The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (187 page)

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(1901–66).
Swiss sculptor and painter, active mainly in Paris. He was the son of Giovanni Giacometti (1868–1933), a painter influenced by
Impressionism
and
Post-Impressionism
. After short periods at the École des Arts et Métiers, Geneva, and in Italy, he went to Paris and there worked under
Bourdelle
from 1922 to 1925. He abandoned naturalistic sculpture in 1925, however, and went through a period of restless experimentation. From 1930 to 1935 he participated in the
Surrealist
movement, developing a highly individual attenuated manner and open-cage construction exemplified in
The Palace at 4 a.m.
(MOMA, New York, 1933). Giacometti abandoned Surrealism in 1935, however, and began to work again from the model. In 1941–5 he lived in Geneva, but then returned to Paris, and his most characteristic style emerged in 1947, featuring ‘transparent constructions’ of human figures, sometimes disposed in groups, notable for their emaciated, extremely elongated, and nervous character (
Man Pointing
, Tate, London, 1947). His isolated figures often have a suggestion of existentialist tragedy, and he was indeed a friend of the existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre , who wrote on Giacometti's work, notably the introduction to the catalogue of his exhibition at the Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, in 1948. It was this exhibition that established Giacometti's post-war reputation, and his work soon had widespread influence, which can be seen, for example, in many of the entries for the
Unknown Political Prisoner
competition of 1953 (see
BUTLER , REG
). He impressed many people not only through the quality of his work, but also by his force of personality, integrity, and devotion to his work. Simone de Beauvoir, Sartre's companion, wrote: ‘Success, fame, money—Giacometti was indifferent to them all.’ He is generally considered one of the outstandingly original sculptors of the 20th cent., and from the late 1950s his reputation as a painter began to increase. Most of his paintings and drawings are portraits of his family and friends; his brother Diego , who was a skilled technician and a life-long assistant, was a favourite model and the subject of dozens of sculptures, paintings, and drawings. Their cousin
Augusto Giacometti
(1877–1947) was a painter, one of the first to produce pure abstracts.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(1529–1608).
Flemish-born Italian sculptor. He was the greatest sculptor of the age of
Mannerism
and for about two centuries after his death his reputation was second only to that of
Michelangelo
. In about 1550 he went to Italy to study and spent 2 years in Rome. On the way back he stopped in Florence and was based there for the rest of his life. The work that made his name, however, was for Bologna—the
Fountain of Neptune
(1563–6), with its impressive nude figure of Neptune which he had designed for a similar fountain in Florence (
Ammanati
defeated him in the competition). Even before working on the fountain in Bologna, however, Giambologna had begun in Florence the first of a series of celebrated marble groups that in their mastery of complex twisting poses mark one of the high-points of Mannerist art:
Samson Slaying a Philistine
(V&A, London,
c.
1561–2);
Florence Triumphant over Pisa
(Bargello, Florence, completed 1575);
The Rape of a Sabine
(Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence, 1581–2);
Hercules and the Centaur
(Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence, 1594–1600). Giambologna worked extensively for the
Medici
and his monument to Duke Cosimo I (1587–95) was the first equestrian statue made in Florence and an immensely influential design, becoming the pattern for similar statues all over Europe (for example that of Charles I by Hubert
Le Sueur
at Charing Cross in London). Giambologna's similar statue to Henry IV of France, formerly on the Pont Neuf in Paris, has been destroyed. It was for the Medici that he made his largest work—the colossal (about 10m. high) figure of the mountain god
Appennino
(1577–81) in the gardens of the family's villa at Pratolino. Constructed of brick and stone, the god crouches above a pool and seems to have emerged from the earth, fusing brilliantly with the landscape. Giambologna was as happy working on a small scale as in a monumental vein. His small bronze statuettes were enormously popular (they continued to be reproduced almost continuously until the 20th cent.) and being portable helped to give his style European currency. Many of his preliminary models also survive (uniquely for an Italian sculptor of his period), giving insight into his creative processes. The best collection is in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(1889–1958).
British wood-engraver, book designer, and travel writer. He founded the Society of Wood Engravers in 1919 and ran the Golden Cockerell Press from 1924 to 1933, illustrating many of its books himself and also employing engravers such as Eric
Gill
and
Eric Ravilious
. He went through a nudist phase at about this time and sometimes typeset in the nude. Gibbings's books typically combine topographical impressions, personal anecdote, and observations of nature, illustrated with his own engravings; they include two on the River Thames—
Sweet Thames Run Softly
(1940) and
Till I End My Song
(1957).

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(1648–1721).
Anglo-Dutch wood-carver and sculptor, born in Rotterdam, the son of an Englishman who had business interests there (his mother was probably Dutch). He settled in England
c.
1667 and was ‘discovered’ by John Evelyn (see
Diary
, 18 Jan., 1671). Evelyn introduced him to King Charles II and to Sir Christopher Wren , who employed him on decorations at Hampton Court and St Paul's Cathedral. In 1714 he was made Master Carver to King George I. Gibbons was unsurpassed in his day for naturalistic decorative carving of fruits, flowers, and shells, strung together in garlands and festoons, with small animals, cherubs’ heads, etc. Because of his fame an enormous amount of work has been attributed to him, but he lived in a great age of English craftsmanship and much of the carving that is connected with his name was done by artists influenced by his style. Apart from his work for Wren, his documented commissions include outstanding ensembles at Burghley House, Lincolnshire, and Petworth House, Sussex. His virtuosity in wood was not equalled in marble or bronze, and George
Vertue
said of him: ‘He was a most excellent carver in wood, he was neither well skill'd or practized in Marble or Brass for which works he employd the best artists he coud procure.’ About 1684 he took as partner Artus
Quellin III
, who is thought to have been responsible for some of the figure sculpture for which Gibbons was officially credited.