework & Colonna the figurative elements. In 1657-58 he & Colonna were summoned by Philip IV of Spain to Madrid Wikip, Grove21 p732

Oeuvre: Quadrature frescoes, together with quadrature drawings as in his pen & ink & grey wash drawing Landscape with Ancient Tombs (NG of Art, Wahington) Grove21 p732

Characteristics: His work was elegant & refined as in the architectural section of the ceiling fresco in the Sala dell’Udienza del Gradca of the Palazzo Pitti, Florence, 1639 Grove21 p742 [I need to consult you about this prior to transfer to Site]

Major Works: The Sala Grande, Palazzo Spada, Rome, 1635-36; the Jupiter reception room, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, 1639-41; & the Grande Salone, Palazzo d’ Este, Sassuolo, near Modena, 1646-4, & in the chapel of the Rosary, S Dominico, Bologna, 1654-56, & Palazzo Balbi, Genoa, 1655 Grove21 p732

Status: He & his collaborator Angelo Colonna were the greatest exponents of quadrature. Their work was recognised as the Bonognese style Grove21 p732

Reception: His work was highly popular as shown by the numerous places in which he worked Wikip

Repute: He is not itemised in the Oxford Companion, etc

Legacy: The Spanish frescoes by Mitelli & Colona influenced the development of Spanish decorative painting, & Mitelli’s followers carried his style into the 18^th century & the advent of Neo-classicism, & Grove21 p732

Son: Giuseppe Maria, c1634-1718. He was an etcher, painter & sculptor who specialised in etchings of contemporary manners & morals Grove21 p732

-MODERSOHN-BECKER, Paula, 1876-1907, Germany; Expressionism:

Background: She was born in Dresden into a cultured middle-class family OxDicMod

Training: Lessons in London & Bremen; & at the School of Art for Women, Berlin, 1896-8 OxDicMod

Influences: The Nabis, Gauguin, van Gogh & Cezanne; together with Nietzsche Dube p17, OxDicMod, L&L, Behr p10

Career: Becker wanted to be an artist from an early age but she was persuaded to first qualify as a teacher, 1893-5. In 1898 she joined the artists’ colony at Worpswede & in 1901 married Otto Modersohn, 1865-1943. From 1901 she made four visits to Paris. She died soon after childbirth OxDicMod

Oeuvre: She worked with great discipline & produced several hundred paintings OxDicMod

Phases/Characteristics: At Worpswede her early landscapes & scenes of peasant life were lyrical & have been considered rather sentimental but she later developed a massively powerful style expressing a highly personal vision. In her mature work she concentrated on single figures, including portraits of peasants & self-portraits. Her most striking works were produced in Paris. They were nude or semi-nude self-portraits &/or mother & child images in which she radically simplified the face which featured wide staring eyes & depicted her body as having animal & life-giving vitality as in Naked Woman Breast-feeding her Child, 1907 (Neue National galerie) Grove21 pp 784-5 . Her use of colour & pattern was symbolic reflecting a subjective outlook & some of her work has an almost primitive force. She used dense paintwork & emphatic forms OxDicMod, L&L

Innovations: She was a precursor of Expressionism & probably the first female artist to paint nude self-portraits OxDicMod, B&Z p108

Beliefs/Aim: “the principal thing is my personal feelings”. “I should like to endow colour with intoxication, fullness, excitement; I should like to give it Power”, she wrote in 1907 OxDicMod, Dube p17

Repute: Although little known at her death, she is now regarded as one of the outstanding German artists of her time OxDicMod

Collections: Ludwig-Roselius Sammlung, Bremen

*MODIGLIANI, Amedeo, 1884-1920, Italy:

Background: Born Leghorn/Livorno into a Jewish merchant family OxDicMod

Training: From 1898 with a local landscape painter & at the Institute of Fine Arts, Venice OxDicMod

Influences: The Renaissance masters; Gauguin, the Fauves & later Cezanne, being greatly impressed by the memorial exhibition, 1907 OxDicMod

Career: He had serious childhood illnesses & an attack of pleurisy around 1901 left him with a tubercular lung OxDicMod, Grove21 p786. He was prevented him from having a normal education. In 1906 he left Venice & settled in Paris OxDicMod. He lived in Montmartre where he joined in artists’ gatherings at Le Bateau-Lavoir etc. In 1907 he met Dr Paul Alexandre who acquired c25 paintings & was a close friend until 1914; & in 1916 Leopold Zborowski became his dealer & supported him with regular payments Grove21 p786-7. Modigliani lived in Paris until his death, apart from a year in Nice & Cagnes, 1918-9; in 1917 his only solo show (Galerie Berthe-Weill) was closed by the police as obscene. He was addicted to drugs & drink & an inveterate womaniser but worked obsessively OxDicMod. In 1917 he met Jeanne Hebuterne with whom he lived until his death Grove21 p787

Oeuvre: Largely portraits, including many artist friends, & female nudes OxDicMod

Phases: In 1909 he met Brancusi & under his influence mainly devoted himself to stone carving until 1915, after which he produced his finest & most characteristic portraits OxDicMod. Those from 1905-15 have rigid poses & angular contours, proving he was aware of Cubism, but after 1916 they have oval delicately tilted necks set slightly askew on sloping shoulders & were increasingly mannered Hamilton1967 p287, Grove21 p787

Characteristics: His paintings have linear grace & his nudes are gloriously sensual with extremely elongated simplified forms OxDicMod. In many of his portraits facial features are highly stylised, which tends to distance the viewer. Some of his portraits are impersonal or hypnotic with eyes are often left blank or are all pupil, some being almost caricatures. They feature long necks. However, his portrait of Soutine is a penetrating character study. In his late portraits the noses grew longer & sharper, often concave & splayed at the end like those in African masks Grove21 p787, Hamilton1967 p287. His nudes are portrayed as individual women &, although they have inviting expressions, there is a sense of intrusion into their private world Grove21 p788. The linear bent of his vision is apparent throughout all his work Hamilton1967 p287

Comparison: Many critics are reminded of Botticelli but his conscious awkwardness within the grace is more modern & more traditional recalling earlier Sienese masters Hamilton1967 p288

Verdict: His late portraits are among the finest of the early 20^th century Grove21 p787

**MOHOLY-NAGY, 1895-1946, Hungary etc:

Background: Born at Borsod (Bacsborsod) OxDicMod

Training: None, he was completely self-taught OxDicMod

Influences: Lissitzky OxDicMod

Career: He studied law at Budapest University, served in the army & took up painting while recovering from a wound in 1917. In 1919 he followed Kassak to Vienna & in 1920 went to Berlin. He taught at the Bauhaus from 1923 to 1928. Here he taught the preliminary course, replacing Itten, & co-edited the Bauhaus publications with Gropius. Though regarded as a brilliant teacher, his assertiveness & denial of art’s spiritual aspect made him somewhat unpopular & he resigned in 1928 when Hannes Meyer became director. He then worked on stage design & experimental films etc in Berlin, joined Abstraction-Creation in 1932, left for Amsterdam 1934, moved to London in 1935, worked on film design, contributed to the Constructivist review Circle, went to Chicago in 1937, directed the New Bauhaus, & in 1938 established his own School (later Institute) of Design OxDicMod, L&L

Phases: His earliest work was naturalistic but by 1922, when he showed at the Sturm Gallery, he was painting abstracts similar to Lissitzky’s Prouns OxDicMod

Characteristics: His paintings have grace & originality within their stylistic limits L&L

Status: He was on of the most inventive & versatile Constructivist artists, pioneering the use of light, movement, photography & plastic materials OxDicMod

Innovations: During 1922-30 he developed his kinetic sculptural Light Prop in which coloured lights play on turning form in metal & plastic L&L

Circle in Berlin Lissitzky, & Haussmann & other ex-Dadisits who sought to develop an international constructivist art L&L

Believed that for a century art has been divorced from life. “The personal indulgence of creating art has contributed nothing to the the happiness of the masses” (1919) OxDicMod

Personal: He wore overalls whereas Itten had had monkish garments. Moholy-Nagy distrusted the emotions & was more at ease with machines than human beings. He married in 1921 but divorced in 1934 OxDicMod

-MOILLON, Louise, 1610-96, France:

Background: She was born in Paris, the daughter of the Protestant Nicolas, 1555-1619, who painted portraits & landscapes Grove21 p797
Influences: Flemish still-life Grove21 p797
Career: Her output diminished after her marriage in 1640 & the family were persecuted after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes Grove21 p797
Oeuvre: Still-life & genre scenes involving the sale of fruit Grove21 p797
Characteristics: A basket of perfect, luminous fruit at eye-level on a sloping table-top, the objects being painted with meticulous care using warm & cool tones. Her work features Trompe l-oeil drops of dew, etc.
Siblings: Several were also artists in particular Isaac, 1614-73 Grove21 p797
Innovation: With Jacques Linard she was the first French artist to successfully combine the female form & still-life elements Grove21 p797
Reputation: It was notable Grove21 p797

*MOLA, Pier, 1612-66, Italy=Rome; Baroque

Background: Born Coldrerio near Lugano, the son of Giovanni Mola, 1585-1665, architect, stuccoes & writer Grove21 pp 805-6
Training: Cesari in Rome & Albani in Bologna OxDicArt
Influences: Works he saw on his travels & in particular Guercino, Cerno & a neo-Venetian, Poussinesque style Grove21 p806, Brigstocke
Career: The family moved to Rome, 1616, where after training he was based, but he travelled widely in northern Italy, especially around 1633-40, & during 1641-7. He was official painter Prince Pamphily’s household for some years but there was a quarrel in 1661 Grove21 p806, Brigstocke, Waterhouse1962 p66
Oeuvre: Paintings with religious & mythological figures in romantic landscapes; frescoes in Roman churches & places; & drawings in chalk & ink Grove21 p806, OxDicArt
Characteristics: He had an eclectic style & his paintings were of a pleasing & attractive lyrical nature employing softish colour & featuring active gesturing figures, often diagonally placed as in Pluto & Proserpine, 1650-66 (Dulwich Picture Gallery). His drawings in ink were painterly with much use of wash Brigstocke, Waterhouse1962 pp 66-7, webimages, OxDicArt
Speciality: Hermits in romantic Venetian landscapes Waterhouse 1962 p66
Status/Verdict: With Rosa he was a leading representative of a distinctive romantic strain in Roman painting in the mid-17^th century. He just fails to be a major figure in the Roman school OxDicArt, Waterhouse1962 p66
Grouping: Baroque Waterhouse1962 p66
Friends: Pietro Testa Brigstocke

-MOLENAER, Jan Miense/Miensz, c1609-68, Judith Leyster’s husband, Netherlands=Haarlem & Amsterdam:

Background: He was born in Haarlem Haak p235

Training: Frans Hals Haak p235

Influences: Later on, Brouwer, Adrian van Ostad, Dirck Hals & Thomas de Keyser Haak p235, Grove21 p813

Career: He married in 1636 &, following the confiscation of his property to pay debts, they moved to Amsterdam soon after & probably stayed there until they returned to the Haarlem-Heemstede area in 1648, regularly appearing in court for not paying debts, & sometimes for fighting & abusive language SuttonP p260, Grove21 p813

Oeuvre: Genre ranging from high to low life; religious works; a few portraits; theatrical scenes, etc, although the boundaries between different types of work are often unclear SuttonP p260, Haak p235, Grove21 p813

Characteristics: His work features an inventive symbolism, wit & humour, but it is uneven. He mostly used coarse, painterly brushwork & a tonalist palette for peasant scenes; & more polished handling, & brilliant colouring for paintings of the upper class. His peasant scenes feature riotous, often violent behaviour Grove 21 p813, Haak p235

Phases: Initially he often painted exuberant children & merrymakers frequently with awkward necks & shoulders as in Children Playing with a Cat, c1627 (Musee des Beux-Arts, Dunkirk). During the 1630s & 40s he painted an enormous range of subjects. Thereafter he specialised in low-life genre, which is smaller but crowded, painted in muted colour, & humorous as in Peasants Carousing, 1662 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) Franits p44, Grove21 p813

Innovation: Depictions of the painter at work were fairly common for self-portraits works but not for genre scenes. Molenaer painted one of a humorous type in his [as in] A Painter in His Studio, 1631 (Gemalde Galerie, Berlin) Franits pp 44-5

Influenced: Heemskerk Haak p390

Brother: Bartholomeus, -1650, specialised in rustic peasant interiors Grove21 p813

Nephew: Klaes, 1630-76, with whom he occasionally collaborated, was a landscape painter Grove21 p813

-MOLINARI, Guido, 1933-2004, Canada:

Background: He was born in Montreal OxDicMod
Training: 1948-51 at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts &, in 1951, at the Musee des Beaux-Arts OxDicMod
Influences: Les Plasticians OxDicMod
Career: He exhibited at the Op Art Responsive Eye exhibition at MoMA in 1965 OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Paintings, sculpture & he was also a writer OxDicMod
Characteristics/Phases: His paintings were abstract from the outset. Initially he experimented with automatism but by 1956 his pictures were simple black straight-edged forms on white. In the early 1960s Molinari began using vertical bands of colour, which from 1963 were of equal width. After 1965 he started to divide the canvas into geometric divisions, e.g. chequer-board patterns. Some of his later paintings are almost monochromatism OxDicMod
Status: He was a champion of geometric abstraction L&L

Molijn. See de Molyn

MOLL, Carl, 1861-45, Austria:

Background: He was born in Vienna Norman1977
Training: 1880-1 at the Vienna Academy Norman1977
Influences: Schindler with whom he worked Norman1977
Career: He was a co-founder with Klimt of the Vienna Secession Norman1977. When the Secession split Moll sided with the Klimt-gruppe. His involvement with the Galerie Mietthke (the Durand-Ruel of Vienna) occasioned the break. Moll had been advising the gallery of which he became artistic director, & the Klimt-gruppe was voted down on whether the Secession itself should become involved. Moll married Schindler’s widow & his stepdaughter Alma married Mahler in 1902. Moll lived, like Kolo Moser, in one of the houses designed by Josef Hoffmann in the Hote Warte colony Vergo pp 25, 84-5, 128, 243
Oeuvre: Landscapes Norman1977
Phases: Naturalism; then a sombre style influenced by Symbolism; & from the early 1900s a more colourful Impressionism Vergo p25
Characteristics: Stylised composition & the play of colour contrasts Norman1977.
Aims: In his Impressionist works he did not seek a beauty beyond reality but one drawn from natural appearances avoiding both misty & chaotic romanticism & the cerebral constructions of the painter-mathematicians Vergo p243
Influenced: Klimt Norman1977

Molyn. See de Molyn

Momper. See de Momper

-MONACO, Lorenzo, c1370-1424, Italy=Florence:

Career: He became a Camoldense monk in the monastery of S. Maria deli Angeli, Florence, taking minor vows in 1391 & being ordained a deacon in 1396. Monaco appears to have begun living outside the convent around 1396 & he directed a large workshop L&L, Grove19 pp 678, 682

Oeuvre: Altarpieces, fresco & illuminations L&L, Grove19 p678

Characteristics/Verdict: His work was dramatic & expressive with a depth of feeling akin to that of Giotto, as in his Agony in the Garden, c1399 (Accademia di Belle Arti e Liceo Artistico, Florence). He was a supremely gifted colourist & employed sharp greens & yellows, bright pinks, blues & luminous reds & golds. His colour together with the swinging lines of his draperies resulted in compositions that were brilliantly decorative rather than realistic as in Coronation of the Virgin, 1415 (NG). Another notable Coronation, 1414 (Uffizi) with its swaying ranks of saints & angels’ wings, which have a Gothic delicacy is also elegant & courtly Grove19 pp 679-80, 83, Brigstocke, Langmuir p61

Influence: Opinions range from limited to Masolino & later Florentine art Grove19 p678, L&L
Repute: He was rediscovered by Crowe & Cavalcaselle in 1864 Grove19 p678

-MONAMY, Peter, 1681-1749, England:

Background: He was born in London into what had been a prominent merchant family in Guernsey Grove21 p832, Wikip
Training: He was apprenticed as a house painter but his master also produced art works, 1696 Grove21 p832, Wikip
Career: By 1710 he had become a marine artist; was admitted to the Painter-Stainers guild, 1726; & decorated supper boxes at Vauxhall Gardens Grove21 p832
Influences: Willem van de Velde the Younger being his first important English imitator L&L
Characteristics/Verdict: Some authorities say that his knowledge of ships was better than his ability to paint water & that his work was meticulous but had little variety L&L, OxDicArt. However, this appears to be wide of the mark as his sea paintings range widely from calm scenes as in Shipping in a Calm, 1700-25 (Yale Center for British Art) to wild storms as in Ships in Distress in a Storm, c1725 (Tate Gallery).
Status: He replaced Van de Velde as a marine artist after the latter’s death Grove21 p832
Friends: Hogarth L&L
Patrons: The Byng family Grove21 p832
Legacy: He did much to develop the taste for marine painting Grove21 p832
Collections: National Maritime Museum

***MONDRIAN, Piet, 1872-1944, Netherlands:

Background: He was born in Amersfoort near Utrecht. His father was a strict Calvinist schoolteacher, described by one of Piet’s friends as “frankly disagreeable” OxDicMod

Training: Between 1892 & 1897 he studied intermittently at the Amsterdam Academy OxDicMod

Influences: Dutch landscape with its horizontals & verticals; & during 1910-11 Cubist works Lynton pp 74-75.

Career: In 1909 he joined the Theosophical Society Lynton p365. He moved to Paris in 1912 but spent time in the Netherlands to which he returned when the War started. He then mainly worked at Laren near Amsterdam, a place favoured by intellectuals. Here he met Schoenmaekers &, in 1915, met Theo van Doesburg. In 1917 they founded De Stijl but in 1925 Mondrian withdrew because of van Doesburg’s call for the use of diagonals. From 1919 to 1938 Mondrian lived in Paris, then in London (near Naum Gabo & Ben Nicholson) & finally to New York in 1940. For many years he struggled to make a living but during the 1920s he gradually became known to an international circle of admirers. He exhibited with Cercle et Care & joined Abstraction-Creation OxDicMod, L&L, Hamilton1967 p210

Phases: His early paintings were naturalistic, often in delicate colour with predominant greys & dark greens. Between 1907 & 1910 his work was more Symbolist & he experimented with a loose Neo-Expressionist technique but using large blobs of pure colour. From 1912 to 1914 he painted a series of increasingly abstract tree pictures under the influence of Cubism & by 1914 had virtually dispensed with curved lines OxDicMod. From 1920 to the 1940s he painted grids delineated with black lines & filled with primary colours. These he called Neo-Plasticism TurnerEtoPM, Lynton p76. His arrival in New York & response to its environment let to a change of style if not of grammar. Mondrian was almost distracted from his integrity Lynton p214. He interrupted his bands with little squares of colour & placed larger areas of colour outside his bands L&L

Characteristics: By 1920s his only colours were the primaries together with black & white; all lines were perfectly vertical or horizontal; & all shapes square or rectangular Hughes1959 p203. Although, there appear to have been eight between the early 1920s & the early 1940s which were supposed to be hung diagonally in which position the lines appeared horizontal. Moreover there seems to be very few works in which the lines on the painting do not intersect Jaffe pp 110-11, 114-5. Before 1940 colour & line are almost always remain discrete, colour appearing only in rectangles bound by a framing edge or a black line L&L p71. His mature works have no centre or focus & lack conventional balance & symmetry OxDicMod Apart from his final works his paintings [convey no sense of depth or movement because] his bands of colour do not pass over each other L&L. Not until New York City 1, 1942, did he dispense with black lines & rectangles of primary colour & only here do lines interlace Jaffe p122-3.

Feature: [It is striking how much attention is paid to Mondrian’s evolution towards his mature abstract style & how little to this style itself.] A standard text on Mondrian’s work published by leading American & British art publishers contains 40 colour plates only eight of which are devoted to mature works that he completed before he left Europe & of these two are atypical because of their lozenge shape Jaffe pp 104-119. [Should one conclude that his standard work is insufficiently interesting to warrant additional coverage?]

Beliefs: Orthoganals have, following Schoenmaekers, a mystical significance. His hostility to diagonals led to his break with De Stijl TurnerEtoPM. Mondrian believed in painting’s ability to shape human life (being one of last great artists to think this). He was not a detached formalist & thought that matter was the enemy of spiritual enlightenmentHughes1959 p202. “Man is mind, woman is beast” B&B p43. [Mondrian’s beliefs, as derived from Schoenmaekers, should not be regarded as merely risible.] Schoenmaekers provided him with what other near abstractionists had been unable to discover: a way of investing a painting with significance without external reference. In order for abstract art to be more than aimless pattern-making it must have a firm, pure & spiritual basis, being founded on the primary colours & the horizontal & vertical. Mondrian wanted to de-personalise art so that it was no longer concerned with joy, rapture, sadness or horror etc. He wanted a new way of seeing which would lead to a new society based, like art, on harmony, balance & equilibrium: on what he regarded as the spiritual force within us Bowness pp 140-2.

Aim: Purity Cheetham Ch2

Patrons: Katherine Dreier from 1926 OxDicMod

SCHOENMAEKERS in The New Image of the World, 1916, stated that the earth is shaped by a horizontal line of power which is the earth’s course around the sun and the contrary vertical which concerns the sun’s rays. He believed that the only colours that exist are yellow which is the movement of the ray, blue which is the horizontal line of the firmament, & red which is the mating of yellow & red. Yellow radiates, blue recedes & red floats R&S p141. Art’s task is to teach mankind its potential for true harmony & offer models for a better world. When this arrives art will no longer be needed. It should not stir longings L&L

Personal: He was immaculately tidy & his studio was like a hermit’s cave, some of his furniture was constructed from wooden boxes. A gramophone was his only indulgence & he listened to it while working. His daily life was simple, he rarely smiled in photos & he was reserved & a little awkward in company, though welcoming & helpful to visitors. However, he had a passion for social dancing & took lessons in fashionable steps OxDicMod, L&L

Interpretation: According to Norbert Lynton there is “nothing waiting interpretation . They are the most open, most explicit paintings in the world …Each painting is merely itself & exists continually in the present” Lynton p214.

Verdict: According to Sir Herbert Read he possessed an “element of genius” Read1959 p202. “No view of Mondrian is more misleading than the idea that he was a detached formalist, working towards a purely aesthetic harmony” Hughes1991 p20

Gossip: Entering Nicholson’s whitewashed studio Mondrian saw a fine beech tree through the window & commented “Too much nature” Yorke p82

***MONET, Claude, 1840-1926, France; True Impressionism Movement

Background: He was born in Paris but grew up in Le Havre, where his father was a wholesale grocer serving shipping TurnerMtoC p305.

Training: At the Academie Suisse where he became friends with Pissaro, & from 1862 to about 1864 intermittently under Gleyre, where he met Bazille, Renoir & Sisley L&L, TurnerMtoC p305

Influences: Jongkind whom he met in1862 & who redirected him to landscape TurnerMtoC pp 305-6. Turner & Constable in (1970 London during 1870 L&L. From 1871 Japanese prints with their bright & flat looking areas of colour had a marked impact on his work Reyburn pp 58-9. His destiny was determined by Boudin’s example of independence & devotion to art OxDicArt

Career: By about 1856 he was known locally as a caricaturist but Boudin turned his attention to plein air painting. He went to Paris in 1859, associated with Courbet’s circle & did army service in Algeria. In 1864 he worked on the Normandy coast near Honfleur painting seascapes two of which were accepted by the Salon & well received. Further paintings were accepted in 1866 & 1868 but thereafter he almost ceased entering, though this was to begin with partly due to failure to get paintings completed on time. During the second half of the 1860s he was the key figure in a group of former Gleyre students who sometimes painted at Fontainebleau Forest L&L, TurnerMtoC pp 305-6.

His mistress Camille became pregnant & he only gained shelter at Le Havre by leaving her in Paris. He partially lost his sight. However in 1868 assisted by a local patron he resumed life with Camille & son. He had meanwhile completed Women in the Garden,1867, & painted Parisian views & beach scenes. In 1869 he worked with Renoir at La Grenouillere. Although they only managed to produce sketches their fragmented & varied brushwork had begun L&L, TurnerMtoC pp 305-7.

In 1870, after marrying Camille, Monet fled to London where he met Durand-Ruel who became his dealer TurnerMtoC p307. In 1871 Monet went to Holland where he was first able to buy Japanese prints Reyburn p58. He then settled at Argenteuil, which between 1872 & 1876 became the centre for Impressionist painting. The death of Monet’s father ended financial support & when Durand-Ruel had to suspend buying the idea of staging an exhibition, which had been mooted earlier, came to fruition TurnerMtoC pp 307-8, L&L.

The early Impressionist Exhibitions were not a financial success & in 1878 Monet & his family set up house with the Ernest Hoschede, a now bankrupt former client, at Vetheuil outside Paris. After Camille’s death, Monet & Hoschede’s wife moved to Giverny in 1873. Monet was now separated from his Impressionist colleagues & had only reluctantly participated in the group show of 1879. He now painted landscapes around Giverny where the Ept flows into the Seine but made extensive trips to the Normandy coast (1881-3 & 1885), to the Mediterranean (1884 & 1888), to Belle-Ile off the coast of Brittany (1886), & the Creuse Valley (1889). Here he painted 24 canvases, most from the same point TurnerMtoC pp308-9, Cunningham p65. By the 1890s he was painting remote & unpopulated corners of countryside. The works have a phantom & dreamlike quality, & are like “a subjective recall from behind closed eyes of something once seen”, & not an objective record of sunlit experience Rosenblum1884 p450. He was by now increasingly working in the studio using studies or finishing work L&L

The practice of producing pictures in the same location, which began at the Saint-Lazare station in Paris during 1877, was refined during the 1890s & thereafter. On a given day he would work on several canvases devoting an hour or less to each TurnerMtoC pp 308-9. Between 1889 & 1891 he painted haystacks, in 1891 poplars at Epte (24), during 1892-3 the front of Rouen Cathedral (over 30), in 1899 water lilies & the bridge at Giverny (20), in 1904 the Houses of Parliament, & in 1908 Venetian views (37) Cunningham pp 65-6, 68, 70, 78, 80, L&L. From about 1910 he predominantly painted in his flower garden at Giverny. This he had developed & expanded during the 1890s L&L, TurnerMtoC p309. As he grew older his eyesight deteriorated due to cataracts & he had to rework canvases again & again L&L

Innovations: These include the use of unmixed pigment from the tube; the luminosity that is obtained when green is mixed with its complimentary red; & the rejection of tonal modelling by the use of blocks of pure colour. His paintings are sometimes anti-perspectival because although the viewer is led into the picture in the bottom section there is then a strong & horizontal which has a detaining effect Reyburn pp 44-5. [He initiated the painting of pictures of the same place in series under different light & weather conditions. His paintings of urban fog & mist were highly unusual.]

Gossip: Monet was at the Savoy Hotel surrounded by about 90 canvases each recording momentary light effects over the Thames but by the time a particular canvas had been found the light effect had generally disappeared Charteris p126

Influences: His work had a marked impact on Abstract Expressionism L&L

.. MONNIER, Henry Bonaventure, confusable with Henry Monier, 1799-1877, France:

Background: He was born in Paris Grove21 p889
Training: Briefly in the studio of Anne-Louis Girodet, 1817; & then in the studio of Baron Gross for two years until expelled Webb p162, Grove21 p889
Career: He worked as a copy clerk in the Department of Justice & impersonated various character types in improvised scenes, etc. Turning from studying painting to lithography he contributed to popular comic albums of Parisian types & manners, etc, etc Grove21 p889
Oeuvre: He is best known for satirising the mid-19^th century Parisian bourgeoisie & creating the comic boring character Joseph Prudhomme. In his watercolours Les Diseurs de rein, 1866-74 (Bibliotheque National) he returned to the boring bourgeoisie. He also produced erotic prints, admired by Edmund de Goncourt Grove21 p889, Webb p162
Friends: Balzac Webb p162

..MONNINGTON, Sir Thomas, 1902-1976, England:

Background: He was born in Westminster, the son of a barrister E&L p106
Training: From 1918 at the Slade under Tonks & at the British School in Rome, 1923-5 E&L p106
Influences: Piero della Francesca & early Renaissance painting E&L p106
Career: He was a sickly child & taught himself to draw & paint. In 1924 he married Winifred Knights & in 1925 they settled in London. Monnington taught at the Royal College of Art from 1925; at the RA Schools from 1931; at Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts, 1945-9; & at the Slade from 1949 to 1967. He & Knights moved to Sussex in 1938 & he worked in camouflage units during the War & later became an official war artist. In 1966 he became PRA & encouraged new trends E&L p106
Oeuvre: Oils & tempera; murals E&L pp 43, 106-7
Phases: In the 1950s he embraced geometric abstraction E&L p106

-MONOYER, Jean, 1634-99, France:

Background: Born Lille Grove21 p890
Training: History painting in Antwerp Grove21 p890
Career: He collaborated with LeBrun decorating the Grand Trianon at Versailles, etc, joined the Royal Academy in 1665; was employed at Gobelins from 1666; collaborated with Rigaud etc on decorating royal palaces; & worked in England during 1690 & from 1692 Grove 21 p891
Oeuvre: Paintings, decoration work, & engravings Brigstocke, Grove21 890-1
Speciality: Sumptuous decorative flower paintings laden with urns, draperies, etc Grove21 pp 890-1, Allen pp 154 -5
Characteristics: His later flower paintings lack spontaneity Grove21 p890
Innovation: He turned the intimate French still-life into an elegant genre Grove21 p890
Progeny: His son Antoine was also a painter Grove21 p890
Collections: Boughton House, Northants

Monrealese. See il Monrealese

-Bartolommeo MONTAGNA/CINCANI, c1450-1523 (Confusable with Mantegna), Bendetto’s father, (Confusable with Mantegna), Italy:

Background: Born near Brescia L&L
Training: Venice L&L
Influences: da Messina L&L
Career: He mainly worked in Vicenza; painted altarpieces & frescos etc OxDicArt
Characteristics: His work was austerely geometric with crisply defined forms. He had & powerful style with a skilful manipulation of colour & light L&L, Brigstocke
Status: He was Vicenza’s leading artist L&L
Influenced: Later Vincentine artists L&L

..Bendetto MONTAGNA, c1522-c1552, (Confusable with Mantegna), Bartoklommeo’s son, Italy:

Montefeltro. See Urbino

-MONTICELLI, Adolphe, 1828-86, France:

Background: He was born at Marseille & was illegitimate L&L, Leymarie p155. During the Second Empire he was in Paris when interest in Rococo art & delight in opera & ballet were at their height Grove22 p29

Training: At the Ecole d’Art Marseille & with Delaroche in Paris Grove22 p28

Influences: He admired Veronese, the Troubadour pictures of Pierre Revoil & Fleury Richard etc, & the bold colour & rich surface impasto of Delacroix’s oil sketches. Diaz provoked more spontaneous brushstrokes, sketchier finish, & the inclusion in his landscapes of nudes & Watteauesque costumed figures Leymarie p155, Grove22 pp 28-9.

Career: He was reared at Ganogobie on the Durance high plateau Leymarie p155. Monticelli returned to Marseille in 1847 & encouraged by Emile Loubon, director of the Ecole de Dessin, painted Provencal landscapes & traditional village scenes with Paul Guigou. In 1855-6 he returned to Paris & went painting with Diaz in the Forest of Fontainebleau. During 1863-70 he lived in Paris where around 1869-70 he met the Impressionists at the Café Guerbois. He then returned to Marseille where he remained. During 1878-84 he painted with Cezanne, who much admired his work, around Aix & Marseilles Grove22 pp 28-9, Bouret p255.

Oeuvre: It was copious & included, landscapes, still-lifes, portraits, fantasies, & History Paintings Leymarie p155, L&L

Phases/Characteristics: After 1863 he specialised in theatrical & brightly coloured fetes with elegantly gowned women & gallant gentlemen relaxing in natural settings. & then Pissarro-like landscapes using small touches of paint. After 1870 His Provencal landscape sketches were painted in heavy impasto, brighter colours & vigorous brushwork but with part of the wooden support left bare to provide contrast Grove22 p29, Bouret p155. This last period was his most original & productive Leymarie p155.

Features: He had an early Bohemian existence painting & selling pictures wherever he happened to be Leymarie p155

Status: He was the last great Romantic painter of the 19^th century Leymarie p155

Innovation: He anticipated Fauvism & Expressionism L&L

Verdict: His work was uneven but he painted some real gems Leymarie p155

Influenced: Van Gogh’s flower pieces from 1886. He hoped his paintings would be understood as continuing Monticelli’s later experimental works Grove22 p29,Monticelli’s work, which was exhibited at the Edinburgh international Exhibition, 1886, impressed Henry & Hornel Billcliffe pp 207, 236.

Repute: This faded after his death L&L

Monrealese. See il Monrealese

Monsignori. See Bonsignori

..MOODY, Victor Hume, 1896-1990, England:

Background: He was born in Camden, London E&L p108
Training: At Battersea Polytechnic, 1913-9, & Royal College of Art, 1927-9 E&L p108
Career: He exhibited at the RA from 1931 & showed at NEAC. During the early 1930s he moved to Stroud & taught at local schools & colleges. He became Principal of Malvern School of Art in 1935, & settled there E&L p108
Oeuvre: Figure compositions of classical scenes portraits, landscapes, nudes & portraits, often with strained faces webimages
Characteristics: His work was fastidious & he used Old Master techniques employing gesso grounds & glazes. The paintings are often of a disconcerting nature E&L p108, webimages

Henry MOORE, 1898-1986, England:

..MORAN, Thomas, 1837-1926, USA (England):

Background: He was born at Bolton in Lancashire Norman1977
Influences: Claude, Turner & the Hudson River School Hughes1997 p199, Norman1977
Career: He went to America in 1844 but visited England in 1862. Moran was immensely popular Norman1977
Oeuvre: Panoramic views of the Far West Norman1977
Characteristics: His works revel in extraordinary natural effects painted in flamboyant colour & often improvised in the studio. Norman1977
Last: American painter to capitalize on panoramic views of untamed nature Norman1977
Status/Grouping: He is considered with Bierstadt & Church a leading exponent of the Rocky Mountain SchoolNorman1977

-MORANDI, Giorgio, 1890-1964, Italy:

Background: Born in Bologna OxDicMod
Training: 1907-9 at the Accademia de Belle Arti, Bologna OxDicMod
Influences: Cezanne, though not on his colour; Uccello & Piero della Franchesca; & from 1918 the Metaphysical painting of Carra & de Cherico OxDicMod
Career: In 1914 he exhibited with the Futurists, though he did not follow their cult of speed. In 1915 he enlisted in the army but had a mental breakdown & resumed painting. His work was published in Valori Plastici & its editor, Mario Broglio, was his first significant collector. After the War his international reputation increased OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Landscapes, still-lfe & prints OxDicMod
Phases/Characteristics: During 1918-9 he painted still-lifes in a precise manner & a limited palette of browns & ochres. They are lyrical depictions of the commonest objects closely arranged as if clinging for company: simple images charged with tacit drama. Over the years his colour tended to lighten using a range of whites & light greys. His landscapes are mostly unspectacular subjects that bore the mark of human intervention. His brushwork tends to be more fluid & atmospheric than in his other work OxDicMod
Circle: The strapaese group of Bolognese critics & writers who advaocated a return to the 19^th century & the countryside OxDicMod, L&L
Status: He has been classified with Neue Sacklichkeit Hayward1979 p10

*Gustave MOREAU, 1826-1898, France; Surrealism:

Background: He was born in Paris, son of a Parisian architect Norman1977

Training: Francois Picot at the Ecole des Baux-Arts, 1846 Norman1977

Influences: It was wide & ranged from the Byzantine, through the Italian Renaissance, to Rembrandt & then Delacroix & Chesseriau L&L, Norman1977 p152

Career/Reception: He first exhibited at the Salon, 1851; spent 1857-9 in Italy studying the Old Masters; won acclaim at the 1864 Salon with [as in ] Oedipus & Sphinx (The Met). However, by the late 1860s his work was criticised for sameness, & Moreau adopted a new approach in Salome Dancing Before Herod, 1876, which was greeted with enthusiasm by Huysmans etc. He taught at Academie des Beaux-Arts from 1884 Grove 22 pp 89, GibsonM p238; Norman1977

Oeuvre: Religious, legendary & mythological subjects in oils & watercolour L&L, GibsonM p31

Aim/Beliefs: To combine dramatic Romanticism & academic, classical order & decorum. He regarded his work as a “passionate silence”, & declared “I believe only in what I do not see solely in what I feel”. He believed fervently in the spiritual value of art Grove22 p89, GibsonM p238, Hamilton1967 p44

Speciality: Salome as in her Dancing before Herod, 1876 (Armand Hamer Museum of Art, Los Angeles) with its emphatic chiaroscuro & painterly passages L&L, Grove22 p89

Characteristics: Despite its violence his Oedipus painting is frozen with expressionless figures producing an evocative, mysterious effect Grove22 p89

Phases: During the 1870s he began exhibiting watercolours that were as exciting as his oils as in The Apparition, 1876 (Louvre) Grove22 p89

Technique: He had a complex, ornate, feverish visionary style; depicting a super-charged exotic & erotic world featuring women who were seductively evil or curiously innocent, employing a luxurious & encrusted impasto. His figures were often androgymous,GibsonM pp 6- 7, 31, 238, L&L

Friend/Circle: Theodore Chasseriau whom he frequented, 1850-6; Degas, Elie Delaunay, Leon Bonnat, Eugene Fromentin & Puvis de Chavannes GibsonM p238, Grove22 p89, Norman1977

Innovations/Status: He was the first genuinely Symbolist painter & one of the greatest GibsonM pp 36, 238

Pupils: Camoin, Marquet, Matisse, Rouault GibsonM p238

Legacy: He was admired by Breton & the Surrealists Norman1977

Collection: Gustave Moreau Museum, Paris

-Louis-Gabriel MOREAU, 1740-1806, brother of Jean-Michel, France:

Background: He was born in Paris Grove22 p87

Training: Pierre Antoine de Machy Grove22 p87

Influences: The taste for the natural as found in the writings of Salomon Gessner, Rousseau & James Thompson Grove22 p88

Career: He joined the Academie de St Luc in 1764, & became painter to the Comte d’Artois to Louis XVI’s brother, the Comte d’Artois. Having failed to become a member of the Academie Royale, he exhibited at the open Salon at the Louvre from 1791 to 1804 Grove22 p87, L&L

Oeuvre: Paintings in oil, gouache & watercolour & etchings Grove22 p87, L&L

Characteristics: Fresh, simple, sensitive & original landscapes of the country around Paris. They combine topographical & picturesque elements with delicate colouring & light effects at different times of the day L&L, Grove 22 p88

Forerunner: His work anticipated Corot & Constable’s directly observed cloud studies L&L

Brother: Jean-Michel,1741-1814 was a printmaker & book illustrator whose work gives a vividly detailed picture of upper-class Parisian life L&L

-MOREELSE, Paul/Paulus, 1571-1638, Netherlands; Northern Realism:

Background: Born Utrecht into an affluent family Grove22 p94

Training: Miereveld in Delft L&L

Influences: Bloemaert’s & Caravaggio; Van Dyck’s dashing line L&L, Haak p213

Career: He visited Italy around 1600 & settled in Utrecht. In 1611 he helped found its St Lucas Guild. He was active in the establishment of Utrecht University L&L, OxDicArt, Brigstocke

Oeuvre: Paintings including mythological & religious works, & portraits together with architecture & poetry Grove22 p213

Speciality/Reception/Feature: Shepherds, & blonde decollate shepherdesses which were popular. In his [as in] A Girl with a Mirror, 1627 (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge), her nipple is just showing OxDicArt, webimage. Another contrasting speciality was his delightful paintings of children as in Two Children in Pastoral Costume, 1622 (Central Museum, Utrecht) & Portrait of a Young Boy, 1634 (Royal Collection Trust). He is holding a rattle which would not only have provided amusement but would also have aided the teething process (Royal Collection comment). [This is another example of Moreelse’s attention to significant detail.] & his [as in] Portrait of Two Children in Pastoral Dress, 1622 (Central Museum, Utrecht [Wikimedia] is anything but stiff.]

Innovations: He was the first Dutch artist to paint full-length, life-sized court portraits & one of the earliest painters of Arcadian scenes L&L

Reception: His political contacts led to many commissions for portraits & his shepherds & shepherdesses became very popular Brigstocke

Repute: His work has been savaged in what ought to be authoritative sources. It is said to be stiff, old-fashioned & tentative in the Oxford Companion, etc Brigstocke p490, Haak p213

Verdict: [Such criticism is ill-founded & reveals a distressing inability of art historians to look objectively at the paintings they are pontificating. In his innovative Two Children they are lively & active, & in his Portrait of a Lady, 1627 (Mauritius, The Hague) she is portrayed as a living & interesting human being webimages, etc

Pupils: Dirck Van Baburen Grove22 p94

Children: The Baroque artist Johanes, c1603-34; Benjamin, before 1629-1649; & a daughter became an artist Grove22 p95, Wikip

Nephew: Willem Moreelse, 1618-66, became an artist Wikip

-MORELLET, Francois, 1926-2016, France:

Background: He was born at Cholet OxDicMod
Training: Self-taught OxDicMod
Influences: What he describes as the charming nihilism of Duchamp OxDicMod
Phases: Initially realist still-life, abstraction from 1950, & then from the 1960s he worked in various materials OxDicMod, Wikip
Characteristics: Geometric abstraction of a rigorous & rule-based pattern type featuring a design which is simply replicated within each work, together with some work consisting of seemingly random lines. His work is emotionally neutral & close to Minimal art webimages, Wikip
Status/Influence: He played a prominent part in developing geometrical abstraction & post-conceptualism Wikip
Grouping: In 1960 he helped found Groupe d’Art Visual. Wikip

..MORELLI, Domenico, 1823-1901, Italy:

Background: Born in Naples Norman1977
Training: Studied at the Naples Academy, but rebelled against academic instruction Norman1977
Oeuvre: A Realist painter of subjects generally taken from history, romantic literature or the Bible. Morelli’s subjects were often selected to parallel contemporary events Norman1977
Characteristics: From around 1870 he concentrated on Biblical subjects, painted with everyday realism in southern sunlight. Later, his style became increasingly summary and impressionistic Norman1977
Personal: Morelli was involved in the revolutionary activities of 1848 Norman1977
Influenced: A pioneer of Realism in Italy, his influence was felt not only in Naples but throughout Italy Norman1977

..MORET, Henri, 1856-1921, France:

Background: Born in Cherbourg Norman1977
Career: After studying in Paris, Moret abandoned an official artistic career to paint freely in the countryside Norman1977
Oeuvre: Impressionist marine and landscape paintings, mostly limited to Brittany Norman1977
Circle: He became one of the group round Gaugin at Pont-Aven Norman1977

-MORETTO da Brescia/Buonvicino, Alessandro (confusable with Moroni) c1498-1554, Venice-Lombardy; Counter – Reformation Movement

Background: He was born in Brescia RAVenice p185

Training: Venice or Padua RAVenice p185

Influences: These were Venetian & Lombard, Classical & realistic; & included Foppa RAVenice p185. Other influences were S. Angela Merici the founder of Ursulines & Bishop Ugoni who were Counter Reformation reformers Murrays1959, RAVenice p185

Career: He spent most of life in Brescia, apart from rare visits to Bergamo, Milan & the Veneto RAVenice p185. Moretto was a prominent member of the Confraternity of the Sacrament which was devoted to Counter Reformation ideals L&L

Technique: He avoided preliminary drawing Bayer p27

Oeuvre: Altarpieces & other religious works together with portraits, which although less numerous are considered to be superior OxDicArt

Phases: From 1540 his paintings have a new monumentality & austerity reflecting the influence of the Counter Reformation RAVenice p185

Characteristics: He painted warm religious works of a late Bellini-like & Giorgionesque type. They have an explicit doctrinal content, creating a contemplative mood or having everyday settings Murrays1959, L&L, RAVenice p185. His paintings have a religious feeling hard to find in Venice itself after Giovanni Bellini Walker p152. There is an inner conflict within his work (though not a stylistic instability) due to the desire to accommodate patrons’ varying needs & disparate influences, viz Venetian & Lombard, Classical & realistic. His portraits show a pensive & indecisive moodRAVenice p185

Innovations: His Portrait of a Man, 1526 is an early full-length Italian portrait Murrays1959, Pope-H p320

Grouping: He was one of Longhi’s Lombard Painters of Reality Bayer p106

Pupil: Moroni OxDicArt

Influenced: Caravaggio, Cerano & Lombard portraiture L&L, Friedlaender1926 p67

*MORISOT, Berthe, 1841-95, France:

Background: Born in Bourges, the daughter of a government official Norman1977
Circle: By 1870 Morisot knew virtually all the men in the Batignolles group. Mallarmé, Degas, Monet and Renoir were among her close friends, and she married Manet’s younger brother in 1874 Norman1977
Oeuvre: A painter of the Impressionist school, Morisot concentrated mainly on portraits and interior scenes. She also worked in watercolour and pastel Norman1977
Characteristics: Morisot combined an intimate flavour with a subtle harmony of tones Norman1977
Influenced: In 1868 Morisot met Manet, for whom she became a model, and was partly responsible for Monet’s adopting open air painting and replacing his characteristic blacks with pure bright colours Norman1977

*George MORLAND, 1763-1804, Henry’s son, England; Romantic Picturesque

Background: He was born in London the son of the painter Henry Robert, & was pushed ahead by his ambitious artist parents Grove22 p122, Burke p390

Training: His father to whom he was apprenticed & sporadic attendance at the RA Schools L&L, BL p65, Grove22 p122

Influences: Dutch Old Masters which he restored & faked for his father, together with extensive copying of other’s painters’ work during his apprenticeship L&L, BurkeJ p390. Latterly he would not look at other painters’ work apparently fearing that it would compromise his originality Barrell p94

Career: He was a child prodigy; his chalk drawings being exhibited at the RA, 1773; in 1786 he married William Ward’s sister who with his brother James & many others engraved his work. By the late 80s he was rapidly becoming a popular artist but due to his profligate life he was going broke. Thereafter his life was a bewildering series of different addresses, flights from creditors, financial rescues, insolvencies, imprisonments, deteriorating health because of alcoholism, ending in apoplectic fits & a drink induced coma Grove22 pp 122-23, BurkeJ p390, Feature: He cut himself off from polite society & lived among the urban & rural proletariat. When Lord D…y called & said he wanted to buy a picture, he shouted “I paint for no Lords; shut the door, Bob” L&L, Barrell p89

Oeuvre: It was highly diverse including genre scenes, dramatic coastal views, narrative works & then inferior copies of his own works Brigstocke

Characteristics: His work reflects a taste formed by the realist & especially rococo artists he had copied together with sympathy for the underdogs with whom he consorted & a reflective attitude towards current political & social developments. This is shown by his depiction of smugglers & wreckers by the coastal poor, The Press Gang, 1790 (Royal Holloway College, which showed the human cost of maintaining Britain’s naval power; the [as in] Benevolent Sportsman who is giving arms to gypsies on common land which was then being enclosed; & to [the as in] Execrable Human Traffic/Affectionate Slaves which shows the violent break-up of an African family by slavers. His works were painted in a manner that was fluid & sketch-like Burke J pp390-91, BL pp23-31, Grove22 p123

Status: He was the leading exponent of the rustic picturesque BurkeJ p391, Hussey p267

Friend: Rowlandson OxDicArt

Repute: It swiftly declined being replaced by that of Wilkie. In 1979 it was stated that his work had never been so little admired Murrays1959, Barrell p90

-Henry Robert MORLAND, c1728-97; George’s father:

Training: His father L&L
Influences: Dutch genre painting Grove22 p122
Career: Despite making a good match, he needed to accept charitable help from the Society of Artists & was declared bankrupt, 1762. He worked as a dealer, forger & restorer Grove22 p122. L&L, OxDicArt
Oeuvre: Works in crayon & oil including genre, fancy pictures & portraits Grove22 p122
Characteristics: His genre work is repetitious & later on mostly hack work Grove22 p122

..MORLEY, Harry, 1881-1943, England; The Great Tradition:

Background: Born in Leicester, the son of a hosiery manufacturer E&L p109

Training: Initially architecture at the Leicester school of Art & then from 1901 at the Royal College of Art. In 1906 he was at the Academie Julian E&L p109

Influences: The Arts & Craft movement & Italian Renaissance painting E&L pp 17, 109

Career: Around 1905 he studied architecture in Italy & France, to which he returned in 1910-11. More impressed by the painting than the architecture he soon gave up the latter. During the mid-1920s he joined the Society of Painters in Tempera. He taught in the faculty of Engraving at the British School at Rome & then settled in Kensington & from 1932 taught at the St Martin’s School of Art. He became an ARA in 1936, having exhibited regularly from 1905. He painted war scenes & undertook commissions for the War Artists’ Advisory Committee E&L p109, Wikip

Oeuvre: Paintings in oil tempera, murals, & prolific water-colours & engravings E&L pp 42, 109, Wikip

Characteristics: His paintings have a strong sense of monumental form & spatial clarity, cool lines clean lines, academic coolness & detachment. The watercolours are in the English landscape tradition. They display spontaneity whereas his oils & temperas were painstakingly constructed Wikip

Circle: Maxwell Armfield, John Batten, Mary Sargant Florence, Ernest Jackson, Joseph Southall who were members of the Society of Painters in Tempera & who frequently met in his studio during the 1920s Wikip

Repute: In 1924 his tempera Apollo & Marsyas was a Chantrey Bequest purchase Wikip. He is not itemised in the Grove Dictionary

Collections: Imperial War Museum

-MORLEY, Malcolm, 1931-2018, England/USA:

Background: Born London OxDicMod
Training: At the Camberwell School of Art, 1952-3, & the Royal College of Art, 1954-7 OxDicMod
Influences: Barnett Newman OxDicMod
Career: He became interested in painting while serving a three-year sentence for house breaking. From 1964 he has lived in New York. In 1984 he was the first winner of the Turner Prize OxDicMod
Phases/Characteristics: During the 1960s he turned from abstract to figurative work & became a pioneer of Superrealism (his term). He produced large paintings based on carefully transcribed postcards or posters. From about 1970 his handling became increasingly loose, often depicting animals in lush landscapes. He then returned to his Superrealism manner. Sometimes his works have political connotations OxDicMod, L&L

*MORO/MOR VAN DASHORST, Antonio/Antonius, c1519-1476, Netherlands:

..Domenico MORONE (confusable with Moroni & Moretti), Franceso’s father, c1442-1518, Italy=Verona:

Background: He was born in Verona Grove22 p130
Training: Students of Stefano de Verona Grove22 p130
Influences: Paduan painters such as Mantegna & Squarcione as filtered through Giovanni Bellini & Francesco Benaglio L&L, Grove11 p130
Career: Around 1500 his workshop executed major fresco cycles in Verona’s churches Grove22 p130
Characteristics: The frescos in the Verona churches show a mastery of Mantagnesque perspectival & decorative effects. Although his work is difficult to appraise because of damage & collaboration, they suggest he was a capable artist who infused a Mantagnesque style with early realism. His later works are inferior Grove22 p130
Innovation: He was a pioneer of Renaissance painting in Verona Grove 22 p130
Studio: Here many minor painters were trained OxDicArt

..Francesco MORONE (confusable with Moroni & Moretti), Domenico’s son, c1470-1529, Italy=Verona:

Background: Born Verona Grove22 p130
Training: By his father Grove22 p130
Influences: Mantegna &, for his sunset pictures, Durer’s prints, but he was not influenced by the innovations of Giorgione or Titian Grove22 p130
Speciality: Marvellously observed & calibrated sunset skies overarching dusky crags, fir trees & valleys Grove22 p130
Characteristics: His figures are geometrically rounded off & there is symmetrical arrangement, understated monumentality, & a subtle lumanistic interplay of light & colours Grove22 pp 130-1.
Feature: His sunset pictures have no contemporary precedent & are curiously prophetic of David Friedrich Grove22 p130
Status: He was the leading High Renaissance painter in Verona Grove22 p130
Friends: Girolamo dai Libri Grove22 p130

**MORONI, Giovanni, c1522-78 (confusable with Morone & Moretti), Italy; Counter – Reformation Movement

.. Sir Cedric MORRIS, 1889-1982, Wales:

Background: He was born at Sketty, Glamorgan, the son of a baronet whom he succeeded in 1947 OxDicMod

Training: Various academies in Paris but was essentially self-taught OxDicMod

Career: He started farming in Canada & then Wales; took up art seriously shortly before the war. Delicate health prevented him enlisting but he helped Munnings train horses for the front. Post-war he lived with the painter Arthur Lett-Haines, 1894-1978, in Newlyn, Paris 1921-26, London 1926-9, & then East Anglia. He joined the London Group, & during 1926-32 he exhibited with the 7+5 Society. In 1937 he co-founded the East Anglian School of Painting which Freud & Maggi Hambling attended Chamot p117, OxDicMod

Oeuvre: Portraits, landscapes & townscapes, still-life OxDicMod, Spalding2022 p94

Characteristics: In early ornithological pictures shapes & colours were translated into a rather decorative mosaic of colour. He initially used thick paint & turned painting flowers in startlingly vivid colours & displaying wonderment at the beauty of nature. Later he used paint more economically & gave the vividness of summer a pleasant bluish tinge in landscapes that are tapestry-like. His works are strikingly clear-cut Chamot p97, OxDicMod, Spalding 2022 pp 94-, Webimages

Friends: Frances Hodgkins, Christopher Wood Spalding 2022 pp 91-2

William Morris. See Section 4

William MORRIS, 1834-1896, England:

Background: Born in Walthamstow Norman1977
Career/Influence: Having briefly tried his hand at painting in the 1850s, he is best known for his anti-industrialist efforts to revive hand-craftsmanship. Morris founded the Kelmscott Press in 1891, which did much to raise the standards of book design and printing. His floral wallpaper and chintz designs, derived from medieval illuminations, are still popular Norman1977
Oeuvre: Morris collaborated with Rossetti on the Oxford Union frescoes (1857) Norman1977

-MORTIMER, John Hamilton, 1740-79, England; Neo-Classicism Movement

Wright of Derby was a fellow pupil & became a lifelong friend; then under Giovanni-Battista Cipriani & Joseph Wilton; & at St Marin’s Lane Academy L&L, Grove22 p151, DIA p106
Influences: Rosa’s bandit pictures OxDicArt
Career: During the 1760s he was involved with the theatre; married a farmer’s daughter, 1775; moved to Aylesbury; returned to London & first exhibited at the RA, 1778 DIA p106
Oeuvre/Phases/Characteristics: Portraits & conversation pieces in 1760s, literary scenes illustrations to Chaucer, Shakespeare & subjects from Cervantes subjects, & subjects from ancient literature; English history paintings; sea monsters; & unusual subjects apparently just because they were esoteric & exotic. Latterly he made a series of engravings & small paintings featuring bandits as in the oil Bandit Taking up His Post, c1778 (The Detroit Institute of Arts, c1778). His work was highly imaginative & wide ranging, & he approached Blake in inventiveness, though his work was less mystical; L&L; DIA pp 106, 108-110
At Aylesbury he painted works of a moralizing type as in Progress of Virtue (Tate Gallery) L&L, DIA p106, 108-10.
Personal: His life was riotous life DIA p106
Reception: He was greatly admired during his life & after his death & was seen as the archetypal of the brilliant & attractive artistic genius marred by indulgence. Fuseli intensely disliked him DIA p106
Influenced: Gillray & Rowlandson by his caricaturing prints & figural drawings; & Francis Wheatley by his paintings DIA pp 106, 133-4
Grouping: Along with Fuseli, Runciman & Romney he was one of the artists associated with Romantic Neo-Classicism Grove27 p154

Mor Van Dashorst. See Moro

-George MOSER, 1704-83: Mary’s father, England (Switzerland)

Background: He was born at Schaffhausen Grove22 p185
Training: In Geneva as a coppersmith etc Grove22 p185
Influences: Rococo Grove22 p185
Career: He probably arrived in London in 1726, taught at the St Martin’s Lane Academy, & was drawing master to the royal family Grove22 p185
Oeuvre: He was an engraver in metal best known for his gold boxes & watch-cases but he also painted Grove22 p185, webimages

-Kolo/Koloman MOSER, 1868-1918, Austria:

Background: He was born in Vienna OxDicMod
Influences: Hodler OxDicMod
Career: He was a founder member of the Vienna Secession & the Wiener Werkstatte (Vienna workshops). After 1906 he concentrated exclusively on painting OxDicMod, L&L
Oeuvre: Paintings, graphic art & design OxDicMod
Characteristics: He shared Hodler’s philosophical pretentions but had little of his emotional intensity OxDicMod

-Lukas MOSER, active 1432, Germany:

Influences: The Master of Flemalle Grove22 p188
Oeuvre: His only known work is the outstanding Magdalen Altarpiece at Tiefenbronn church, near Pforzheim, Baden L&L
Characteristics: Forceful naturalism with forms in a precise & carefully constructed setting modelled in light. The painting marks a shift from International Gothic to the greater realism & new technique of early Low Country Painting L&L, Grove22 p188, Wikip
Grouping: The Ulm School & his contemporaries Konrad Witz, Hans Mutschler Wikip, Grove22 p189

.. Mary MOSER, 1744-1819, George’s daughter, England

Background: Born London Grove22 p185
Career: From 1760 to 1768 she exhibited at the Society of artists, was a founder member of the RA, took an active part in its proceedings, & exhibited in most years from 1769 to 1802. Her affection for Fuseli was well known. She married in 1793 but continued to paint Grove22 p185
Oeuvre: Paintings in oil & watercolour beginning with meticulous, bold floral still-lifes but then almost exclusively history paintings, Grove22 p185, Wikip, webimages
Characteristics: Her flower paintings are in glowing colours mostly against dark backgrounds Wikip, webimages

*MOSES, Grandma/ROBERTSON, Anna Mary, 1860-1961, USA:

Background: She was born on a farm OxDicMod
Career: In 1887 she married a farmer, lived for 20 years in Virginia & returned to New York State. She turned to painting in the 1930s after a busy farmstead life with only time for an occasional decorative work for her home.
Oeuvre: Paintings usually on board & also worked in yarn L&L
Phases: Initially she used magazine illustrations etc, later daily sights & memories. At first her work was crude but she soon developed a lively, fresh & colourful style with lovingly observed detail L&L, OxDicMod Typical example is Wash Day 1945 (Rhode Island School of Design Museum)
Characteristics: Serene scenes of country life from the 18^th century to present L&L
Repute: Known from the 1940s she was heroized by the media L&L
Grouping: Naive painting L&L
Collections: Bennington Museum, Vermont

..MOSNIER, Jean-Laurent, c1743-1808, France:

Training: Academy de S. Luc Grove 22 p191
Career: In 1776 he became the Queen’s painter & in 1788 a member of the Academy. He fled to London in 1790 & exhibited at the RA 1791-6. After four years in Hamburg, he went St Petersburg in 1801, & joined the Academy, 1802 Grove22 p191
Oeuvre: He was a prolific & highly polished portraitist; versatile, modifying style to suit location Grove22 p191

..MOSSA, Gustave, 1883-1971, France; Symbolism

Background: He was born in Nice, a painter’s son GibsonM pp238
Training: His father & the School of Decorative Arts, Nice, until 1900
Influences: Moreau GibsonM pp238
Career: He became curator of the Nice Museum of Fine Arts in 1921
Oeuvre: Paintings in oil, & watercolour with strong ink lines, including caricatures, medieval & carnival scenes, Riveria landscapes, portraits & theatre design GibsonM pp238, Wikip
Phases: His Symbolist period was 1900-11. This ended after he discovered early Flemish Wikip
Characteristics: Symbolist themes painted with detachment & humour in an Art Nouveau style using pastel hues GibsonM pp238,Wikip
Speciality: The New Woman dominant, fascinating & perverse by nature, sometimes lesbian & murderous GibsonM pp 12, 238, Wikip
Grouping: He was a late Symbolist GibsonM pp238
Collections: The Nice Museum of Fine Arts

Mary MOSER, 1744-1819, George’s daughter, England

-Gillis MOSTAERT the Elder, c1528-98, brother of Frans & father of Gillis the Younger, Netherlands:

Background: Born at Hulst & was a descendant of Jan Mostaert Grove22 p201
Influences: Bosch whom he imitated Grove22 p201
Career: In 1544-5 Mostaert became a master in the Antwerp Guild of S. Luke Grove22 p201
Oeuvre: Landscapes & villages which were very similar to Pieter Bruegel the Elder, together with Hell & fire scenes, & mythological & biblical subjects Grove22 p20
Relations: His brother Frans, -c1560, & Gillis the Younger, c1528/9-1560, were also painters & the latter worked in the tradition of Hieronymus Bosch L&L, Grove22 p199

*Jan MOSTAERT, c1472-active 1554, Netherlands=Haarlem:

Background: He came from a famous noble family in Haarlem Grove22 p199
Training: Jacob van Haarlem Grove22 p199
Influences: Initially Geertgen tot Sint Jens & his followers Grove22 p199
Career: In 1507 & 1543-4 he was deacon of the Haarlem painters’ guild & he was portrait painter at the court of Margaret of Austria, Governor of the Netherlands Grove22 p200
Oeuvre: Portraits & biblical scenes Grove22 p200-1
Speciality: Bust portraits with the figure in three-quarter pose resting the hands on a cushion against a landscape Grove22 p201
Phases: His paintings of about 1500-10 have clumsy, stunted figures but between about 1510 &1516 he developed a delicate style with tiny brushstrokes, elegantly dressed doll-like figures with bright blue sky & scalloped clouds. During the 1520s he painted large panoramic landscapes like the Mannerist works of Joachim Patinir Grove22 pp 199-200

*MOTHERWELL, 1915-51:

Background: He was born in Aberdeen, Washington OxDicMod
Training: At the Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, aged eleven OxDicMod
Career: Having gained a degree in philosophy at Stanford University, 1936, engaged in postgraduate work elsewhere & made trips to Europe, he settled in New York in 1940 & studied art history at Columbia University under Meyer Schapiro. In 1941 he decided to become a professional artist after becoming friendly with Matta & other Surrealists. His Elergy for the Spanish Republic series, 1949-65, were ”general metaphors for life, death & their inter-relation”. Between 1950 & 5, & 1964-5 he taught & during 1958-71 Motherwell was married to Helen Frankenthaler OxDicArt, Everitt pp 34-5
Oeuvre: Paintings, collage & prints OxDicMod
Phases/Characteristics: Initially his paintings were amorphous but by the late 1940s they featured bold slabs, often ovals or upright rectangles using a subdued palette with dramatic black on white. In 1967 he began a series of colour field paintings called Open with large areas of sensuous colour broken only by a few lines OxDicArt
Beliefs: Complete Abstraction is impossible Everitt p34
Grouping: Abstract Expressionism of which he was a principal exponent & pioneer OxDicMod

..MOTLEY, Archibald, 1891-1982, USA; American Scene Painting:

Background: He was born in New Orleans of mixed race where his mother had been a school teacher. In 1894 the family moved to Chicago where his father became a Pullman car porter. His work Wikip, BudickFT 25/11/1015

Training: At the Art Institute where he was among the first black students, graduating in 1918 BudickFT 25/11/1015, Wikip

Influences: The caricatures in Negro Drawings, 1928, by the Mexican Miguel Covarrubias from which he derived humour & tempo of an American type. He was inspired by the work of Rembrandt, Hals & Delacroix as seen in the Louvre, but above all he belonged to the Jazz Age. Another form of influence was the writings of the black reformer W. E. B Du Bois, & the Haarlem Renaissance leader Alain Locke Barter p159, Wikip, Whitney Museum

Career/Reception: He was raised in a mostly white area in Chicago & married his white childhood sweetheart, the daughter of German immigrants, whose parents disowned her. In 1918 he wrote articles in a newspaper by & for African Americans on the limitations placed on black artists. Although it was racially tolerant, the family had been housebound for over six days during the race riots of 1919. He won the Art Institute’s Logan Medal with A Mulatress; held a one-man exhibition at the New Galleries, New York, 1928. From 1926-7 he was director of the Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists & it’s only black member. He lived on the edge of the black South Side in a neighbourhood that predominantly housed white immigrants Wikip, medifords for archibold-motley on web. He spent a year in Paris on a Guggenheim Fellowship, 1929-30, & began working on scenes of Jazz Age nightlife as in The Blues (Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University), a work notable for two or more couples where a white woman is dancing with a black man Barter p159, Locke p69, webimage. In the 1930s he worked for the Works Progress Administration. After the war he was forced to seek work painting shower curtains & in the 1950s made several trips to Mexico where he painted its life & landscape BKM pp 68, 75; Barter p139, Wikip, BudickFT 25/11/2015

Oeuvre: Paintings in oils & murals including genre, street & beech scenes & portraits, etc Webimages

Phases: Initially he adopted subdued tones & painted detailed portraits as in Old Snuff Dipper, 1928 (Du Sable Museum of African American History. Chicago?), which were followed by his masterpiece works of Jazz age nightlife. This phase of his work output continued with [the as in] Getting Religion, 1948 (Whitney Museum of American Art). This is a BudickFT 25/11/2015, Wikip gaudy nightlife work featuring musicians painted in vivid electric greens & blues against a vivid blue background webimages, BudickFT 25/11/2015

Characteristics/Verdict: His work ranges from academic heights to low burlesque. He painted black life with what has been seen as a mixture of celebration & class contempt. What are particularly notable are his joyful, vibrant & exhilarating nightclub scenes with their mix of those of coloured people of widely differing shades as in his masterpieces Saturday Night, 1935 (Howard University Museum of Art, Washington) & Nightlife, 1943 (now Minneapolis Institute of Art). His discomfiting dreamscapes make one smile or squirm but are anyway notable. He was an outsider BudickFT 25/11/2015

Innovation/Aim: Alain Locke, a leading figure in the Haarlem Renaissance, identified Motley as a painter of Negro artwork in a new swashbuckling & humorous manner. What was also innovatory [& it still is] was his recognition that skin tone is diverse & the importance of social class in evaluating individuals in order to subvert racial stereotypes. His concern was to the depiction of individuality & the promotion of a wider national culture through the aesthetic appeal of his paintings Locke pp 69-70, See medifords for archibold-motley on web

Beliefs: He was a Catholic & believed that art could help to end racial prejudice BudickFT 25/11/201, medifords for archibold-motley on web

Grouping: The Harlem Renaissance, though he never lived there BudickFT 25/11/2015. However, he is surely better regarded as an American Scene Painter for Which See Section 8

Patronage/Reception: His reputation petered out. Black collectors preferred his more uplifting contemporaries Wikip

Repute: Motley is not itemised in the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Art, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, or the Grove Dictionary of Art, etc. Moreover, the captions in which he is mentioned in the Smithsonian Museum of African American History are by no means flattering. However there have now been retrospective exhibitions of his work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, & the Whitney Museum of American Art, 2014 & 2024 .

Collection: Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington

-MOULTHROP, Reuben, 1763-1814, USA:

Career: He worked through the rural centres of Pennsylvania, New York & Massachusetts, where he toured a sort of sideshow of wax effigies L&L
Oeuvre: Portraits L&L
Characteristics: His likenesses are unusually in evoking space & volume L&L

..MOUNT, William, 1807-68, USA:

Background: Born in Long Island, New York. Mount’s brother Henry was a sign painter Norman1977
Oeuvre: A genre painter and portraitist. He painted happy rural scenes of Long Island; whites and blacks are depicted in work clothes, dancing, making music and resting Norman1977
Characteristics: Simple and realistic, using bright clear colours Norman1977
Status: Mount’s genre scenes were widely popular, several being reproduced as lithographs or engravings Norman1977

..MOYNIHAN, Rodrigo, 1910-90, England:

Background: He was born at Santa Cruz, Tenerife of Irish-Spanish descent Schone1988 p224
Training: In 1928 he studied in Rome & attended the Slade Sickert for nudes in interiors Shone1988 p90
Career: He came to England in 1918; joined the London Group, 1933; exhibited at the Objective Abstractionists’ exhibition, Zwemmer Gallery, 1934; belonged to the Euston Road School; became an Official War Artist in 1943, after being invalided out of the army; taught at the Royal College of Art, 1948-57; became an RA in 1954 &, having resigned, was re-elected in 1979; from 1957 he mainly lived in France Shone1988 p90, OxDicMod, Wikip
Phases: In the early 1930s he was a radical abstractionist, turned to figurative art, in 1956 returned to abstraction in a style influenced by Abstract Expressionism, by the mid-1960s was closer to Hard-Edged Painting; & in the 1970s returned to figuration OxDicMod
Oeuvre/Characteristics: Portraits, still-life & landscapes in muted colours & an impressionistic style webimages
Feature: He painted both Clement Attlee & Margaret Thatcher Wikip
Wives: The painters Elinor Bellingham Smith, 1906-88; & Anne Dunn, 1929- Shone1988 p90

-MUCHA, Alphonse, 1860-1939, Czech:

Background: He was born at Ivancice in Moravia OxDicMod
Training: Paris & Munich L&L
Career: His early work was as a theatrical scene painter. During 1888-1905 he was mainly in Paris but then spent an increasing amount of time in his homeland. Between 1903 & 1922 he made four journeys to America. During 1909-28 he made 20 huge paintings for Charles Crane, a Chicago Slavophile industrialist, at Moravsky Krumlov Castle. In Mucha 1922 settled in Prague. He was an ardent patriot & free of charge designed the first Czech stamps & banknotes. In 1939 Mucha was arrested & questioned by the Gestapo OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Graphic art, painting, theatre sets, costumes, & jewellery OxDicMod
Speciality: Posters for Sarah Bernhardt in the 1890s OxDicMod
Grouping: Art Nouveau L&L
Repute: After World War 2 his work long unfashionable OxDicMod

-MUCHE, Georg, 1895-1987, Germany:

Background: He was born at Qu Erfurt, Saxony, the son of naïve painter & art collector Wikip
Training: At the School for Painting, Munich & under Martin Brandenburg, 1915 Wikip
Influences: Kandinsky, Max Ernst & Chagall Wikip
Career: He moved to Berlin in 1915 & became Herwarth’s assistant at his Sturm Gallery & taught at the Sturm School, 1916-20. After joining the Bauhaus in 1920 where, closely associated with Itten, he headed the weaving workshops, 1919-7, & its first major exhibition, 1923, for which he designed the prefabricated, inexpensive & functional Haus am Horn. He taught at Itten’s Modern Art School in Berlin, 1927-30 then, until dismissed by the Nazis in 1933 at the State Academy for Art & applied Arts, Breslau, & in Berlin at the School of Art & Work until 1938 L&L, Wikip. His work was confiscated & displayed at the Degenerate Art exhibition, 1937. During 1939-58 he taught at the Krefeld Textile School. In 1960 he settled at Lindau on Lake Constance Wikip, L&L
Oeuvre: Paintings in oil & fresco & from 1913 prints Wikip
Phases/Characteristics: Initially he painted in an expressive, colourful & busy abstract style combining Cubist elements with colour inspired by Blaue Reiter, but during the 1920s he returned to a simplified figuration of a pleasing, lyrical type L&L, webimages

-MUELLER/MULLER, Otto, 1874-1930; Expressionism:

Background: He was born at Liebau, Silesia/Libawka, Poland OxDicMod
Training: After apprenticeship in lithography, at the Dresden Academie from 1894 Dube p89
Influence: The Arcadian figure compositions of Ludwig von Hofmann, & Bocklin Dube p89
Career: He was befriended by his relation the writer Gerhardt Hauptmann with whom he travelled to Switzerland & Italy. In 1908 he left Dresden for Berlin. Along with others rejected by the Sezession, he formed the Neue Sezession in 1910. He was almost the last to join Die Brucke. In 1911 he made a trip to Bohemia with Kirchner. From 1919 he taught at the Academy, Breslau OxDicMod, Dube pp 89-90, 210.
Oeuvre: Paintings in distemper with a matt finish OxDicMod
Phases/Characteristics: Initially his work had the curvilinear forms of Art Nouveau, & his work was of a two-dimensional type with forms that were rounded harmonious. Influenced by Kirchner his work became harsher & more angular but with gentle colour harmonies & in a tranquil, Arcadian mode with nude figures romping in forests or on lake shores . From about 1920 he produced many gypsy subjects OxDicMod, Dube 90-1
Aim: To depict the natural concord of man & nature Dube p90

..MUIRHEAD, David, 1867-1930: confusable with Muirhead Bone: England (Scotland); British Impressionism

Background: He was born in Edinburgh, the son of a master builder WoodDic, SuffolkArtistsSite
Training: At the Royal Scottish Academy Schools, Edinburgh , & Westminster School of Art under Frederick Brown Chamot p117, WoodDic
Influences: Philip Steer Chamot p37
Career: He moved to London in 1894 & joined NEAC in 1896 or 1900 & was a founder member of the National Portrait Society, 1911. His favourite sketching areas were the Thames, Medway, the Wye & the marshes & estuaries of Suffolk & Essex WoodDic, Chamot p117, SuffolkArtistsSite
Oeuvre: Landscapes, buildings & figurative subjects, portraits WoodDic, webimages
Characteristics: His landscapes are painted in an impressionist manner featuring big skies, often with dramatic cloud effects & seldom with blue skies webimages
Brother: The artist John Muirhead, 1863-1927 SuffolkArtistsSite

MUKHINA, Vera

..(Johann) Friedrich MULLER, 1749-1825, Germany:

Background: He was born at Kreuznach Grove22 p271

Training: From about 1765 he was taught by the court painter Daniel Hien, with 17^th century Dutch painting as his model, & from 1769 at the Mannheim Academy Grove22 p271.

Influences: Ferdinand & Franz Kobell who were his friends at the Academy, & in Rome the Classical ideals of Winckelmann & Mengs Grove22 p271

Career: Initially he established himself as a poet, becoming a representative of Sturm und Drang. In 1777 he became Kabinettsmaler to the Elector of Mannheim & then Duke of Bavaria. He went to Rome in 1778 & was subsequently based there. He had to earn his living as a guide & from writing on art & he painted fewer pictures. During 1805-10 he worked as agent for the future Ludwig 1 of Bavaria Grove22 pp 271–2

Oeuvre: Paintings, engravings & drawings Grove22 p271.

Phases: During his early German period he made realistic depictions of horses, other animals, landscapes & farm scenes. In Rome he painted Biblical & mythological scenes, though few have survived & they had a mixed reception & were soon forgotten Grove 20 p282 & 22 pp 271-2.

..Leopold MULLER, 1834-92, Austria; Orientalism:

Background: He was born in Dresden to Austrian parents Norman1977, Wikip
Training: The Vienna Academy under Karl von Blass & Christian Ruben Norman1977, Wikip
Influence: His friend Pettenkofer Norman1977
Career: After his father’s death he supported his family by working as an illustrator for seven years; then to continue his studies he visited Italy & Egypt returning numerous times & including a trip with Makart, Leinbach etc in 1875-6 . He was a professor at the Vienna Academy from 1877; & a rector, 1890-91 Wikip, Norman1977
Oeuvre: Landscapes, seascapes, town scenes, buildings, & genre works, together with portraits, notably of those encountered on his Oriental trips webimages
Characteristics: His work is of carefully observed realist nature employing brushwork which ranges from impressionistic to a highly polished effect. His genre includes both conventional; genre as in The Housewife, 1870 & exotic orientalist painting as in Market in Lower Egypt (both Belvedere Palace, Vienna) [Please check that these details are correct NB there are two Belvedere galleries] His orientalist art displays his talent as a colourist webimages & Wikip
Reception: He became known through scenes of popular life in Italy & Hungary Wikip
Repute: He is not itemised in the Oxford Companion or OxDicCon
Sisters: Marie & Bertha were well-known portrait painters Wikip

-Otto MULLER, 1874-1930, Germany:

..Victor MULLER, 1829-71, Germany:

Background: Born in Frankfurt Norman1977
Training/Influences: Studying in Frankfurt, Antwerp and Paris, he, as a colourist, was influenced by his fellow student Feuerbach and, as a Realist, by Courbet Norman1977
Oeuvre: A painter mainly of mythological and literary subjects Norman1977
Characteristics: Muller was considered a revolutionary for approaching his subjects with the Realism he had learned from Courbet in Paris. Strong use of colour Norman1977
Circle: In 1864 Muller settled in Munich where he became leader of the Realist-oriented group that included Liebl, Thomas and Haider Norman1977

..William MULLER, 1812-45, England:

Background: He was born in Bristol where his father was the German-born curator of the Museum Norman1977
Influences: Constable & Cox for his English landscapes; Turner for his Venetian & Middle Eastern paintings Norman1977
Career: In 1833 he first exhibited at the RA; in 1834-5 he visited Germany, Switzerland & Italy, during 1838-9 Greece, Egypt, Malta & Naples, & in 1843-4 Turkey Norman1977
Characteristics: His English views have a fresh naturalism & his Venetian & Middle Eastern work is freely painted & richly coloured Norman1977
Collections: Bristol

Augustus MULREADY, 1844-1904, William’s grandson, England; Victorian Modern Life:

Background: He was born in Kensel Green, London, into a family of artists. Besides William they included his grandmother Elizabeth Mulready,1786-1864, a landscapist & John Varley’s sister; & his father William Mulready Junior, 1805-78, who was a portraitist & picture restorer Wikip
Training: At the South Kensington Schools Wikip

Career: Throughout his life he was befriended by John Horsley. Between 1863 & 1880 he exhibited at the RA. He frequently visited the Cranbrook Colony Wikip, TurnerDtoI p69
Oeuvre: Genre paintings of London Street scenes especially of urchins, flower sellers & children; also, occasional landscapes. His paintings often the contrast the poor & the affluent, & show the former to be active & inquiring as well as down & out WoodDic, Wikip
Characteristic: His extensive use of colour & attention to detail was similar to that of his father & grandfather, & his works are not sentimentalised Wikip
Verdict: His work has been regarded as repetitive but it was highly varied given his chosen field Maas p234, Wikip

-William MULREADY, 1786-1863, Ireland: Troubadour

Training: Varley, his brother-in-law; 1800 RA Schools OxDicArt, Norman1977

Influences: Wilkie & Dutch 17^thcentury painting L&L

Career: He was active in England L&L. In 1816 The Fight Interrupted made his reputation & he became an RA OxDicArt, Norman1977,

Phases: Landscapes & historical genre; then scenes from contemporary life, & from 1820s light & clear colours on a white ground replacing meticulous brushwork OxDicArt

Characteristics: His figures were painted with sympathy & humour & his everyday incidents were often somewhat ambiguous Treuherz1993 p21

Innovations: Together with Wilkie he was a founding father of Victorian genre Norman1977. He was a precursor of the Pre-Raphaelites, though they thought his work trivial OxDicArt

Verdict: excellent literary genre etc; brilliant draftsman in chalk, particularly his nudes Treuherz1993 p21

Personal: He was unhappily married. Mulready & his father had a punch-up Errington p47

*MUNCH, Edvard, 1863-1944, Norway; Expressionism Movement

Background: Born Loten, Hedmark, Norway on a farm. (i) His father was an army doctor, & later a physician in Oslo. His family belonged to the cultural elite but his parents were impoverished & had to live in unhealthy tenements in Christiana/Oslo. His mother died of TB when Munch was five & a sister when he was 14. One of his surviving sisters went mad & the other was permanently frigid due to unhappy love affairs Grove22 p289, Hodin p11, Hughes1991 p277. (ii) There was a Norwegian Avant Garde group led by Hans Jaeger, the author of Christiania’s Bohemia Hodin p33. From 1850 there was a growing belief that the metropolis was a destroyer of souls, a place of lonely crowds & of artificial distraction. Although Munch & Freud had never heard of each other it is significant that in in 1885 he published his Studies on Hysteria 14 Grove22 p289, Hughes1997 pp 276, 283. After his wife’s death, his father was beset by religious anxiety & sometimes near insanity, which led to violent punishments Hodin pp 11-12

Training: 1881 at the Oslo School of Design & during 1889-90 briefly with Leon Bonnat in Paris. Munch & other young artists rented a studio near to the realist artist Christian Krohg, who advised them Hodin p 20, Brigstocke

Influences: Nietzsche & Manet when in Paris, & Van Gogh & Gauguin. His portraits were in the tradition of Velazquez, Rubens & Goya, together with Manet, Renoir & Whistler Hodin pp 31,38, 128, 137; Brigstocke

Career. During his early Bohemian phase which began around 1884, he had a love affair with a beautiful young woman whom he left due to anxiety about his work. She falsely said she was dying, he was fetched back, & she drew a gun & threatened suicide unless he relented. There was a struggle in which gun was fired, which left him wounded with a useless finger. In 1885 he visited Paris, & made further trips there, 1889-92. After his father died in 1889 while he was in Paris, he almost had a nervous collapse shutting himself in a room, grieving for his father, ruminating on an affair which he had with his cousin’s wife, obsessed by death & plagued by suicidal thoughts. He went to Berlin in 1892 after being invited to show his masterpieces at the Verein Berliner Kunstler/Berlin Artists Association. The exhibition closed after a week because the conservative Anton von Werner declared his works degenerate. However, what became known as the Munch Affair gained him publicity & he spent much of the 1900s in Berlin Hodin pp 31, 88-9, Grove22 pp 289, 291, Wikip, the web re The Munch Affair, Brigstocke. In 1908, after years of mental tension, over-work & heavy drinking he had a nervous breakdown, entered a clinic in Copenhagen & had electric shock treatment during 1908-09, etc. This proved effective, his gloom lifted, he became a total abstainer, & his work became less sombre. In 1916 he bought the estate of Ekeley in Skoyen, residing there for the rest of his life Hodin pp 121,123, 128,131; the web

Oeuvre: Paintings & prints, including figure compositions, landscapes, decorative murals during 1909-15, portraits & graphic work which included drawings, lithographs & pastels Hodin pp 139-45, Hughes1991 p277

Characteristics: His main image of family life was the sickroom as in Death in the Sickroom,1895 (NG Oslo). Few of his paintings represent women in a favourable light & he did not regard women as social beings. He saw them as elemental forces, either vampires, or as fertility figures as in Madonna, 1895-1902 (Munch-Museet, Oslo) where the woman appears to be recumbent beneath her lover & procreation was implied by an original frame on which spermatozoa are depicted Hughes1991 p 277, Gibson p145, webimage

Feature: What makes his work distinctive & differentiates it from that of his contemporaries is his contempt for stylishness & the consequent absence of self-consciousness. [This was evident from the bravura manner of painting then being practiced by so many artists.] In 1899 Munch declared, “No longer shall I paint interiors, & people reading, & women knitting . I shall paint people who breathe & feel & suffer & love.” Every element in a composition contributes towards the emotional purpose he has in mind as in his famous 1893 painting The Scream (NG Oslo). Here the figure & the surrounding landscape cry out as if in pain & according to his own account he actually heard them: “I was tired & ill – I stood looking across the fjord – the sun was setting – the clouds were coloured red – like blood … I thought I heard a scream – I … painted the clouds like real blood. The colours were screaming”. Lucie-S 1972 p186, Hodin p53, Hughres1991 p285.

Phases: The Scream was a turning point in Munch’s artistic career. Previously his work had been a mix of naturalism as in Net Mending/Man Binding Fishnet, 1888, painted in a careful & colourful naturalist style & Expressionism as in the The Sick Child, 1885-6 (both NG, Oslo) in which Munch recollecting his sister’s death produced a work in thick coagulations of paint, & originally more scratched than painted, created effects similar to those of James Ensor & Van Gogh in which they anticipated 20^th century Expressionism Grove22 p289, Hodin pp 22-5. His best paintings were done around 1895. One of these was the [as in] Puberty which is picture of a naked, staring girl in brilliant spring light which is however casting menacing shadow. After recovering from his breakdown his work was less fraught as in his paintings of workers such as in Ploughing/Two Horse Team, 1919, & even his women cease to be disturbing as in his Model on the Sofa, 1928 (both Munch Museum, Oslo). The latter depicts a resting & relaxed young woman in a colourful & comforting interior Hughes1991 p276, L&L, Hodin pp 62-64. However, what is most striking are the Oslo University Murals, painted in oil on canvas, which occupied him during 1910-14, & constitute some of the most important works produced during the first half of the 20^th century. They are painted in fresh, strong, harmonious colours in the [as in] Sun , 1909-11, with its radiating light picks out jewel-like patches; while in [the as in] Winter, Kragero, 1915, is more realistic but perhaps more poetic & tranquil. The Sun is a strong work with a male quality & another [as in] work, Alma Mater, 1909-11, which depicts a mother & children, & is painted in summer colours, symbolises the Great Mother & eternal rebirth. Thus, after his breakdown & cure, Munch was at last able to revise his attitude to the female sex & to sexuality Hodin pp 137, 144

Autobiography: ” My path has always been along an abyss; my life has been an effort to stand up”. “My art is rooted in a single reflection: why am I not as others are? Why was there a curse on my cradle?” “Disease & insanity were the black angels on guard at my cradle . In my childhood I always felt that I was treated in an unjust way, without a mother, sick, & with threatened punishment in Hell hanging over my head” Bowness p80, Gibson p144, Hughes1991 p277.

Circle: In Berlin he associated with August Strindberg, Richard Dahlem, Julius Meier-Graefe, Stanislaw Przbyzewski, Dagney Juell, etc, who belonged to a Bohemian group who met at the bierkeller schwarzen Ferkel L&L, Grove22 p291

Status/Verdict: He was Norway’s greatest artist OxDicMod

Legacy: He was a precursor of Expressionism in Germany & Austria in which the city was a locust of anxiety Gibson p238, Hughes1997 p285

Reception/Patrons: When the Sick Child was exhibited at the progressive Hostutstilling/National Art Exhibition it was vehemently attacked by critics & artists, though Jaeger wrote that it was a work of genius. After reverting to a less adventurous naturalist style, he held a one-man exhibition, 1889, & thereby obtained a state grant enabling him to study with Bonnat. The Munch Affair led to further & exhibitions & to a small but influential clientele of patrons including Eberhard von Bodenhausen, Walther Ratheau & Harry Count Kessler Grove22 pp 289, 291, web Re Hostutstillingen

Repute: Outside Norway he was long underestimated & regarded as a provincial & gaunt psychotic Hughes1991 p276

Collections: The Munch Museum & the NG, Oslo

Mundo. See El Mundo

-MUNKACSY, Milanhaly von, 1844-1909, Hungary:

Background: Born Munkacs Norman1977
Training: In Budapest, 1863; in Vienna with Rawl, 1864; in Munich with Adam, 1866; & in Dusseldorf with Knaus, 1868-72.   He visited Paris in 1867, moved there in 1872, & worked at Barbizon in 1873-4.   In 1896 he returned to Hungary Norman1977
Influences: The Dusseldorf School & Courbet Norman1977
Career: He visited Paris in 1867, moved there in 1872, & worked at Barbizon in 1873-4.   In 1896 he returned to Hungary Norman1977
Oeuvre/Phases: His early work is mostly genre, including many Hungarian scenes & often showing a concern for the poor.   In Paris he established an international reputation with dark toned religious & historical paintings Norman1977.   He used glowing colours & & a softer more personal brushstroke on landscapes L&L.   His contrasts of light & shade were violent Celebonovic p84
Status: He was in 1956 considered the greatest of Hungarian painters Pogany p7
Grouping: His earlier works were Realist Norman1977, L&L
Verdict: Although he painted many admirable pictures he reduced the visual to the dramatic & avoided broadening his colour register Celbonovic p52
Influenced: Liberemann, Fritz von Uhde Norman1977, Celebonovic p190
Collections: Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

MUNGGENAST, Joseph, 1680-1741, Austria: Baroque:

Background: Born Schann, Tyrol Grove22 p296
Career: He settled in St Polten, worked for the architect Jakob Prandtatauer & gradually became an independent architect. His most important work which included painting was executed at Altenburg Abbey from 1730 & at Melk Grove22 p297
Oeuvre/Characteristics: Architecture & associated painting with their use of colour Grove22 pp 296-
Status: He was a leading architect in Lower Austria outside Vienna Grove22 p297
Grouping: The final phase of Austrian Baroque Grove22 p297

-MUNNINGS, Sir Alfred, 1878-1959, England:; Impressionism, British & Irish:

Born: Mendham, Suffolk, the son of a miller & a farmer’s daughter OxDicMod.

Training: As a lithographer after leaving school at fourteen & in the evenings at the Norwich School of Art, 1893-8. At the Academie Julian, Paris 1903-4 OxDicMod, Grove22 p312

Influences: Heinrich von Zugel whose work he saw in Munich, 1909. He was impressed by his broad brushwork & sense of movement. Munnings second wife, Violet McBride, said she had an adverse effect because he now painted for money. She encouraged him to accept commissions from society figures Grove22 p312, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Wikip

Career: Initially he supported himself through freelance poster work & occasional sales of paintings. He was blinded in one eye, 1898; had two pictures exhibited at the RA, 1899; visited the Lavenham Horse Fair & began painting horsey subjects as in A Suffolk Horse Fair, 1901 (Munnings Museum, Dedham); after Paris he lived a semi-monadic life travelling through East Anglia; joined the artists’ colony at Newlyn,1911, where, due to his ebullience, he led its social activities; married a student from the Stanhope School who turned out to be mentally unstable & committed suicide, 1914; painted for the Canadian Cavalry Brigade in France, 1918, & his mounted portrait of Seeley, the Canadian general, brought him commissions from the nobility; he was elected RA, 1926, & its President 1944; attacked Cezanne, Matisse & Picasso for corrupting art at his inebriated Presidential address, 1948, having previously announced that he intended to resign; & brought an unsuccessful prosecution of Stanley spencer for obscenity, 1950 Grove22 p312, Fox1985 pp 134-56,Wikip, Hutchinson p171

Oeuvre: Equestrian portraits, race meetings, hunt scenes & gypsy life, & landscapes in oils & occasionally watercolour. From the beginning his work was not confined to horsey subjects but included genre subjects as in Stranded (Bristol City Art Gallery) & Cows at Water, 1912 (Munnings Museum, Dedham) & landscapes Grove22 p312, Fox1985 pp133, 140

Characteristics: He used a bright palette, & from 1909 broad brushwork & a sense of movement as in The Ford, 1910 (Munnings Museum). His commissioned works tend to lack the vitality of the self-chosen subjects Grove 22 p312

Beliefs: “If you paint a tree for God’s sake make it look like a tree, & if you paint a sky, try & make it look Like a sky” as he said in his Presidential address E&L p20

Collections: The Munnings Museum, Dedham; Canadian War Museum, Ottawa

*MUNTER, Gabrielle, 1877-1962, Germany; Expressionism Movement

Background: born Berlin OxDicMod
Training: 1902 pupil Kandinsky’s Munich Phalanx School OxDicMod
Influences: c 1908 traditional Bavarian painting behind glass widespread in Staffel area BecksM p32
Career: Kandinsky’s lover until War (difficult relationship though she revered him as man/artist); 1909 founder member avant-garde Neue Kunstlervereinigung; from 1931 lived Murnau OxDicMod
Oeuvre: mainly landscape OxDicMod
Characteristics: stylistically nearer Jawlensky than (encouraging) Kandinsky OxDicMod

MUNTHE, Gerhard, 1849-1929, Norway:

Background: Born Elverum. He was the son of a physician & family members were intellectual & distinguished Grove22 p318, Wikip
Career: The painter Ludwig Munthe was his relative & he visited him in at Dusseldorf during the winters of 1874-6. During 1877-82 he mostly lived in Munich Grove22 p318, Wikip
Training: At the art school Christiana/Oslo under Eckersberg, etc, 1870-4 Grove22 p318, Wikip
Influences: The Old Masters & contemporary art including French Realism & later on Puvis de Chavannes & Gauguin Grove22 p318
Oeuvre/Characteristics/Phases: His oils which are of a realist type often depict coastal towns or interior views & are mainly in dark tones. From 1882 he started to use lighter colouring & after 1892 he produced some decorative watercolours of an Art Nouveau type webimages, Grove22 p318
Reception: His work appealed to patriotic Norwegians Grove22 p318

***MURILLO, Bartolome, 1618-82, Spain=Seville; Baroque

Background: Murillo was born in Seville Grove22 p342. He was the youngest of 14 children of a prosperous barber-surgeon L&L

Teacher: His relative Juan del Castillo Brown 1998 p202

Influences: Roelas’ luminous colourism together with Zurbaran’s tight modelling, & later Van Dyck & Momper L&L. Murillo also followed Herrera the Younger’s dramatic use of putti Brown 1998 p204. Another type of influence was Seville’s parlous state, [of which Murillo was well aware as shown by his] Virgin & Child Distributing Bread to Priests(1679). This depicts poor & elderly priests having to beg after the 1649 earthquake Dulwich Picture Gallery. [Seville’s decline may help explain why Murillo painted comfort pictures.]

Career: After his parents’ deaths in 1627-8 he was brought up by his sister & her surgeon husband L&L. In 1645-6 he made his reputation with paintings of Franciscan saints for its monastery in Seville, & displaced Zurbaran as the city’s leading painter OxDicArt. During the late 1640s he began painting vagrant & mendicant children probably for the foreign market. Between 1650 & 1655 he painted large-scale Madonna’s & in 1656 his first High Baroque picture (Vision of S. Anthony of Padua) using putti to animate & energise the composition L&L, Brown 1998 pp 204-5. In 1658 Murillo made a trip to Madrid to study the latest techniques & practices probably in response to Herrera’s Stigmatisation of St Francis Brown p205. With de Valdes Leal and Herrera the Younger he founded the Seville Academy in 1660. Around 1665 he produced a series of Old Testament scenes for a private patron with masterly landscape backgrounds L&L, OxDicArt

Oeuvre: This included rarish sombre & intellectual portraits Brown p203, OxDicArt

Phases: Initially he was a naturalistic tenebrist but from the early 1660s he abandoned Zurbaran’s tenebrism & monumentality in favour of idealised figures, soft, melting forms & delicate colouring OxDicArt, L&L. His late style was vaporous, increasingly fluid, translucent & animated, but it was restrained by firm draftsmanship L&L

Characteristics/Iconography: From the Birth of the Virgin, 1660, he painted calm & soothing pictures in which the gap between the mortal & divine was narrowed Brown p206. He used warm colours & rich textures & avoided the violent aspects of Christianity. In his sole Crucifixion Christ places a freed arm reassuringly around S. Francis. He painted six great paintings of acts of mercy, including the return of the prodigal son & the feeding of the 5000 Brown pp 215, 217, 230. His favourite subject was the Immaculate Conceptions, of which he painted about 24 versions. He also produced numerous devotional Holy Family scenes Brown pp 203, 222, OxDicArt, Dulwich Picture Gallery. His paintings of the Virgin have a warm & comforting orange as a background colour. To humanise the divine he omitted halos & only had minimal nimbuses for Christ & the Virgin although the Virgin is often differentiated from humans by warmer, softer colouring & freer paintwork. Murillo also painted pictures showing the bounty of nature, including Spring represented as a flower girl & summer as a young man See Brown p206.

Clientele: This included foreign merchants in Seville, especially Nicholas Omazur from Flanders who owned 31 of his paintings. Another 17 were owned by three other merchants & financiers Brown pp 224-7. Murillo’s works would have blended into merchants’ comfortable homes Brown p230

Status: Around1660 he was first equal in Seville with Leal, but by 1670 Murillo was ahead Brown p213

Innovations: He painted the first genre in Spain (20 surviving works) & was amongst the most pictorially inventive & spontaneous in the 17^th century Brown. He was probably influenced by the Bamboccianti works owned by his foreign patrons pp 227-8, L&L

Religion/Personal: He was pious. Murillo belonged to several confraternities & three of his children entered the Church OxDicArt. His wife’s death (1663), & increased loneliness, may help explain his increasingly smiling children & affectionate Madonnas L&L

Grouping: The Baroque Conti p51

Features: He had many assistants OxDicArt

Legacy & Repute: Murillo had many followers & a continuing influence on Sevillian painting into the 19^th century OxDicArt. He inspired the Fancy Pictures of Reynolds &, Gainsborough; & he influenced Rococo painting L&L. He had enormous fame in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries but was later dismissed as facile & sugary OxDicArt. An early Spanish critic was Antonio Pazlomino who in 1724 criticised Murillo for abandoning the national style for the seductive power of colour in order to win popular favour. He abandoned drawing which “does not move the masses” Moffitt p164

..Gerald MURPHY, 1888-1964, USA:

Background: He was born in Boston, the son of a successful leather & luggage merchant OxDicMod
Training: Lessons with Natalia Goncharova briefly during 1920-21 Grove22 p350
Influences: Leger, with whom he shared an enthusiasm of machine- made objects & strong, flat forms OxDicMod
Career: In 1921 he moved to Paris, discovered modern art & decided to become a painter. Between 1923 & 1926 he exhibited at Salon des Independents Between 1924 & 1929 he painted a number of bold, schematised images of pens, matchboxes, safety razors, etc. He stopped painting because of problems with his children’s health, & in 1932 he returned to America to help the family firm through Depression difficulties OxDicMod
Oeuvre: It was very small & besides paintings included costume & scenery design for modern ballets Grove22 p350,OxDicMod
Characteristics: It was precise, graphic & impersonal as in his Watch, 1925 (Dallas Museum of Art) Grove22 p350, webimages
Innovation: Along with Stuart Davis he painted commercial products as in his Razor, 1924 (Dallas Museum of Art). His work anticipated Pop Art by a generation, though it also had something in common with Purism OxDicMod
Circle: Braque, Picasso & Leger, who was a close friend OxDicMod
Verdict: He was a “gifted dilettante” Hughes p433
Gossip: He was the original of Dick Diver in Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender Is the Night Hughes1997 p433
Repute: His work was almost unknown until an exhibition in 1960 OxDicMod

..Hermann MURPHY, 1867-1945, USA; American Impressionism

Background: Born Marlborough, Massachusetts, the son of an Irish-born shoe manufacturer ArtinParis p250
Training: At the Boston Museum School from 1886 under Emil Grundmann, Joseph Decamp & Edmund Tarbell; & for five years at the Academie Julian under Benjamin Constant & Jean-Paul Laurens Wikip, ArtinParis p250
Influences: Whistler ArtinParis p250
Career: Initially he worked as an illustrator & accompanied the Nicaraguan Canal Expedition, 1887-8. He shared quarters with Tanner in Paris where his portraits were exhibited at the Société National des Beaux-Arts,1895-6. In 1897 he settled in Winchester, Massachusetts. Here in 1903, he & Charles Prendergast opened a frame shop which subsequently moved to Boston, He exhibited at the Armoury Show & in 1934 became Academician at the National Academy of Design Wikip, ArtinParis p250,
Oeuvre: Landscapes, still-life, nudes & portraits webimages
Characteristics: His landscapes are Impressionist webimages
Grouping: He was a Tarbellite Wikip

..MURRAY, Sir David, 1849-1933, Scotland;

Background: Born Glasgow, the son of a shoemaker WoodDic, Wikip
Training: Evening classes at the Glasgow School of Art under Robert Greenlees Wikip
Influences: [Corot & Barbizon]
Career He spent 11 years in business before takin up painting; moved to London in 1882; & exhibited at the RA from 1875 & also at the Grosvenor Gallery. My Love has gone a-Courting, 1884, & In the Country of Constable, 1903, were bought by the Chantry Bequest, & he was elected an RA in 1905 WoodDic
Oeuvre: Landscapes & coastal scenes, rural genre WoodDic
Phases: Until 1886 he painted in Scotland, thereafter mainly in England WoodDic
Characteristics: Realistic landscapes painted in in a broad, vigorous style .In Betwixt Croft & Creel, 1885, he details fishing equipment in the foreground of a coastal landscape. His works were painted from a low viewpoint & he often used muted colours WoodDic, Macmillan1990 p254
Status: [He was probably the most popular Edwardian landscapist]

..MUSSINI, Luigi, 1813-88, Italy:

Background: Born in Berlin Norman1977
Training: Mussini began formal study at the Florence Academy but rebelled against academic teaching, seeking inspiration in 15^th century painting. Winning a pension for study in Rome (1840-44) Mussini began an association with Ingres at the French Academy Norman1977
Influence: Not a prolific painter, his role in the rediscovery of the Italian primitives was greater as a teacher, writer and administrator Norman1977
Characteristics: Purismo, based on his studies of 15^th century paintings in chapels and churches of Florence, with some classicist touches Norman1977

Muttoni. See della Vecchia

-MUZIANO, Girolamo, 1532-92, Italy; Counter – Reformation Movement

Background: He was born at Brescia L&L

Training: Padua &Venice where he trained as a landscape painter. As he was not trained as a Mannerist, he did not have to purge his style before connecting with the Counter-Maniera Grove22 p391, HallM1999 p197

Influences: Del Piombo for his figure style & the painting of atmospheric landscape as learned in Venice L&L, HallM 1999p197

Career: He went to Rome around 1549 but left due to the artistic drought under Paul IV for Orvieto where he worked, 1555-8; returned to Rome & painted (destroyed) fresco landscapes at Cardinal Ippolito’s Il d’Este’s villas in Rome & Tivoli, 1560-6. In 1577 he persuaded Gregory XIII to establish the Academia di S Luca & he painted Circumcision for the high altar of the of Il Gesu, (now in Palazzo Cenci-Bolognetti), 1687-9 Grove22 pp 391, 393-4; HallM 1999 p197.

Speciality: Landscape drawings for which 1570 Cornelius Cort published engravings, 1570 L&L, Bailey p28

Oeuvre: It included many Counter Reformation altarpieces in Rome L&L

Characteristics: Venetian colourism, especially for landscape backgrounds to religious pictures as in the Rest on the Flight into Egypt, c1553 (S. Caterina della Rota, Rome) with its arresting eerie light on the countryside. His Raising of Lazarus 1555 (Pinacoteca, Vatican) has arresting soft colouring, light effects & drama together with innovative Classical ruins in the background. Atmospheric effects were a feature of his work Hall1999 p197, Grove22 pp 391-2, web images

Aim: Lucidity & legibility HallM1999 p212

Speciality: Landscape drawings for which Cornelius Cort published engravings, 1570 L&L, Bailey p28

Innovations: In the late 1560s he devised a large non-theatrical altarpiece at Orvieto Cathedral which would become standard with many contemporaries & was one of the most successful responses to the Counter-Reformation spirit of spiritual reform. It featured large, solid figures with normal proportions, natural poses, direct gestures, & restrained emotion with elements of melancholy Bailey p28.

Status: During the late 1570s & 80s with the patronage of Gregory XIII he was the leading religious artist in Rome Grove22 p392

Followers: Cezare Nebbia who worked with him at Orvieto, Marcello Venusti, & Giovanni Ricci & Santi di Tito Bailey p28, HallM1999 p252

..MYERS, Gerome, 1867-1940, USA; Ashcan School

Background: Born Petersburg, Virginia, into a poor family OxDicMod
Training: He studied in the evening at the Cooper Union & the Art Students League OxDicMod
Influences: Modern art had no impact on his work OxDicMod
Career: He began by working at odd jobs in Philadelphia & Baltimore. In 1886 he settled in New York & worked as a theatrical scene painter while studying. During the 1890s he worked for an engraving company & in the art department of the New York Tribune. He visited France in 1896 & began to paint in 1900. Myers was a founder member of the Association of American Painters & Sculptors which organised the Armoury Show, 1913 OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Paintings & etchings OxDicMod
Characteristics: His paintings of slums are picturesque & romanticised OxDicMod
Innovations: He was one of the first American artists to depict the slums OxDicArt
Feature: He ended by bewailing the diminution of warm human contact & way in which New Yorkers now hid inside their houses OxDicMod

..MYLNIKOV, Andrei, 1919-2012, confusable with Boris Milyukov, Russia; Socialist Realism:

Background: Born Pokrovsky/Pokrovsk Bown1991 p245, Wikip
Training: At the Institute of Painting, Sculpture & Architecture (InZhSA), Leningrad, under Igor Grabar & Victor Oreshnikov,1940-6 Bown1991 p245, Wikip.
Career: He lived & worked in St Petersburg. From 1947 he taught at the Institute. He was awarded a Stalin Prize for In Peaceful Fields, 1950 (State Russian Museum, St Petersburg) Wikip, Bown1991 pp 195, 245.
Oeuvre/Characteristics: Peaceful landscapes featuring water & trees which are sometimes of a rather sad nature employing sombre green colouring as in Sultry Day (Private). They contrast with his colourful interior genre scenes with figures, & even more sharply with his optimistic Stalin prize painting, a sunny vision of active collective farm women in a now peaceful & beautiful land Bown pp 194-5, Petrova pp210-11
Status: a personal & creative interpretation of Socialist Realism & a great romantic Bown1989 pp 28-30

-Daniel MYTENS/MIJTENS I, The Elder, c1590-c1647, England (Netherlands):

Background: Born in Delft, part of a Dutch family of painters of Flemish origin, the earliest known of which was his father Aert, 1541-1602 Grove21 p509

Training: Probably Mierevelt & sometimes this is stated as if it is certain Waterhouse1953 p53, Hayes1991 p12

Career: In 1610 he joined the guild of painters in The Hague Grove21 p508

Career: By 1618 he had moved to England and worked for Earl of Arundel He painted portraits of Thomas Howard, 2^nd Earl of Arundel Grove21 pp 509-510. During 1620’s he was a leading court painter & the Painter of King’s Chamber. In 1624 King James I granted him an annuity which was increased by Charles I in 1625. He was sent back to study the latest Flemish portraiture and continued royal portraiture until Van Dyke’s arrival in 1632 L&L p485. Van Dyke then painted a double portrait of the King & Queen to rival one by Mytens. When Henrietta Maria saw what Van Dyke could do with her face Mytens she demanded that Mytens picture be repainted in the Van Dykian manner & Van Dyke was commissioned to re-work Mytens’ subject. In 1634 he went back to Hague where he remained as an agent for Arundel Blake p255, OxDicArt

Oeuvre: Portraits often of life size Grove21 p509

Characteristics: His figures have a solid frontal stance. Although his portraits may lack Van Dyke’s elegance and nobility, the best are sympathetic interpretations of character and atmosphere as in his companion portraits of Thomas Earl of Arundel & his wife Aletheia, c1618. His figures have a solid frontal stance W&M pp 70-1

Phases: His earlier work was rather stiff unlike his masterly [as in] portrait of James 3^rd Marquess & first Duke of Hamilton, 1629 (NPG, Edinburgh) with its lucid composition & delicate & unusual colour harmonies & restrained chiaroscuro. His clothes are silver-grey & fawn, & his suit is embroidered with silver which catches the light & behind there is with a curtain in shades of blue-grey behind. It is a work of outstanding beauty Grove 21 p 509, Hayes1991 pp 98-99

Innovations: He introduced a new elegance & grandeur into English portraiture especially in his full-length works. This is evident in his paintings of the Arundels, which are also notable for the depiction of hands with a flesh & blood quality, which had previously been lacking. Moreover the bulk & weight of the man, the convincing depiction of the woman & her rough, together with the way in which they are anchored in space provides these paintings with a new & worldly realism. He, like Cornelius Johnson, painted works that have a quality of draughtsmanship & facture which surpasses Geeraerts’ impersonal technique & Van Somer’ coarse & lifeless work OxDicArt, Waterhouse1953 p55, W&M p61, webimages

Verdict: Mytens portraits have been compared with those of Van Dyke & judged inferior on the ground that the latter’s figures are more elegant, graceful & subtle as their respective portraits of the Earl of Warwick demonstrate (National Maritime Museum, 1632, & Met, c1632). [Perhaps Vân Dyke was the greater painter but Mytens’ direct, robust & realistic work must be given the credit it clearly deserves.]

Family: In 1612 he married Gratia Cletcher, sister of the goldsmith Thomas Cletcher the Elder. On her death he married miniature painter Susannah Droeshot, 1628 Grove21 p509. His Grand-Nephew Daniel Mytens the Younger, 1644-88, was also a portraitist OxDicArt

.. NAGEL, Wilfried, 1906- confusable with Otto, Germany; Nazi:

Background: He appears to have been born at Bad Oeynhausen Information from the German Historical Museum, Berlin
Training: The art academies in Dusseldorf under Eduard von Gebhardt & Wilhelm Dorringer; & in Munich under Heinrich Ehmsen Information…
Influences: [His style & subject matter suggests that he was particularly influenced by Ehmsen] who joined the radical November Group; joined a pro-Communist committee, 1930; & lived & exhibited in Russia, 1932-33; & depicted soldiers being gassed during the Great War, 1931-33 Webimages, Wikip
Career: He probably worked in the Luftwaffe propaganda unit during the war; lived in Essen around 1940; exhibited at the Great Art Exhibitions, Westphalia, & Munich, 1942 & 1944; worked as an interior architect post-1945, but continued to participate in art exhibitions Information…
Oeuvre/Speciality: War paintings in oils & watercolour, Y&D pp145-7
Feature: His works are of exceptional interest. They are vivid, dramatic, & well composed & executed. What however makes them particularly notable is their frank depiction of the terrifying effect of bombing on the German population as in The Air Raid, 1943; together with allegorical works anticipating defeat & carnage as in Vision of a Soldier on the Eastern Front, 1943, & the truly hellish impact of Russian invasion as in The Red Terror (Allegory) & The Great Horror, both 1945 Y&D pp 145-7. [It seems highly likely that his works during the second world war reflected an anti-war & anti-Nazi stance which he owed to Ehmsen] though not the latter’s continued belief in the Soviet system Wikip

.NALDINI, Giovan Battista, 1537-91, Italy:

Background: He was born at Fiesole Grove22 p447
Training: Jacopo Pontormo, 1549-56 Grove22 p44
Influences: Andrea del Sarto, Bronzino & Vasari as well Pontormo Grove22 p447
Career: He was in Rome after Pontormo’s death in 1557, returned to Florence in about 1562 to assist Vasari but returned to Rome in the late 1570’s. He was a founder member of the Accademia del Disegno, 1563 Grove22 pp 447-8
Oeuvre: Oils & frescos Grove22 pp 447-8
Characteristics: His figures are stylized, serpentine & expressive: sculptural in form but painterly in detail, arranged in compact compositions with concentrated lights & sections of warm yellows, reds & greens. He used gentle sfumato & avoided the chill linearity & metallic forms of Bronzino, Vasari & Alexandro Allori Grove22 p447, Hall1999 p252
Patrons: He worked largely for the Medici under Vasari’s supervision Grove22 p447
Grouping: Though influenced by the Counter-Reformation, he remained a highly individual Mannerist Grove22 pp 447-8
Pupils: Giovanni Balducci, Valerio Marucelli, Cosimo Gamberucci, Francesco Curradi, Domenico Passignano Grove22 p448

Nanni. See da Udine

-NANTEUIL, Robert, c1623-78, Edelinck’s father-in-law, France:

Background: He was born at Reims, the son of a wool merchant Grove22 p405.
Influences: Philippe de Chanpaigne’s drawing style Grove22 p405
Career: He moved to Paris in 1647, he gained official recognition in 1652 with his engraving of Cardinal; Mazarin & in 1658 became Dessinateur et Graveur Ordinaire du Roi Grove22 p405.
Oeuvre: He was a highly accomplished engraver who specialized in portraits. Many reproduced those by Phillipe de Champaigne but others were original. These display an acute power of observation. He aimed to capture character & virtually eliminated accessories & costume was invariably simple L&L, Blunt1954 p176, Grove22 p405.
Verdict: He is in engraving what Champaigne was in painting. He was the best French pastellist of the 18^th century Blunt1954 p176
Legacy: His style dominated French portrait engraving until the end of the century Grove22 p405

..Filippo NAPOLETANO/D’ANGELI, c1590-1629, Italy=Florence:

Influences: The naturalism of Paul Bril, Goffredo Wals, Adam Elsheimer & other Northern landscapists who were in Naples Grove22 p487
Career: From 1600 he was in Naples & from 1614 in Rome. In 1627 Cosimo II de’Medici summoned him to Florence, where he worked closely with Jacques Callot. He sketched in the Tuscan countryside. By 1622 he was back in Rome but probably visited Naples during 1624-5 Grove22 p467
Innovation: When in Florence he developed a new type of realistic landscape painting of small scenes suggesting the charm of country life Grove22 p487
Patrons: The Barberini when back in Rome Grove22 p487
Influence: Salvator Rosa, Micco Spadaro, & with his naturalism the qDutch Italianates & Claude Grove22 p487

..Francesco NAPOLETANO/GALLI, -c1501, Italy:

Training: He was one of Leonardo’s first pupils in Milan NGLeonardo pp 8, 99
Career: He worked in Leonardo’s studio in Milan during the period while the latter was working for the Duke from about 148. In 1494 Napoletano was working, along with Ambrogio de Predis, at the Imperial Mint at Innsbruck NGLeonardo pp 72, 172, L&L
Characteristics: A strong & lively line & strongly contrasted light & shade, viz Leonardo’s stylistic traits but in a slightly exaggerated form, especially Napoletano’s corkscrew curls NGLeonardo p99

-John NASH, 1893-1977, Paul’s brother, England:

Background: He was born at Colchester Grove22 p525
Training: Self-taught.   His brother warned him against attending an art college of any type Grove22 p525, Yorke p32
Influences: Harold Gilman who encouraged him to use oils, & the French landscapist John Marchand Grove22 p525
Career: He was a member of the London & Cumberland Market Groups & a War Artist in both conflicts.   He became an RA in 1951 L&L, Grove22 p525.
Oeuvre: Paintings, wood-engravings & illustrations Grove22 p525
Characteristics/Phases: His early work was in watercolour display a primitivising tendency with firm drawing, sharp colouring & self-contained forms.   His landscapes during the 1920s, perhaps his most successful period, were evocative & atmospheric yet tightly constructed Grove22 p525
Verdict; He had a touch of Paul’s visionary powers together with elegant naturalism L&L

*Paul NASH, 1889-1946, John’s brother, England:

Background: He was born in London, the son of a barrister OxDicMod
Inspirations: Blake &Turner OxDicArt
Influences: Around 1911 he was advised by Sir William Blake Richmond to go for Nature, & some homework was set. At first Nash found nature worship difficult but slowly the beauty of trees & other organic things dawned on him. In the 1920s & 30s he was influenced by de Chirico Yorke pp 35-6, OxDicArt
Training: Although briefly at the Slade in 1910, he was essentially self-taught. He was highly critical of the Slade, both of the fellow students & the method by which the nude was depicted using strongly modelled forms instead of single clear contours Grove22 p524, Yorke p32.

Career: He joined the London Group but he largely ignored contemporary art movements & thought Bloomsbury dangerous. In early 1917 he spent three weeks in the trenches. Here he experienced “inner excitement & exaltation” with the landscape “so distorted from its own gentle forms” & appearing “a terrible creation of some malign friend” Harrison pp 85, 135, 138, Yorke p38. In the autumn of 1917 he toured the battlefields on becoming an official War Artist L&L, OxDicArt. After the war he tried his hand at theatrical design etc, but in; 1921 had a severe breakdown. He then spent four years painting at Dymchurch in Kent Harrison p170. Around 1930 he started using photos, & in that year went to Paris with Burra where he first saw a substantial collection of contemporary French art which he found intriguing, especially Surrealism Harrison p233, L&L, OxDicArt. The slump slashed his income & he turned to journalism for the Weekend Review & The Listener. In 1933 he formed the avant-garde Unit One. He illustrated the Shell Guide to Dorset, & in the following year was on the committee of London’s International Surrealist Exhibition, in which he & exhibited. He was once again a War Artist L&L; OxDicArt; Alexandrian p138; Yorke p83

Oeuvre: Oil & watercolour landscapes then, interiors & urban subjects, occasional prints L&L
Phases: During 1910-13 he made drawings, but no oils, inspired by a romantic enthusiasm for Blake, Palmer & the Pre-Raphaelites. His war drawings & watercolours were exhibited at the Goupil & Leicester Galleries in 1917 & 1918. In the first set he employed an essentially traditional technique to provide a new vision of the picturesque. In the second batch of works, on which his post-war oil paintings were based, his approach was more considered. Detail was omitted except where it contributed to the general effect & the pictures display a feeling of deep disgust as expressed in his scenes of devastated landscape. These works display some traces of the influence of Vorticism & of Nevinson’s early war paintings. His Dymchurch & Cezannesgue landscapes were essentially naturalistic with the mood subordinated to a structure based on the naturally abstract forms of sea walls, steps, breakwaters, etc Harrison pp 134-41, 170-1. During the late 1920s he adopted Cubist forms & then effects of space & perspective that were almost Surrealist L&L. Between 1929 & 1931 he experimented with Abstraction Spalding1986 p107. In the late-30s & 1940s he became a Neo-Romantic L&L

Beliefs etc: “I sincerely love & worship trees & know they are…wonderful beautiful people”, 1912. Nash was strongly attracted to particular places, in particular the Wittenham Clumps. Temperamentally Nash, following William Blake, needed his art to be tidy & uncluttered Yorke pp 33, 36
Aim when at Passchendaele in November 1917: “I am no longer an artist interested & curious. I am a messenger who will bring back work from the men who are fighting to those who want the war to go on for ever. Feeble, inarticulate will be my message, but it will have a bitter truth, & may it burn their lousy souls” Harrison pp 138-9.

Verdict: His First World War pictures are some of the most remarkable achievements of British 20^th century art. He was an interpreter of English landscape without equal in the 20^th century, using modernist styles to supplement, but not supplant, English traditions Harrison pp 141, 171
Personal: He [snobbishly] regarded those who lived in & visited Dorset as “beyond belief” Yorke p83
Influence: His sense of atmosphere & love of strange juxtapositions contributed to the growth of Neo-Romanticism Spalding1986 p128

..Thomas Saunders NASH, 1891-1968, England:

Training: At the Slade, 1909-12 & Government Art Classes, 1912-13 Web Liss Llewellyn
Career: He exhibited at the RA & NEAC Web Liss Llewellyn
Oeuvre: Figure compositions, religious subjects, landscapes, & portraits Web Liss Llewellyn

-NATOIRE, Charles-Joseph, 1700-77, France:

Background: He was a native of Nimes Wakefield p99
Training: Lemoyne L&L
Career: In 1721 he was awarded the Prix de Rome, & during 1723-9 he was at the French School in Rome, but then returned to Paris Wakefield p79. During 1751-74 he was director of the French Academy in Rome until he was fired. He then retired to paint landscape at Castel Gandolfo L&L
Oeuvre: Decorative work, history paintings & landscapes Wakefield pp 99-101, L&L
Specialties: Female nudes than were better than Boucher’s Wakefield p101

Phases: Between 1730 & about 1750 he somewhat reluctantly painted endless Rococo decorative & allegorical panels for Versailles, & also for Parisian mansions Wakefield pp 99, 101
Characteristics: His work was like that of like that of Marcantonio Franceschini (female figures that are sveltly elegant with their graciously relaxed poses & tapered, somewhat elongated limbs) NG Art1986 p450

First: French decorative scheme based on a national-patriotic theme with his History of Clovis, 1636-7 L&L
Verdict: He had outstanding artistic gifts & even his earlier work was far from banal Wakefield p99
Influence: His role in the move away from Rococo was pivotal, & his landscapes anticipate those of Hubert Robert & Fragonard Wakefield p99, L&L
Pupil: Vien L&L

*NATTIER, Jean-Marc, 1685-1766, father-in-law of Louis Tocque, France; Rococo

Background: He was born in Paris. His father Marc, 1642-1705, specialised in portraits & his mother Marie nee Courtois, c1555-1703, was a miniaturist Grove22 p684
Training: His parents OxDicArt

Career: In 1725 his Marechal de Saxe attracted attention. In 1740, due to his sensational portraits of the nieces of the Duchesse de Mazarin, he was summoned to Versailles where he painted Louis XV’s daughters etc Wakefield p63

Phases: He began with history paintings etc, but around 1635, due to financial problems, he turned to full-time portraiture Wakefield pp 61-2, 63
Status: He was one of the most successful artists at Louis XV’s court OxDicArt

Innovations: With Nattier portraits of women in mythological roles become more light-hearted & artificial Wakefield p60
Grouping: High Rococo Levey1966 Ch 3

Verdict: His output suffered from overproduction, blandness & repetition, with his countless Hebes. However at his best he was a fine artist & produced some excellent naturalistic portraits. He had an elegant & refined technique and his texture was lucid & transparent Wakefield pp 60, 63. His mythological portraits are risible Lucie-S1971 p151
Pupil: Tocque Wakefield p63.

– NAVARRETE, Juan/EL MUNDO, 1526-79, Spain:

Background: He was born in the northern town of Logrono BrownJ p54
Training: In Venice & he was traditionally belied to be a pupil of Titian OxDicArt
Influences: Bassano’s naturalism & tenebrism L&L
Career: From the mid-1540s to the mid-1550s he lived in Rome. After his return to Spain, he became court painter to Philip II &, under a restrictive contract of 1576, painted eight altarpieces for the Escorial BrownJ p54
Characteristics: His style was eclectic OxDicArt
Innovations: He anticipated 17^th century tenebrism OxDicArt
Status: He was the most important painter to be recruited to work on the Escorial BrownJ pp 53-4
Feature/Personal: He was deaf & dumb, hence his nickname El Mundo, the mute OxDicArt
Legacy: He spread Italian influence in Spain & invested the devotional painting with the dignity, sobriety & realism required by the Spanish church of the Counter-Reformation OxDicArt

..NAVEZ, Francois-Joseph, 1787-1869, Belgium:

Background: He was born at Charleroi into a privileged family & was able to devote himself entirely to art Norman1977,Wikip
Training: With Joseph Francois at the Brussels Academy, 1803-8, & then with David, 1813-6 Grove22 p696.
Influences: Raphael & Ingres & he took an interest in the Nazarenes Norman1977, Grove22 pp 696-7
Career: He returned to Brussels in 1816 when David was exiled in 1816. During 1817-22 Navez was in Rome. He was a figurehead of the Brussels art establishment from around 1830, became director of the Brussels Academy, 1833; & latterly went blind Grove22 pp 696-7, Norman1977
Oeuvre: Biblical subjects; history paintings & portraits Grove22 pp 696-7
Characteristics: His work is technically accomplished & naturalistic Grove22 p696.
Phases: To begin with his biblical subjects were classical & austere as in Hagar & Ishmael, 1820 (Musee d’ Art Ancient, Brussels). However, his association with David put him out of step with the prevailing Romanticism in Brussels & he later adopted a sugary brand of Romanticism as in The Sick Child, 1844 (Alte National galerie, Berlin) .
Friends: The French artists based on the villa Medici in Rome including Victor Schnetz, Leopold Robert, Granet Grove22 p696
Pupils: Van Eucken, Jean-Francois Portales, Leopold Robert, J. Stallaert, Constantin Meunier, Eugene Smits & Alfred Stevens Grove22 p697

-NAY, Ernst, 1902-68, Germany:

Background: Born Berlin OxDicArt
Training: At the Berlin Academy under Hofer OxDicArt
Influences: The Lofoten Islands which are within the Arctic Circle OxDicMod.
Career: He visited Paris in 1921, Rome in 1930 & Norway in 1937 as Munch’s guest. His work was declared degenerate. He continued to paint while serving in France. After the war he lived at Hofheim until 1951, & then settled in Cologne OxDicArt
Phases/ Characteristics: After he painted powerful Expressionist landscapes with heavy brushstrokes & vivid colours, but by 1951 his work was completely abstract with large freely arranged spots & sumptuous colour OxDicArt
Status: By the mid-1950s he was regarded as one of Germany’s leading painters OxDicMod

..Bartolomeo NAZARI, 1699-1763, Nazario’s father, Italy=Venice (Bergamo):

Oeuvre: Portraits, especially state & semi-state Levey1959 p148
Characteristics: His official work was in the formal grand manner style, though he was well capable of greater informality when painting for England Levey1959 pp 148-52
Gossip: Samuel Egerton, when apprenticed to Consul Smith, commissioned an accomplished portrait, now at Tatton Park Cheshire East Council p26

..Nazario NAZARI, 1724-after 1793, Bartolomeo’s son, Italy=Venice & its environs: late Baroque:

Background: He was born at Clauson near Bergamo Wikip
Career: He was active in Bergamo during 1750-55. He was sent to Venice & went to Genoa with his father, 1755 Wikip
Oeuvre: Portraits, especially of a state & semi-state nature Levey1959 p148
Characteristics/Verdict: There was nothing finer in Venetian grand manner portraiture than his [as in] Andrea Tron c1750 (NG) where he is portrayed as masterful, benevolent & active with a propagandistic edge that anticipates David’s painting of Napoleon in his study. Nazari’s work is highly sophisticated in colouring & composition Levey1959 pp 151-2, webimages
Grouping: Late Baroque or Rococo Wikip
Sister: Maria was also an artist Wikip

..NEBOT, Balthasar, active 1729-65, England (Spain):

Influences: [Probably] Pieter Angelis who also worked in Covent Garden & whose style is similar. His figures owe something to Hogarth Wikip, Waterhouse1953 p162
Oeuvre: London scenes of a genre nature, featuring local characters which were his best work. He also painted remarkable views of the Gardens of Hartwell House, Bucks, 1732 & 1738 (Bucks, County Museum) & later on he painted views of Studley Royal & Fountains Abbey. He painted a picture of Thomas Coram Waterhouse1953 p162, Wikip, Grove22 p716
Characteristics: Topographical exactitude, & elongated & graceful figures. He had a delicate touch Burke p119
Anticipations: To some extent the style of Samuel Scott’s London views Waterhouse1953 p162
Grouping: Covent Garden Burke p118

..NEDER, Johann Michael, 1807-82, Austria; Biedermeier:

Background: He was born in Vienna, the son of a shoemaker Wiesenberger p202
Training: At the Vienna Academy Wiesenberger p202
Influences: It is said that he owed nothing to 17^th century Dutch painting Wiesenberger p202
Career: He spent most of his life in Vienna & also worked as a shoemaker Wikip, Norman1987 p44
Oeuvre/Characteristics: Portraits & genre which focuses on Viennese bourgeois life painted in a straightforward & unpretentious style as in Family Portrait, 1836 (Kunst Museum, Dusseldorf). This is a charming lively work portraying real people in a smart home containing valued possessions Wikip, Wiesenberger, Norman1987 p44-5

-Peter NEEFS/NEEFFS, the elder, c1578-1656, Belgium=Antwerp:

Influences: Steenwyck the younger L&L
Oeuvre: He mostly painted church interiors, including night scenes in artificial light. They are generally small, on copper in a precise & dry perspectival manner L&L
Legacy: His son Peter the younger, 1620-after1675, painted in a style that is sometimes indistinguishable L&L

..NEEL, Alice, 1900-84, USA:

Background: She was born at Merion Square, Penn OxDicMod
Training: At the Philadelphia School of Design for Women during the early 1920s Barter p151
Career: She married (socially progressive) Carlos de Gomez & lived with him in Havana, 1926-7 Barter p151. In 1927 she settled in New York & in 1932 established herself in Greenwich Village where she lived with a sailor & Communist Party activist, Kenneth Doolittle. By 1933 she was producing revolutionary paintings, & in 1935 joined the Communist Party. For a long period she received support from the Works Progress Administration support, although some works were deemed inappropriate & not credited as submissions Barter pp 151-2, OxDicMod. Neel was not concerned with passing fashions & her fame arrived late OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Mainly portraits & 1930s scenes of urban poverty in the 1930s OxDicMod
Characteristics: Stark, frontal & penetrating portraits OxDicMod

Neer. See Van der Neer

Neithart. See Grunewald

-Ottaviano NELLI/DI NELLO, c1375-1444, Italy=Gubbio:

Background: He was born at Gubbio & his father Martino, grandfather (Mellow di Gubbio) & brother all painted Grove22 p727
Influences: International Gothic, the Lombardian & Burgundian styles, & Gentile de Fabriano L&L, Grove22 p727
Career: He worked throughout Umbria & Marches L&L
Oeuvre: Fresco & panels L&L
Characteristics: His work was graceful, humorous & homely with lively narrative treatment. Rustic figures are painted in bright colours L&L

.. Plautilla/Pulisena NELLI/SUOR PLAUTILLA, c1523-88, Italy=Florence:

Background: Her father Luca was a painter Greer1979 p185
Training: Fra Paolino di Pistoia, a pupil of Fra Bartolomeo Greer1979 p186, Grove22 p727
Career: In 1537 she entered a Dominican convent in Florence Greer1979 p185
Oeuvre: This included altarpieces for her convent & outside patrons Grove22 p727
Characteristics: Her work is solemn & undramatic, displaying careful observation & harmonious light & shade Grove22 p727
Verdict: work suffered from nun’s life & lack of models Greer1979 pp 185-6
Feature: She reputedly used a dead nun for the figure of Christ Grove22 p737
Repute: By the mid-16^th century her work was out of fashion. She was accorded an exhibition at the Uffizi in 2017 Grove22 p727, SpenceFT28/3/20

..NEPRINTSEV, Yuri, 1909-, Russia:

Background: He was born in Tbilisi Bown1991 p245
Training: In Leningrad at the Institute of Painting, Sculpture & Architecture where he was also a post-graduate until 1941 Bown1991 p245
Career: In 1951 he received a Stalin prize for A Rest After Battle, which was an enormously popular work Bown1991 pp188, 245
Oeuvre: Paintings & illustrations Bown1991 p245

Neri di Bici. See di Bici

Neroccio di Bartolommeo Landi. See Landi

..NESTEROV, Mikhail, 1862-1942, Russia:

Background: He was born at Ufa into a merchant’s family Lebedev Pl 54
Training: 1877-81 & 1884-6 at the Moscow School of Painting (under Perov, Savrasov, Prianishnikov); & 1881-4 at the Academy of Arts, St Petersburg Lebedev Pl 54
Career: From 1889 he exhibited with the Wanderers Lebedev Pl 54. He was virtually excluded from artistic life after Revolution but was rediscovered in the 1930s due to increased interest in Russian realism Bown1991 p105
Phases: Religious subjects before the Revolution & pre-revolution, & portraits thereafter Bown1991 p105, LebedevPl54
Friend: Levitan Lebedev Pl 54

..NESTOR/Martin-Fernandez DE LA TORRE, Nestor, 1887-1938, Spain:

Background: He was born at Las Palmas Wikip
Training: In the workshop of Rafael Hidalgo de Caviedes Wikip
Career: After training he went to Paris, Brussels, London etc. He established studios in Barcelona, 1907, & Paris in 1928. After travel through Spain’s African colonies, he returned to Las Palmas in 1934 Wikip Oeuvre: Paintings & theatrical design Wikip
Collections: Museo Nestor, Las Palmas

-Caspar NETSCHER, c1635-84, Netherlands=The Hague:

Background: He was born at Prado or Heidelberg. His father, Johannes, was sculptor. His parents were German but he went to Arnheim at an early age L&L, TurnerRtoV p233

Training: Hendrik Coster who was a still-life & portrait painter, & then between about 1655 & 1658 under Ter Borsch in Daventer TurnerRtoV p233, L&L

Influences: From about 1664 the Leiden Fine Painters, & the Delft School TurnerRtoV p234

Career: After training he travelled in France & in 1662 settled in The Hague L&L

Phases/Characteristics: Initially he painted genre & occasional religious & Classical subjects, but then small half-length portraits of aristocrats with fastidious attention to the texture & details of costly costume L&L. His early works were strongly influenced by Ter Borsch, using darkish colours & with a preference for stable & kitchen interiors. Around 1664 his painting became looser, his palette brighter, & his subjects more elevated with silks & brocades finely painted. After about 1667 he mainly painted portraits in the elegant court style of Van Dyke’s Hague followers. Later he produced small history paintings & pastoral landscapes TurnerRtoV pp 233-4

Verdict: His simple scenes are best. Here delicate brushwork & modest but exciting palette are undisturbed by the urge for perfect detail Haak p458.

Status: From the 1670s he was The Hague’s most sought-after portraitist TurnerRtoV p234

Workshop: He made extensive use of assistants & his sons for portraiture, including the in-filling of heads TurnerRtoV p234

Progeny: His sons Constantijn, 1668-1723, & Theodorus, 1661-1732, imitated their father L&L

..NEUVILLE, Alphonse de, 1835-85, France:

Background: He was born at Saint-Omer Norman1977
Training: Picot & Delacroix Norman1977
Career: He first exhibited at the Salon in 1859 & his popularity was established by his paintings of the 1870 war, widely reproduced as engravings Norman1977
Oeuvre: Military paintings & illustrations Norman1977
Characteristics: He evoked powder-smoke, destruction & fury of a fusillade with bravura painting Norman1977

-NEVINSON, Christopher, 1889-1946, England:

Background: His father was a writer & philanthropist OxDicMod. His home was emotionally disturbing because his parents were attached to both established institutions –the Army for his father & the Empire for his mother- & progressive causes. His mother supported votes for women, Poor Law reform etc. Young Christopher was booed in the streets Rothenstein pp 363-4. The Neo-Primitives were a modernist coterie at the Slade (Gertler, Roberts, Wadsworth, Spencer, Currie) who wore semi-uniforms & roamed Soho looking for trouble. They were inspired by Ruskin, the early Italians & the Pre-Raphaelites, which was still regarded as an ongoing movement Harrison p65, Rothenstein p366; RASpencer p20

Training: During 1907-8 at St John’s Wood School of Art; 1908-12 at the Slade where he became a Neo-Primitive; & 1912-3 at the Academie Julian in Paris Harrison p65, OxDicMod; Rothenstein p366

Influences: Cubism which provided Nevinson with a discipline necessary because his eye was too voracious Rothenstein p369

Career: He was ill-treated at Uppingham, had a serious operation, & went on an extensive foreign tour. Here he began drawing & decided to become a painter. Tonks told Nevinson that he was talentless. This intensified his belief in the world’s ill-will & he temporarily abandoned painting. His sense of vocation was restored by a visit to Paris in 1911 &, when he returned in 1912 Severini, who had become close friends, introduced him to Futurist & Cubist circles. He was fascinated by the Futurist belief in the dynamism & beauty of modern life Rothenstein pp 364, 366-7, 371-2. During 1912-13 he shared a studio with Modigliani in Paris. He became the outstanding British Futurist OxDicArt. In 1914 he issued an English Futurist Manifesto blasting all traditionalists including the NEAC, Aestheticism, Garden Cities, Bohemianism, & “other passeist filth” Rothenstein pp 372-3. He was a founder member of the London Group & joined the Rebel Art Centre TurnerEtoPM p235, Harrison p74. As he was unfit for the army, he worked in the Red Cross & the Royal Army Medical Corps L&L. In 1916 he had a rave exhibition of War pictures at the Leicester Gallery, & in 1917 became an official War Artist. He probably saw more horror than any other official War artist & some of his work was censored. At the end of the war he renounced Futurism OxDicArt, OxDicMod. On the outbreak of the Second World War he had a breakdown from which he never recovered Eustace p22

Beliefs: He thought the War would promote Futurism because beauty & masterpieces accompany strife & aggressiveness. His War pictures show the domination of man by the machine with men as mere cogs Spalding1986 p55-6

Phases/Verdict: His 1915-6 War pictures are semi-Cubist in which rounded surfaces are painted as linear rhythms without depth Harrison p123. The portrayal of the harsh anonymity & monotony of modern war is brilliant Spalding1986 p56. His later War pictures are less stylized & more felt. The dead soldiers & devastated landscapes are scenes not of energy & aggression but of pathos & emptiness Harrison pp 124. His later work was conventional & a sad anti climax OxDicArt

Feature: Nevinson was opposed to the Rebel Art Centre having “any of these damned women” Spalding1986 p50

*NEWMAN, Barnett, 1905-70, USA:

Background: He was born in New York, the son of Polish immigrants OxDicMod

Training: The Art Students League, 1922, & City College of New York, 1923-7 OxDicMod

Career: He destroyed much of his work during 1922 & 1929, & by about 1939 had ceased painting, saying that the world crisis had made traditional styles & subjects invalid. In essays & catalogue introductions he resurrected the Sublime & called for art which through symbols would catch the basic truth of life, which is its sense of tragedy. In times of terror beauty was irrelevant but chaos was a wellspring of human creativity. Through the artistic act human beings could control & redeem a tragic world. He drew here on Wilhelm Worringer’s argument that abstract shapes were, as shown by primitive artists, a response to terror. Newman now became the theorist for emergent Abstract Expressionism. After a transitional phase of drawings, & then oils in which upright shafts symbolise human purposefulness, he produced in 1948 the first of what were to be known as his Zip paintings. Here in Onment 1 a monochrome field is bisected by a thin vertical strip of differing colour. He claimed that such paintings were self-evident revelations of the Sublime. Over the next seven years he produced a series of Zips in which, under poetically suggestive titles, the spectator is engulfed by huge fields of colour divided by strips of varying types. During 1956-7 he painted nothing & had a heart attack. He then, between 1958 & 66, painted a series of black & white Stations of the Cross, before turning to three dimensional structures Grove23 pp27-9, L&L, Hughes 1991 p318,

Beliefs: Initially they were Marxist but he moved away into anarchism Ashton1972 p72. He claimed that when read properly his painting would mean, “the end of all state capitalism & totalitarianism” Hughes1997 pp 493-4. He believed that paintings should be large: “instead of working with the remnants of space, I work with the whole space”Everitt p25.

Verdict: To his admirers Thomas Hess, Harold Rosenberg & himself the Zips were epochal but to Robert Hughes they are empty & repetitive Hughes1997 pp 493-4

Friends: Clyfford Still until they quarreled over which of them had invented of the Zip, which had been used by the Russian Constructivists in the 1920s Hughes1997 pp492-3

Grouping: Abstract Expressionism OxDicMod

Innovation: Colour Field Painting OxDicMod

Influenced: The Minimalists L&L

..Algernon NEWTON, 1880-1968, England:

Background: Born Hampstead. He was the grandson of Henry Newton of Winsor & Newton E&L p112

Training: Three years at the School of Animal Painting & then part time at the Slade & at the London School of Fine Art under Brangwyn E&L p112

Career: He enrolled in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, then joined the army but was invalided out. During the 1920s he began to show regularly at the NEAC & RA to which he was elected in 1943 E&L p112

Oeuvre: This included landscapes in Cornwall & Yorkshire, & country house portraits, but his specialty was urban views & canal scenes painted in a somber naturalistic style that are eerily empty of people E&L p112, OxDicMod

Phases: During the early 1920s he abandoned broad brushwork &, having studied Canaletto, began to use old-fashioned glazing & very fine brushwork E&L p112

Characteristics: The Times obituary described him as a painter of quiet distinction who could without romanticising or omission transform an unprepossessing scene into a restful & poetic composition OxDicMod.

Aim: “to create something in every picture I painted, a mood, a mental atmosphere, a sentiment” E&L p52

Feature: He hawked his paintings on the pavements of the city disguising himself as a disfigured vetran of the Great War G-D p8

..Gilbert NEWTON, 1794-1835, USA:

Background: He was born at Halifax, Nova Scotia Norman1977
Training: His uncle Gilbert Stuart & later at the RA Norman1977
Career: He visited Italy in 1817, met Charles Leslie & returned with him to London. In 1832 he became an RA but his career was cut short by mental illness Norman1977
Oeuvre: Humorous scenes from Shakespeare & the classics Norman1977

Nicolaes Eliasz. See Pickenoy

Nicolo del’Abate. See Abate

NICOL, Erskine, Nicol , 1825-1904, Scotland:

Background: He was born at Leith & his father worked for a wine merchant Wikip
Training: At the Trustees Academy under Sir William Allam & Thomas Duncan Wikip
Career: After apprenticeship to a decorator he turned to art & initially became an art master; then taught in Dublin, 1845-50; moved back to Edinburgh; became an Academician of the Royal Scottish Academy, 1859; & exhibited at the RA & Royal Hibernian Academy. He moved to London, 1864; & also had a studio in Clonava, County Wexford Wikip
Oeuvre: Genre, Characteristics: His genre works were often humorous as in A Nip Against the Cold, 1869 (Private) [but Wikimedia Commons), & his paintings were of a particularly emphatic & forceful type, featuring strong colouring & chiaroscuro webimages
Feature: Much of his work reflects the dire state of Ireland following the Potato Famine, notably his as in An Ejected Family, 1853 (NG of Ireland) & his [non-as in] An Irish Emigrant Landing in Liverpool, 1871 (NGs Scotland)
Repute: He is not itemised in the Oxford Companion, the Grove Dictionary, or OxDicCon
Verdict: [He was an & important & interesting painter who has been unduly neglected.]
Son: Erskine Edwin Nicol, the Elder, who flourished 1890-1926, & painted landscapes & figurative subjects WoodDic

***Ben NICHOLSON, 1894-1982, Sir William’s son, England:

Background: He was born at Denham, Bucks Grove23 p103
Training: At the Slade, 1910-11 Grove23 p103
Influences: His hostility to William’s good taste, Vorticism, & his first wife’s unaffected directness & sense of colour. In 1921 a Picasso alerted him to colour’s miraculous potential Spalding1986 pp 66, 109. The works of Italian primitives & African tribes, Rousseau, Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse & Braque as seen on visits to Paris during the 1920s Grove23 p103. In 1934 he was inspired by Mondrian’s white studio & his paintings which gave “an astonishing feeling of quiet & repose” Spalding1986 p110

Career: He spent 1912-4 abroad for health & was not involved in the current avant-garde. Only after his marriage to Winifred Roberts/Nicholson in 1920 did he seriously devote himself to painting & embrace modernism. In 1924 he joined the 7+5 society, becoming it chairman in 1926,& in 1933 he joined Abstraction-Creation & Unit One. During 1932-3 he visited Paris & saw the work of Arp, Miro, Mondrian & Calder etc in the company of Barbara Hepworth, with whom he shared a studio from 1932. They married in 1938, moved to Cornwall in 1939, & to St Ives in 1943. Here they became the centre of the St Ives School. In 1958 he settled in Switzerland with his third wife, the Swiss photographer Felicitas Vogler, but returned to London in 1972 Harrison p176 , Grove23 p210, OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Paintings & sculpture Grove23 p103

Phases/Characteristics: His early works were traditional, painstaking & Vermeer-like. Although he experimented with abstraction in 1924, his typical works in the 1920s were table-top still-life & landscapes painted in the Ticino in Switzerland, where he spent the winters of 1920-3. His landscapes were painted with open & expressive brushwork which swirls & sweeps & they featured blobby, silhouetted trees & animals. During the early 1930s he turned to abstraction & during 1934-8 produced his series of abstract, carved geometrical structures, painted in matt white. Around 1938 he substituted colour & returned to still-life & landscape works. although these were now flat with hard-edged planes. His work became increasingly dynamic with an emphasis on diagonals, instead of verticals with richer touches of colour. The paint surface was rubbed with sandpaper, giving mottled effects. In his late work he moved between abstraction & figuration Grove 23 p103, OxDicMod, L&L, Robin Blake FT 12/7/2008

Aim: To “bust up the sophistication all around me” Spalding1986 p66
Beliefs: Abstract art is a liberation of form & colour. It is an aspect of Freedom; & not a retreat from reality, but a vision of order, & hence a potential agent for change Spalding1986 pp 110-1. He was interested in Christian Science & said that for him art was akin to religion L&L

Verdict: According to his former admirer Jean Helion, Nicholson, though greatly talented, had “a taste for the convent. He wanted to obey strict formulas” Yorke p81. His art had a fastidious quality, suggesting a limited view of the world Harrison p176. Understatement Spalding1986 p8
Personal: Ben was still regularly receiving money from his father when he married Barbara Hepworth Schwartz p210
Friends: Christopher Wood Robin Blake FT 12/7/2008.

-Sir William NICHOLSON, 1872-1949, GB, England:

Background: He was born at Blewbury, Berks, the son of an MP who owned the Trent Ironworks Grove23 p102, Rothenstein p138
Training: Herkomer’s school at Bushey, 1888-9, but dismissed for Whistlerian impudence, attended the Academie Julian for some months Grove23 p102

Influences: Velasquez & Whistler. His poster design the need for clarity & economy of statement & the effective distribution of light & shadow Rothenstein pp 140, 142, Grove23 p103

Career: He had a nightmarish education at a grammar school only alleviated by a drawing master, who was a former pupil of Sir William Beechey Rothenstein pp 138-9. In 1893 he married Mabel Pryde, & with his brother-in-law, James, designed a series of striking posters under the appellation of Beggarstaff Brothers. From 1900 he mainly worked in oils. From 1917 his studio was in fashionable St James’. He was a trustee of the Tate Gallery, 1934-36, where he championed Walter Greaves &, [what is far more surprising & interesting] Edward Burra Grove23 p102, Rothenstein pp 144-5. By 1942 he had stopped painting after having had a stroke Schwartz p252

Oeuvre: Portraits, still-life & landscape, prints & woodcuts Grove23 p102
Technique: No matter how small the picture he painted quickly with his whole arm using big brushes loaded with paint & managed in his landscapes to convey a sense of depth from close up to far distance Schwartz pp 111-2.

Characteristics/Phases: After his poster period he turned in 1900 to portraiture to earn money, but did not produce conventional society paintings. The sitters are not presented as satisfied or commanding. They often seem preoccupied or unaware of being painted Schwartz pp 18, 78, 84-5. He produced very few landscapes until 1906, when he painted at Littlehampton, & 1909 when he executed his Sussex Down paintings. Although small his paintings are not cosy but convey a feeling of size because of deft cropping & the inclusion of tiny figures. These pre-war Sussex landscapes are especially notable & audacious Schwartz pp 6-7, 109-12. His still-lifes have informality: they are sightings by somebody who has just focused on the subject. He began with a traditional head-on tabletop arrangement but later the view is from above. Around 1919-23 they deal with reflectivity & translucence. They become particularly intense from around 1935. He used colour freely employing striking contrasts & was particularly good with black, grays, silvery whites & the tropical colours: orange, pink, lavender, lemony green, etc Schwartz pp 6-7.

Personal: The quality of his work was obtained through an agony of effort, sustained throughout a lifetime. He described his bread-and-butter portraits as nightmares & some took years to complete. on occasion he would wipe off completely or take a knife to the canvas. He was a dandy with a desire for an unobtrusive yet original elegance. He wore white trousers & patent leather shoes in his studio, an olive-green coat, & spotted shirts & collars, the latter high Rothenstein pp 142, 145, Schwartz p78.

Reception & Repute: He was during his time seen, at least by some, as the greatest ever still-life painter. By 1952 he was being accorded the faint praise of little classical master: a small but perfect talent Rothenstein pp 137-8. As late as 1996 he only received four column inches in the Grove Dictionary of Art as against 16, together with an image, for his modernist son. In 2004 in a major biography, although not regarded as an era-transforming figure, he was described as the maker of many of the fresh, sheerly beautiful paintings in 20^th century English art Schwartz pp 1-12.
Friends: Orpen, Augustus John, Arnold Bennett, J. M. Barrie, Compton Mackenzie, Kipling, Augustus John, Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, Max Beerbohm, Lutyens Schwartz pp 37-97, 130
Pupils: Winston Churchill, 1934-6 Grove23 p102

Winifred NICHOLSON/ROBERTRS/DACRE, 1893-1981, GB:

Background: Born Oxford Grove23 p103
Training: With her grandfather George Howard, Earl of Carlisle. Then at the Byam Shaw School of Art, c1912-4, 1918-9 Grove23 p103
Influences: The liberating effects on her style & palette of her 1919 visit to India, Ceylon & Burma with her father Charles Roberts Under-Secretary of State for India Grove23 p103

Career: In 1920 she married Ben Nicholson. Between 1921 & 1924 she (& Ben) painted landscapes & still-life during the winter in Switzerland, where she had purchased a villa, & at Bankshead. This was a Cumbrian farmhouse she had also bought, & which remained her base. In 1926 she joined 7+5. After her marriage broke up she went to Paris. She was a member of NEAC from 1937 to 1943. From the 1950s to the 1970s she made numerous British & foreign painting trips Grove23 p103, Shone1977 p226

Oeuvre: Still-life, landscapes & portraits L&L
Phases: She experimented with abstraction in Paris Grove23 p103
Characteristics: Poetic colour & light suggesting the eternal in her experiences of nature L&L
Beliefs: During the 1920s she became a Christian Scientist Grove23 p103
Circle of friends in Paris: Mondrian, Brancusi, Helion & Arp Grove23 p103

Nieuwenhuis. See Domela

Nigreti. See Palma Giovane & Palma Vecchio

..NIGG, 1782-1845, Austria; Biedermier

Training: The Vienna Academy Norman1987 p46
Career: He was director of the flower painting school at the Vienna porcelain factory Norman1987 p46
Oeuvre: Painter & porcelain decorator Norman 1987 p46
Status: Biedermeier but it Baroque strand Novotny p207

..NIKITIN, Ivan, c1680-1742, Russia:

Background: He was born in Moscow; his father was a priest 50Rus p21
Training: At the typographical school at the Armory. Then under Gottfried Danauer, who had come to Russia in 1711. (Peter the Great heard of his passion for painting & arranged for his tuition.) In Florence under Tommaso Redi of the Academy of Arts 50 Rus pp 21-2

Oeuvre: Portraits & some attributed battle-pieces 50Rus pp 21-4
Career: He was well educated with an ability to read & write Latin. His early portraits impressed Peter & Nitkitin was among 20 artists sent to Italy in 1716. In 1720 Nitkitin returned to St Petersburg, where he was given a house, & courtiers were recommended to have their portraits painted by him. After Peter’s death, Nitkitin became close to the old Russian opposition &, after five years investigation, he was beaten & exiled in Siberia in 1737. Nevertheless he continued to paint 50Rus pp 21-4
Firsts: He was the founder of Russian portraiture 50Rus p24

Nittis. See de Nittis

..NOBLE, James Campbell, 1846-1913, Scotland:

Training: At the Royal Scottish Academy Schools under Chalmers & McTaggart WoodDic
Influences: Pettie (early on) Macmillan1990 p254
Career: He exhibited at the RA from 1880 to 1896. In the early 1880s he went to Coldingham & painted the rocky coast of Berwickshire WoodDic
Oeuvre: Genre, landscape & portraits WoodDic
Phases: He began with rustic genre in dark cottage interiors & with idylls of country life painted en plein air, but in 1879 he turned to landscape, painting river & port scenes, & then from 1890 Dutch waterways WoodDic
Grouping: East Lothian group around McKay Macmillan1990 p254

*NOLAN, Sir Sidney, 1917-92, Australia:

Background: He was born in Melbourne, his parent being fifth generation Australians. His grandfather had been in the police when Ned Kelly was on the run & told him stories about the Kelly War MC p2850
Training: At the National Gallery of Victoria’s Art School, 1934, but he preferred to look art books in the public library MC p2851, Grove23 p182
Influences: Picasso, Klee, Matisse & the Surrealists as seen in reproductions Grove23 p182

Career: After leaving school at 15 he had short term jobs which included commercial art. In 1938 he joined the circle of John & Sunday Reed who had just started the Contemporary Art Society in Melbourne & were promoting modern art & young artists like Nolan. Nolan lived with the Reeds for several years, being supported with all the material he wanted. He became a full-time artist & while in the army, 1942-5, painted landscapes in the Wimmera district of northern Victoria with it golden miles of grain. In 1946 he visited the so-called (Ned) Kelly country in north-east Victoria & began a continuing series of paintings on the this 19^th century bush-ranger. These made his name. His subject matter was from now on increasingly influenced by his multiplying travels. In 1947 he went to Fraser Island on the Great Barrier Reef, where he heard the story of Mrs Fraser & Bracefell the convict. This inspired his next series of paintings. He later portrayed other aspects of Australian history such as the goldminers uprising against colonial rule in 1854 & the doomed attempt of Burke & Wills to cross Australia from south to north. In 1950-51 he travelled through Europe & from then on travelled almost without ceasing though from 1955 he was based in London OxDicArt, Grove23 p182, Hughes1970 p161, MC pp 2851-4

Oeuvre: Paintings, prints & occasional set & costume design OxDicMod

Technique: During the 1940s he almost exclusively used Ripolin, a commercial paint, which gave a hard, enamel-like quality & a limited range of effects. In the late 1950s he began using polyvinyl acetate, a synthetic glue to which pigment was added. This enabled more varied handling & had a darker, richer quality. In the 1960s he turned to oils in order to produce blurred & melting forms in place of the crisp, clean outlines of the 1940s MC p2858

Phases/Characteristics: At Wimmera he turned away from abstraction & European art in favour of children’s art, naive painting & Australian subject matter. He now adopted bold patterns & sudden shifts of scale, & his brushwork became lush & fluid. His landscapes captured the glitter of light, the ambiguity of distance & the multiple reflections of the sun MC p2852, OxDicArt, Hughes1970 p161-4. Nolan’s paintings, which were speedily executed, are vigorous & often seemingly naïve M&M, Hughes1970 pp 160, 162-3, 226, Web images

Status: The most internationally famous Australian painter OxDicArt
Repute: Kenneth Clark regarded him as one of the major artists of the 20^th century Grove23 p182

-NOLAND, Kenneth, 1924-, USA:

Background: He was born at Asheville, North Carolina OxDicMod
Training: At Black Mountain College, 1946-8, & under Zadkine in Paris,1948-9 OxDicMod
Influences: He & Louis were greatly impressed in 1953 by Frankenthaler’s Mountains & Sea. An intellectual influence was Greenberg’s conception of a pure art, impersonal & two-dimensional OxDicMod, L&L

Career: He served in the US air force, moved to Washington in 1949, & lived in New York during 1961-3 in South Shaftesbury, Vermont until 1979, & then in South Salem, New York OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Paintings & then sculpture OxDicMod.
Technique: He used Magna for dying his canvasses. This synthetic pigment gives a more even & intense wash than dilute oils Hughes1997 p548

Phases: After experimenting with staining & pouring techniques, he began during the late 1950s to paint centralised circular images. Though fuzzy at first they were by 1960 crisp, target-like images featuring concentric circles of strongly contrasting colours. During 1962-4 he adopted a chevron motif & then during 1964-7 diamond shaped paintings that were sometimes very large. From 1967 he used horizontal across a long rectangular canvas OxDicMod.

Characteristics: Paintings based on the simplest patterns -target, chevron & stripe- where the shapes had no inherent interest & were simply racks for colour Hughes1991 p156
Aims: to prioritise colour: “I was trying to neutralize the layout, the shape, the composition in order to get at the colour. Pollock had indicated getting away from drawing I wanted to make color the generating force “ Hughes1991 p156

Verdict: His best target paintings have an airy energy that few Americans & no Europeans could equal. His targets & chevrons pulsate with light. They are pure visual hedonism. Yet they are purely decorative, anxiety-free & socially indifferent Hughes1991 p156

Reception: His work was strongly criticised partly by Clement Greenberg but mainly by his followers in the journal Art Forum Hughes1991 p156
Status: By the mid-60s he was one of the best known American painters L&L
Grouping: Colour field painting & later Hard-Edge Painting OxDicMod
Friends: Morris Louis, Anthony Caro OxDicMod

**NOLDE, 1867-1956, Germany; Expressionism Movement

Background: He was born Emil Hansen, the son of a farmer, in the village of Nolde, Schleswig-Holstein OxDicMod. His ancestors had lived at the farm for many generations & he had a religious upbringing of simple & fundamentalist piety Dube p76

Training: This was originally as a cabinetmaker & woodcarver but after 1898 he trained in Munich, at Hozel’s school in Dachau, & at the Academie Julian, Paris OxDicMod
Influence: Arnold Bocklin & Ferdinand Hodler, especially Bocklin’s animistic representations of nature; then Munch, Gauguin & Van Gogh. During 1911-12 the art of primitive peoples began to have a serious impact Dube pp 77, 83-4.

Career: In 1890 he moved to Berlin where he drew in the museums. During 1892-8 he taught drawing at St Gall, Switzerland. Here he made long mountain walks & dangerous climbs seeking an intense experience of nature Dube p77. With earnings from some postcards he was able to study painting seriously OxDicMod. After a trip to Paris in 1899, he lived in various places including Copenhagen & Berlin but settled on the island of Alsen in 1903 Dube p77. His early painting years were difficult & his wife, whom he married in 1902, became a semi-invalid. Only in 1906 at the Berlin Secession did he achieve success & join Die Brucke, though he soon resigned & was expelled from the Secession in 1910 OxDicMod. He travelled extensively including visiting Russia, the Far East & South Sea Islands, 1913-14. From 1926 he lived at Seebull. Despite attempts to ingratiate himself with the Nazis, he was declared degenerate. In 1941he was forbidden to paint, though he secretly produced small watercolours from which he later painted larger oils OxDicMod

Oeuvre: He mostly painted landscapes, but in 1909 & over the next few years he concentrated on religious pictures. Nolde also produced city subjects & up to 1926 many prints OxDicMod, Dube pp 80-3

Speciality: Flower painting, together with Old & New Testament subjects in which he expressed intense emotion through violent colour, radically simplified drawing & grotesque distortion OxDicMod

Technique: He said that none of his imaginative paintings from about 1909 onwards was based on more than a vague idea. Indeed he avoided thinking about a work beforehand, which then developed of its own accord Dube p81

Characteristics: From 1904 he used brilliant colours, applying paint thickly with brush & fingers, & including scraps of card to achieve an intensified, dramatic & ecstatic Impressionism Dube p77. His work has brutal force OxDicMod.

Personal: He was deeply religious, suspicious & touchy: an isolated figure who at times lived almost like a hermit painting on the lonely moorlands & seashores of north Germany OxDicMod. When aged around nine. he made a solemn vow to God which he never forgot. When living on Alsen he reported having “innumerable visions” & “wherever I looked Nature was alive, the sky, the clouds, on every stone & among the branches of the trees, everywhere my creatures stirred & lived their still or wild, lively lives, arousing my excitement & crying out to be painted” Dube p76

Status: He was one of the most powerful exponents of Expressionism OxDicMod
Collections: the Nolde Foundation, Seebull

Nome. See de Nome

Noort. See van Noort

NORDMANN J, Germany:

Career: He was a National Socialist painter of which nothing else appears to be known Golomstock p339

-NORTHCOTE, James, 1746-1831, England; British Golden Age Movement

Background: He was born in Plymouth Grove23 p213.
Teacher: Between 1771 & 1775 he lived as pupil & assistant in Reynolds house Waterhouse1953 p282.
Career: During 1777-80 he was in Rome where he decided to become a history painter. In 1781 he settled London but had no money or patronage. There was little demand for history paintings & the market for high class portraits was a virtual closed shop. He painted an exhibition piece so enormous it had to be hung on the line. Unlike history paintings that were meant to communicate general truths it was a highly theatrical painting of a real incident. Although he obtained a few commissions for historical works he remained largely dependent on portraiture. He became an RA in 1887 OxDicArt, Solkin2015 pp 179-80, Grove23 p213.
Oeuvre & Verdict: His portraits were uninspired, his history paintings are ponderous & awkward, his fancy pictures are vapid, & his modern moral subjects display no feeling for paint or tone. His inventive powers were numbed by his years with Reynolds & in Rome OxDicArt, Waterhouse1953 pp 282-3.

..NOURSE, Elizabeth, 1859-1938, USA:

Background: She was born at Mount Healthy Ohio into a catholic family & was raised in Cincinnati. Her father was a wealthy banker until ruined during the civil war SAM
Training: The McMicken School of Design in Cincinnati; & then briefly at the Academie Julian SAM
Career: She sold pen & ink drawings, made magazine illustrations etc until she saved enough to go to Paris in 1887. She exhibited at the Salon in 1888, & then settled. Nourse was elected to the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts. In the summer she sketched humble people & rural communities & worked them up during the winter. Although she only went back to America once, she sold steadily in Cincinnati. She had to work hard to support herself & the sister with whom she lived SAM, NGArtinP p250

Speciality: Images of women & children often in domestic circles NGArtinP p250
Phases: During the 1890s she began using brighter colours & a bolder technique NGArtinP p250
Reception: The French government bought Les Volets Clos for its permanent collection of contremporary art SAM
Repute: During the 1930s her work was out of favour because she was not a modernist Mathews p325

Nouay. See Lecomte de Nouay

Novelli. See il Montrealese

Nuncques. See De Nuncques

..O’BRIEN, Lucius, 1832-99, Canada:

Background: He was born in Shanty Bay, a small community founded by his father who was a retired British officer Reid p85.
Training: Probably as a draftsman Reid p85.
Career: He went to Upper Canada College. Not until 1872 did he become a professional landscape painter having previously taught drawing, exhibited graphic work, & run one of the family businesses. In 1869 he settled in Toronto where he helped run an import business. Between 1874 & 1880 he was vice-president of the Ontario Society of Artists, & then the first president of the Royal Canadian Academy, working closely with successive Governor-Generals Reid pp 85-6.
Oeuvre: Landscape paintings Reid pp 86-7.
Characteristics: His landscapes have great presence & depict the sublime grandeur of nature in its subtle colour & atmospheric light Reid pp 86-7.
Innovations: He was one of the first to paint the Rockies, where he was invited by the Canadian Pacific Railway Reid pp 87-8.
Grouping: Luminism Reid pp 86-7.

-OCHTERVELT, Jacob, 1634-82, Netherlands=Rotterdam:

Background: He was born in Rotterdam Haak p413.   His father was a bridgeman & his two brothers became sailors, both poorly paid occupations Franits p197.
Training: From around 1650 Ochtervelt & de Hooch were apprenticed to Berchem (Houbraken) Haak p413.
Influences: Initially De Jongh Haak p413
Career: From 1655 he was mainly active in Rotterdam, & by 1655 he was in Amsterdam Haak p413, L&L
Oeuvre: Figure groups in interiors, but also portraits & portrait groups Haak p413
Speciality: Women in sumptuous satin & erotic paintings in which, for instance, a man offers oysters to a woman L&L, Franits p197.   His young women generally have forms that are slightly attenuated, high foreheads & long curved necks SuttonP p278
Phases/Characteristics: Landscapes with figures like Berchem’s & around 1654 he painted garden scenes with classical architectural motifs & large rather sculptural figures.   However from the early 1660s he concentrated on genre interiors & came under the spell of van Mieris.   Like van Mieris his execution was meticulous & his palette glowing, but Ochtervelt employed sophisticated chiaroscuro, whereas Mieris’ illumination was fairly even TurnerRtoV p234, Franits p197.   He had a refined style with subtle handling of cloth & figures with elegant, often affected poses.   His men have heads that are slightly atilt, which produces a slightly decadent feeling.    The use of oblique postures & gestures became a hallmark of his style imparting a distinctly theatrical air.   A servant is often present & sometimes a fish or fruit seller. Ochtervelt gradually produced fewer works that were overtly erotic, simply portraying elegant, leisured upper class life. He had a preference for light blues, light reds, & pinks combined with browns & black Haak p413, Franits pp 197-8.
Status: Ochtervelt was one of Rotterdam’s leading genre painters during the second half of the 17^th century TurnerRtoVp235

-O’CONNOR, Roderic, 1860-1940, Ireland; British Impressionsim Movement

Influences: Gauguin & Van Gogh OxDicMod
Career: In 1883 he settled in France & spent most of his fairly reclusive life in Paris OxDicMod. During 1892 he went to Pont-Aven where he was closely involved with Gauguin (to whom he gave money), Bernard etc L&L. From 1893 he was financially secure through inheritance OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Mainly landscape, including prints, but also still-life, portraits & interiors OxDicMod, L&L
Characteristics: by 1890s he painted in a full-blooded style with thick brushwork & bold colour which was often non-naturalistic. From about 1910 his coloring became less intense. Some of his late work is Intimiste OxDicMod
Status & Verdict: He was the outstanding pioneer of Post-Impressionism among English-speaking artists OxDicMod
Gossip: Gauguin suggested he accompany him to the South Seas & Somerset Maugham used O’Connor in The Moon & Sixpence OxDicMod
Influenced Mathew Smith, whom he met in 1919 OxDicMod
Repute: During his life he was virtually unknown in the Irish & British art worlds, though he was friendly to Clive Bell & Roger Fry etc OxDicMod

Odlenburg, Claes, 1929-, Sweden:

Oggiono. See d’Oggiono

-O’GORMAN, Juan, 1905-82, Mexico:

Background: He was born in Mexico City to Irish parents OxDicMod
Training: Until 1927 he studied architecture at the National University of Mexico OxDicMod
Career: During 1927-c1930 he designed houses in Mexico City but then turned to painting, returning to architecture in the 1950s. He committed suicide OxDicMod
Characteristics: His work was strongly nationalistic & sometimes anti-Fascist & anti-Church OxDicMod. O’Gorman’s paintings of the 1940s, in tempera on masonite, show an obsessive care for the detail of Velasco & Mexican retablesLucie-S1993 p65
Status: The Mexican Muralist Movement OxDicMod

..OEHME, Ernst Ferdinand, 1797-1855, Germany:

Background: Born Dresden Wikip
Training: At the Dresden Academy & privately under Dahl, 1819 Wikip, Norman1977 p160
Influences: Dahl’s friend Caspar David Friedrich Norman1977, Wikip
Career: Plein air painting with Friedrich’ pupil August Heinrich. Assisted by Crown Prince Friedrich Augustus of Sazony he studied in Italy, 1819-25; received commissions from him & painted pictures for his Gallery of Patriotic Landscapes Norman, Wikip
Oeuvre/Characteristics: He specialised in moody landscapes & scenes with buildings as in his lyrical & poetic Cathedral in Winter (Staatliche Kuntammlungen, Gemaldegalerie Neumeier, Dresden. His landscapes ranged from the romantic & dramatic featuring moonlight, stormy skies or fog to tranquil appealing works with bright skies as in Chapel on a Mountain in Winter, 1842 Wikip, webimages, Vaughan1980 p181, Norman1977
Phases: Initially his works were laden with symbolism & medievalism, then by the 1830s works that were more realistic Wikip, Vaughan 1980 pp 126, 130, 141, Norman1977
Circle: Ludwig Richter, Carl Peschel, Schnorr von Carolsfeld were lifelong friends from Italy. During the 1840s the home of his patron Friedrich Serre became a meeting place for artists, writers & musicians Norman1977, Wikip

-O’KEEFE, Georgia, 1887-1986, USA:

Background: Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin OxDicMod
Training: At the Art Institute, Chicago,m 1905-6 OxDicMod
Influences: For her early work Mexican children’s art & the desolate landscape of the Texas panhandle Murrays1959
Career: After training she worked as a commercial artist & was then a teacher. She met Stieglitz 1916, he gave her a solo show in 1917, gave her financial support, & she married him in 1924, having settled in New York in 1918. From the 1930s wintered in New Mexico, settling there in 1946 after Stieglitz’s death. She travelled widely in the 1950s. In 1971 she became partially blind & painted little OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Oils, watercolours & drawings OxDicMod
Speciality: Bleached animal bones as seen in New Mexico
Phases/Characteristics: During 1915-6 she produced vividly coloured abstract watercolours & drawings evoking the natural world. Though continuing to be interested in underlying abstract forms, her work became more representational in the 1920s, when she painted enlarged, sensuous flower & plant forms & New York townscapes. In New Mexico she produced austere & dramatic desert landscapes which suggest the passage of time. Latterly she painted works inspired by what she saw from aeroplanes OxDicMod, OxDicArt, L&L.
Status: She was a pioneer of American Modernism OxDicMod
Grouping: Her townscapes in the 1920s were almost PrecisionistOlis p1348

-OLITSKY, Jules, 1922-, USA (Russia):

Background: He was born in Snovsk in the Ukraine & his father was executed by the Bolsheviks OxDicMod
Training: The Art Students League, 1939-42 OxDicMod
Influences: Fauvism OxDicMod
Career: He was brought to America in 1923 by his mother & grandmother. During 1949-51 he studied sculpture in Paris OxDicMod
Oeuvre: Paintings & sculpture OxDicMod
Phases/Characteristics: Initially heavily textured abstracts, but in 1960 he began experimenting with stain techniques & produced hard-edge abstracts. In 1964 he began using a spray gun & in the second half of the 1960s painted huge canvases with luscious mists of atmospheric colour before returning in the 1970s to textured painting, often delicate greys & browns OxDicMod, L&L.
Status: He was a leading figure in Post-Painterly Abstraction OxDicMod

(Johann Heinrich) ..Ferdinand OLIVIER, 1785-1841, brother of Friedrich & Heinrich, Austria; Nazarene Movement

Background: Born Dessau. He came from a family of French-Swiss descent & his father was philanthropist & teacher, & his mother a court opera singer Grove25 p410, MET1981 p 271

Training: Drawing under Carl Wilhelm Kolbe & Johann Haldenwang , 1801-2; woodcut technique in Berlin under Johann Unger1802-3; then copying Ruisdael & Claude in Dresden, 1804-6, & lessons from Jacob Mechau & Carl Kaaz who painted idealized landscape Grove25 p410

Influences: The Anhalt-Dessau court where Leopold III introduced the Gothic Revival style. Joseph Koch who believed that landscape should be meaningful & poetic, & the religious inspiration which he shared with the Nazarenes. Another influence was the preacher Clemens Hofbauer who founded the Order of the Redemption lists which aimed to bring about a stricter Catholicism by making an emotional appeal. Hofbauer was nevertheless a valued friend of the Oliviers & Schnorr who were Protestants Grove25 p410, Norman1987 p48, Andrews1964 p44.

Career: During 1804-6 he was in Dresden, where he became acquainted with Friedrich & Runge. From 1807 to 1810 he was secretary to the diplomatic mission in Paris where he had a religious awakening. He toured the Hartz Mountains in 1810 with his brother, & in the following year settled in Vienna where he was friends with the Nazarenes, becoming a member of the Brotherhood, 1816. In 1815 he discovered the Salzburg landscape & worked there with his brother Friedrich. In 1817 he joined the Brotherhood of St Luke. In 1830 he moved to Munich where he associated with Cornelius, Rottman & Schnorr, whom he assisted with frescoes for the Residenz. Olivier became secretary of the Munich Academy & professor of art history in 1833, leaving very little time for artwork Grove23 p411, Norman1987 p48, MET1981 p271, Wikip

Oeuvre: Landscapes, religious works, & portraits, together with pencil studies for scenery, considered among the period’s greatest graphic achievements. His work featured landscapes in which Romantic, biblical, legendary &/or national figures are poetically integrated into the landscape as in Pilgrims Passing through the Wood, 1814 (Frankfurt am Main, Stadel Museum) Norman1977, Grove23 pp 410-11

Characteristics: His work embodies his belief that God’s hand created every detail of nature as in his Landscape in the Campagna with Monte Soracte, c1830 (Neue Pinakothek, |Munich) which is dense, detailed, seemingly naturalistic & lyrical. However, he did not allow his delight in divine detail to blur his image of the whole Norman1977, & 1987 pp 27, 48-9, Andrews1964 p44

Phases: Late on he turned to idealised landscape in the tradition of Poussin & Gaspard Dughet Grove23 p 411

First to work on landscape in Salzburg & the Salzkammergut Norman1987 p27
Feature: He never visited Italy MET1981 p271
Status: He was a leading Nazarene & their foremost landscape painter Novotny p12
Circle in Vienna: The leading members of the Romantic movement including Koch, von Carolsfield, Theodor Rubnitz, August Heinrich & Heinrich Reinhold Grove 23 p411
Brother: Heinrich, 1783-1848, was also an artist & his style was similar to Ferdinand’s Norman1977

..Friedrich OLIVIER, 1791-1859, brother of Ferdinand & Heinrich, Austria:

Career: During 1818-23 he was in Rome. He assisted Schnorr von Carolsfeld with his Munich frescos Norman1977
Oeuvre: This included Bavarian landscapes Norman1977
Characteristics; His style was similar to that of Ferdinand Norman1977

..Heinrich OLIVIER, 1783-1848, brother of Ferdinand & Friedrich, Austria:

Background: He was born at Dessau Grove23 p410.
Training: Drawing under Carl Kolbe Grove23 p410.
Influences: Gothic which symbolised German patriotism Grove23 p410.

Career: With his brother Ferdinand he went to Dresden, 1804-6, & during 1807-10 to Paris where he painted works for the Prince of Anhalt-Dessau. During 1810-3 he lived in Desau & served as a volunteer against Napoleon. From 1814 to 1817 he was based in Vienna but travelled to northern Italy. His Holy Alliance of 1815, inspired by the alliance against Napoleon, portrays the Prussian king & the emperors of Russia & Austria as knights in a Gothic church. He painted little after the late 1820s Grove23 p410.
Oeuvre: Painter & draftsman. Some of his portrait subjects were in medieval dress & halls but others were realistic Grove23 p410.

-Isaac OLIVER, before 1568-1617, married Gheeraerts the Younger’s sister, England (France):

Background: He was born in Rouen but went to England as a baby L&L
Influences: Dutch & Italian painting L&L
Training: Hilliard Waterhouse1953 p45
Career: In 1588 he may have visited the Netherlands, & in 1596 he went to Venice. He became Limner to Anne of Denmark in 1604 L&L
Oeuvre: Portraits both miniature & on a life-scale L&L
Characteristics: Unlike Hilliard he modeled sitters in light & shade, & his work was not as jewel-like L&L

.. OLLER, Francisco, 1833-1917, Puerto Rico:

Background: He belonged to the cultivated Puerto Rican middle class Nochlin1989 p22.

Influences: Puvis de Chavannes Billcliffe p96.

Training:1851-3 at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando under Madrazo y Kuntz; 1858-63 under Couture & Gleyre at the Ecole Imperiale et Speciale de Dessin; & at the Academie Suisse Grove23 p415.

Influences: Courbet, Guillaumin, Pissaro, Cezanne; & Guillaumin whom he met at the Academie Suisse; Courbet Grove23 p415.

Career: In 1884 he settled back in Puerto Rico & was responsible for establishing the Free Academy of Painting & Drawing, 1868. He was appointed Pintor de Camara to King Amadeus, 1872 Grove23 p415.

Oeuvre: Genre, landscapes, portraits, still-life Nochlin1989 pp 22-31.

Phases: He abandoned Impressionism in 1884 & his palette became more somber Grove p415

Speciality: Landscapes, around 1900, which depict obsolete sugar factories, the vanishing Puerto Rican past Nochlin1989 p28.

Friends: Pissaro, Cezanne Poupeye p46

..O’MEARA, Frank, 1853-1868, Ireland; Rural Naturalism Movement

Background: He was born in Carlow into a medical family Grove23 p437
Training: Under Carolus-Duran, around 1872-3 Grove23 p437
Influences: Bastien-Lepage Grove23 p437.
Career: In 1875 he & fellow students (Will Low, Sargent & R. A. M. Stevenson) visited Barbizon & the artists’ colony at Grez-sur-Loing, near Fontainebleau, where he spent following summers. He became a long-term resident joining the circle of Stott of Oldham, Lavery, & American & Swedish artists in the 1880s Grove23 p437.
Oeuvre/Characteristics: Paintings particularly women in autumnal landscapes etc. They combine Pre-Raphaelite, French Realist & Symbolist fin-de-siecle influences Grove23 p437, Billcliffe p89
Innovation: He was an early plein air painter Grove23 p437
Influence: On Lavery & the Glasgow School Grove23 p437
Innovation: Atmospheric landscape scenes which were strongly realistic yet recognised Nature’s loveliness & achieved decorative beauty Billcliffe p88.

..Henry Nelson O’NEIL, 1817-80, confusable with G. B O’Neill England; Troubadour and Victorian Modern Life

Background: He was born at St Petersburg Norman1977
Training: 1836 at the RA Schools Norman1977
Career: He visited Italy with his friend Alfred Elmore. He was a founder member of the Clique Norman1977. O’Neil achieved great success at the RA with his Indian Mutiny pictures of 1857 & 1859 Maas pp 114-5
Oeuvre: Genre Norman1977
Phases: Initially he painted historical & literary scenes but in the 1850 he turned to contemporary life under Pre-Raphaelite influence Norman1977
Aim: To paint incidents that strike the feelings WoodDic.
Grouping/Circle: The Clique & its members Egg, Frith, Dadd & John Philip M&M p3
Personal: He was clever & sociable WoodDic

..George Bernard O’NEILL, 1828-1917, confusable with H. N. O’Neill; Victorian Modern Life Movement

Background: Born Dublin WoodDic
Career: He exhibited at the RA from 1847 WoodDic. In the late 1860s he joined the Cranbrook Colony & moved there although he retained a London house. He was married to Horsley’s cousin TurnerRtoI p69.
Oeuvre: He was a prolific painter of small genre scenes WoodDic
Phases:
Speciality: Delightful interiors with charming children Wood1999 p312
Circle: Cranbrook Colony TurnerRtoI p69

Oosterwyck. See van Oosterwyck

Oostsanen. See van Oostanen

-OPIE, John, 1761-1807, England: British Golden Age Movement

Career: 1781 successfully launched in London as untaught genius, being known as “the Cornish Wonder”. Boydell commissioned several historical works . In 1805 he became a professor at the RA OxDicArt, Brigstocke.
Phases: Initially his work had a rugged freshness but it soon became undistinguished & repetitive OxDicArt
Oeuvre: Portraits, genre & history paintings OxDicArt
Verdict: He was an able portraitist capable of more than a likeness as Mary Godwin shows Brigstocke.
Personal: He married Amelia who was a novelist OxDicArt
Repute: This soon declined Brigstocke

..OPPI, Ubaldo, 1889-1942, Italy:

Background: Bologna Ateneum p93
Training: In a life drawing class at Klimt’s art academy, 1907 Ateneum p93
Career: He travelled widely in Europe due to his father’s wish that he become a merchant but in 1911 he decided to become an artist. He went to Paris where he moved in avant-garde circles & studied Italian art in Louvre, particularly from the 15^th century. While a prisoner of war he made drawings & watercolours on war themes & during 1919-22 was in Paris. After his return he helped found Novecentro in Milan, participated in its first exhibition in 1923 . He settled in Vienna in 1932 Ateneum p93
Oeuvre: Oils & frescos Ateneum p93
Phases: From 1932 he concentrated almost exclusively on religious subjects Ateneum p93
Characteristics: His early work features a dry & sharp line Ateneum p93.
Grouping: Magic Realism, being considered one of the foremost representatives. He was discussed in Roh’s famous book, 1925 Ateneum p93.

* ORCAGNA/DI CIONE, Andrea, 1308-68, brother of Jacopo & Nardo di Cione, Italy=Florence:

Background: The Black Death of 1348 was followed by a radical change in the spiritual climate. Mystical tendencies intensified . Saints such as Catherine of Siena fired popular imagination, the heirs of the Franciscan Spirituals multiplied & preachers aroused orgies of repentance White p542.
Career: By 1356 Orcagna was engaged on building activities at a church & from 1358 at Orvietto cathedral. He was from 1366 adviser on the construction of the cathedral in Florence White p557
Characteristics: His work featured a deliberate archaicizing stylization & the rejection of Giotto’s innovations L&L
Oeuvre: Paintings, sculpture & archictecture L&L
Status: He was one of first major figures after Giotto & the leading Florentine artist around 1350-75 Murrays1959, White p557
Influence: This was dominant in Florentine painting in the late 14^th century OxDicArt

-ORCHARDSON, Sir William Quiller, 1832-1910, Scotland/England, Academic Painting from 1845, apart from his few modern life subjects: Victorian Modern Life etc.

Background: He was born in Edinburgh & Grove23 p475

Training: At the Trustees’ Academy, Edinburgh from 1845, & again 1850-55, under Robert Lauder Treuherz p165, Grove23 p475

Influences: Sir David Wikie & the Pre-Raphaelites, especially Millais Grove23 p475, Macmillan1990 p232

Career: Settled in London, 1862, sharing a studio with John Pettie; first exhibited at the RA,1863; went to Venice 1870 & 1873 & painted there; & became an RA, 1877 Treuherz p166, Grove23 p475

Oeuvre/Phases: Initially literary, Scottish historical subjects & rural genre pictures; then from the later 1860s costume genre; social comedies in Regency dress from the late 1870s ; & finally modern social scenes of upper-class life. His formal portraits were some of the finest of the period Macmillan1990 pp 232, 234, Treuherz pp 197-8; R&J p372

Characteristics/Verdict: Thin transparent paintwork, loose brushwork, muted colour, & an arresting use of empty space. His upper-class scenes feature pregnant stage-like moments as in Mariage de Convenance, 1883 (Glasgow Art Gallery), & Mariage de Convenance, After! 1886 (Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums). Of all the 19^th century painters after Wilke he was the closest to the great novelists of the time because he also depicted minute nuances of behaviour which betray feelings & states of mind as in The Rivals, 1895 (NG Scotland) but, unlike Wilkie he does not comment on issues of right or wrong Treuherz1993 pp166-7, R&J p372, Macmiilan1990 pp 233-37

Grouping: Though Lauder’s pupils painted very differently, all had a sense of colour & unified composition by means of light & atmosphere Macmillan1990 p232

Circle: John Pettie, Thomas & Peter Graham, & John McWhirter who were to form an artistic & social group in London Grove23 p475

Orizonte. See van Bloemen, Jan

Orley. See van Orley

ORLIK, Emil,. 1870-1932, Germany (Czech Republic)

Background: Born Prague L&L
Training: In Munich L&L
Influences: Aspects of Post-Impressionism, Art Nouveau & Jugendstil L&L
Career: During 1905-32 he taught at the Berlin Applied Art Museum & also worked on for the Berlin theatre on stage & poster design. He travelled extensively L&L
Oeuvre: Painter, graphic work & design. He made hundreds of lithographs & woodcuts L&L
Feature: He took an optimistic view of the many lifestyles he encountered on his foreign travels L&L

*OROZCO, Jose, 1883-1949, Mexico:

Background: Born in Cuidad Guzman OxDicMod
Training: At the Academy of San Carlos under Dr Atl OxDicMod
Influences: Michelangelo L&L
Career: Orozco grew up in Guadalajara & Mexico city He trained as an architectural draftsman but turned to painting after losing his left hand & the sight of one eye in an accident in 1900. After the revolution of 1910 he began working as a political cartoonist . In 1912 he began a series of watercolours (House of Tears) on prostitution. There was an angry reaction & he spent 1917-20 in the USA but was unhappy & unproductive. In 1923 he launched into mural painting at the National Preparatory School, Mexico City, with a new series during 1926-7 & another at the House of Tiles in 1926. He gained little recognition & during 1927-34 he worked on mural cycles in the USA which had great success. After his returning to Mexico he painted further mural cycles OxDicMod, L&L
Phases: He worked first as a cartoonist & then on murals L&L
Characteristics/Phases: His murals are heroic & tend towards gigantism & melodrama OxDicArt. In murals for Darmouth College, 1932-4 his outlook crystalised into a contrast between a pagan paradise & a capitalist hell OxDicMod
Politics: The Mexican Communist Party called him a bourgeois sceptic OxDicMod

*ORPEN, Sir William, 1978-91, Ireland/England:

-ORSI/Da Novellara, Lelio, c1511-87, Italy; Mannerism Movement

Background: Born Novellara, the son of a painter Grove23 p573
Influences: Correggio, Romano, Michelangelo, Rosso Fiorentino & Francesco Primaticcio L&L, Grove23 p754
Career: Accused of involvement in a murder he fled to Novellara, 1546; visited Venice1553 & Rome 1554-5; & returned 1557 Grove23 p574
Oeuvre/Characteristics: Small vigorously expressive paintings of religious & mythological subjects as in Journey to Emmaus, after 1550 (NG). Easel paintings became his speciality. His style combines Correggio’s simplicity & sometimes disturbing contorted poses perspectival distortions & corroded settings of Mannerism as in The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine, 1560 Galleria Estense, Moderna He also painted decorative frescos on facades, although these have virtually all been lost. L&L, Grove 23 p574, L&L, Wikip
Status: He was a prominent Emilian artist of the mid-16^th century Grove23 p573
Pupils/Followers: Raffaellino da Reggio, Giovanni Bianchi/Il Bertone Reggiano & Jacopo Borbone Wikip

..OSBERT, Alphonse, 1857-1939, France:

Background: Born Paris Grove23 p598.

Training: At the Ecole des Beaux-Arts & under Henri Lehmann, Cormon & Bonnat Grove23 p598.

Influences: Realist 17^th century painting & then Impressionism & his friend Puvis de Chavannes Grove23 p598.

Career: He exhibited frequently in Paris, notably with the Rose+Croix, 1892-6 Grove23 p598.

Oeuvre: Paintings & murals Grove23 p598.

Speciality: Lyre-bearing classical Muses contemplating landscapes bathed in the setting sun Gibson p238

Phases/Characteristics: After his Spanish-like works he lightened his palette, adopted a naturalist style & painted en plein air. By the end of the 1880s his work was aesthetic & poetic with static, isolated figures in simplified landscapes & bathed in mysterious light. He used a divisionist technique but confined to blues, violets, yellows & silvery green Grove23 p598.

Reception: Sober was praised by Symbolist writers who likened his works to the poetry of Verlaine, Mallarme & Maeterlinck Grove23 p598.

Grouping: He became a Symbolist Grove23 p598.

..Emily Mary OSBORN, 1834-after1913, England; Victorian Modern Life Movement

Background: Born London into a curate’s family Grove23 p598

Training: Mr Dickinson’s Academy & private tuition from the portrait painter James Leigh. In 1861 she studied in Munich Grove23 pp 598-9

Influences: Karl Piloty & other Munich painters Grove23 p59

Career: She began exhibiting at the RA in 1851 & in 1855 the Queen purchased her exhibits My Cottage Door, 1855, & Nameless Friendless, 1857. Her popularity waned somewhat in the 1870s but her genre work popular until her death Grove23 pp 598-9

Oeuvre: Genre subjects dealing with contemporary life, historical subjects, portraits, floral pieces from the 1870s; & from about 1885 English & Algerian landscapes Grove23 pp 598-9

Characteristics: Her genre works have been thought sentimental & didactic Grove23 p598.

Feature: Her long & successful career was exceptional for a Victorian woman & [significantly] she never married Treuherz1993 p127.

Walter OSBORNE, 1859-1903, Ireland; Rural Naturalism and British Impressionism Movement

Background: He was born in Dublin, the son of William Osborne the animal painter, 1823-1901 Grove23 p599
Training: Royal Hibernian Academy school, 1876-81, & the Koninklijk Academie, Antwerp Grove23 p599
Influences: Bastien-Lepage Grove23 p599

Career: During the 1880s he worked in England, joining other artists expeditions for landscape painting, exhibiting at the RA from 1886 & becoming a member of NEAC & the Royal Hibernian Academy, also1886. From 1892 he spent more time in Dublin Grove23 p599

Oeuvre: Genre scenes, landscapes & portraits Sheehy

Speciality: Dublin street scenes [with lower class figures] Grove23 p599

Characteristics: His earlier work was carefully drawn, he worked en plein air & used the square brush technique. From 1892 his work was more richly painted, his palette more adventurous, his brushwork looser, & his genre more sympathetically treated Grove23 p599.

Circle: The Newlyn painters Grove23 p599.

Status: He became Dublin’s leading portraitist Grove23 p599

Features: Protestant Campbell, GorryG 16/11/2014 p3

* OUDRY, Jean-Baptiste, 1686-1755, France:

Background: He was born in Paris the son of Jacques Oudry, 1661-20, a painter & picture dealer Grove23 p666.

Training: From around 1705 to 1710 he was apprenticed to Largillierre Grove23 p666

Career: In 1719 he was received into the Academy. Although to begin with he mainly painted portraits he first attracted attention with a picture of a boar hunt n 1722. This led to a series of royal hunting paintings, Les Chasses de Louis XV, mostly commissioned during 1733-6. In 1726 he became official designer of the Beauvais tapestry works & in 1734 the Director. By 1748 he was also Inspector at the rival Gobelins works Grove23 pp 666-8, Wakefield p124.

Oeuvre: Hunting scenes, game pieces, animal portraits & landscapes Grove23 pp 666-7.

Characteristics: He was capable of great tonal finesse as in his White Duck, 1753, composed almost entirely of shades of white & silver L&L. His hunting scenes were challenged those of Alexande-Francois Desportes. Instead of restrained & dignified naturalism , Oudry provided dramatic scenes & colouring inspired by Largillierre & characteritic of the genre picturesque, the new ornamental style of the 1720s Grove23 pp 666-7.

Verdict: Despite Oudry’s manifest skill, & some exceptional works such as the Stag Admiring it own Reflection in a Pond, & the Wild Sow & her Young Attacked by Mastiffs, 1748, his work does not receive particular acclaim. He has been cricised as a consciously decorative artist &, although he studied nature on the spot, for backgrounds of perfunctory nature, work that looked back to the grand siecle, & for never really challenging the taste of his times but for maret-determined art Wakefield p126, Grove23p668, Levey&K pp 26-7

Collections: Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

OUWATER, Albert van, documented 1467, not to be confused with Isaak Ouwater (1750-93), Netherlands:

Training: Possibly Petrus Christus, Van Eyck’s pupil Fucks14
Career: He worked in Haarlem from about 1440 to 1460 Haak p17
Oeuvre: His only authenticated painting is the Raising of Lazarus but numereous in a similar style have been attributed to him L&L, Grove23 p673
Innovation: He appears to have been the first artist to carry the new Flemish painting of Van Eyck to the north &, according to van Mander, he founded the Haarlem School (& taught Geertgen tot Sint Jans) Fuchs p14, L&L.
Grouping: He has been credited with producing masterpieces of early Netherlandish realism Haak p17

OVENS Jurgen, 1623-78, Germany/Belgium/the Netherlands; Baroque:

Background: He was born at Tonning in Schleswig-Holstein Grove23 p674

Training: Not by Rembrandt Grove23 p674

Influences: van Dyck, Jan Lievens & Flemish painting Grove23 p674, L&L

Career: Early on he was lived in Flanders but around 1652 moved to Friedrichstadt as court painter to Duke Frederick III of Holstein-Gottorp. He visited Sweden in 1654 & in 1657 moved to Amsterdam but continued to his work as a court painter returning to Friedrichstadt in 1663 Grove23 p675

Oeuvre: Altarpieces, other religious paintings, history paintings, state & society portraits Grove23 pp 674-5

Characteristics: His paintings appear to be animated & interesting including some smiling faces as in his 1658 portrait of Cornelis Nuyts, (Rijksmuseum), webimages Grove23 p675

OVERBECK, Johann, 1789-1869, Germany; Nazarene Movement

Background: His father was a poet & the mayor of Lubeck MET1981 p271

Training: In 1805 at a private Academy; 1806-9 at the Vienna Academy MET1981 p271
Influences: Carstens to begin with, & Perugino & the young Raphael MET1981 p271, L&L.   The writings of Wackenroder & Friedrich Schlegel Grove23 p675.
Career: In 1806 he visited Hamburg where he met Runge & Wilhelm Tischbein, & Hannover where he met August Kestner, who introduced him to formative drawings by the Riepenhausen brothers after the Italian old masters.    After breaking with the Academy he was a founding member of the Brotherhood of St Luke.   In 1810 he went to Rome with Pforr (a close friend since 1808), Hottinger & Vogel, where they soon settled & formed a community at the abandoned Sant’Isidoro.   He became a Catholic in 1813.   During 1816-7 he collaborated on the frescos at the Casa Bartholdy, & then began working on those in the Casa Massimo.   These he abandoned because the project was not religious.   From 1833 he worked on the Triumph of Religion in the Arts for the Frankfurt Stadelsches Kunstinstitut then under the direction of Viet.   Although he made trips to southern Germany in 1831 & 1855, he remained in Rome MET1981 p271.   His studio became a meeting place for artists from many countries OxDicArt
Oeuvre: This was almost exclusively religious & portraiture L&L.   He even tried to make a religious allegory of Armida bewitching Rinaldo in his Massimo fresco Grove23 p677
Phases: From the 1820s there was little stylistic development in his work Grove23 p677.
Characteristics/Aim: He had a clear & innocent style.   Whereas Cornelius sought to overwhelm, Overbeck sought to purify L&L, Vaughan1984 p178.     He aimed to produce work embodying the glow of innocence & to avoid sensuality & picturesque execution.   This led on occasion to a lifeless juxtaposition of figures Grove23 p677.   Even in what should be lively scenes there is little evidence of activity & his paintings have an extraordinary stillness.   His coloring is beautiful & glowing. often with a brownish, grayish or greenish hue in the absence of sunlight  Met1981 pp 177-9, 181, web images.
Status: He became the principal exponent of revivalist painting in Rome Vaughan1984 p177
Feature: He refused to draw the female nude Grove23 p676
Legacy: His integrity & vision produced a new beginning for religious art in the 19^th century Grove23 p677

OZENFANT, Amedee, 1886-1966, France:

Background: He was born in St Quentin OxDicMod
Training: At the municipal drawing school in St Quentin & in Paris where he studied painting & architecture OxDicMod

Career: During 1915-6 he published an avant-garde journal. He was interested in Cubism but thought it confused & unstructured. In 1918 met Le Corbusier & founded Purism & during 1920-6 they edited the journal L’Espirit nouveau. In 1924 he founded an art school with Leger, the Academie de L’Art Moderne, During 1925-9 he lived in London & then in New York, 1939-55, founding schools in both. After difficulties due to his pro-Communist statements in the 1930s, he returned to France where he settled in Cannes & ran a studio for foreign students OxDicMod, L&L.

Oeuvre: Paintings &, during the later 1920s murals. He also wrote important books on art OxDicMod, L&L.

Phases: His Purist work was cool & featured bottles, glasses & other objects, After 1926 his work became somewhat freer & he re-introduced figures OxDicMod, TurnerEtoPM p325
See PURISM in Section 8 for his early aims & beliefs.