The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (188 page)
Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists Online
Authors: Ian Chilvers
Gibson , Charles Dana
(1867–1944).
American illustrator and painter. He studied at the
Art Students League of New York
, 1884–5, and in the 1890s became a great success with pen-and-ink drawings contributed to such magazines as
Collier's Weekly, Harpers
, and
Life
. He specialized in scenes of fashionable social life and achieved immortality with his creation of the ‘Gibson Girl’, a type (modelled on his wife) representing an ideal of American womanhood—feminine and gracefully attired, but a lover of sports and the outdoor life. His work was immensely popular until about 1914, influencing fashions in women's clothes and hairstyles, and he earned a fortune. He also tried to gain recognition as a portrait painter, but he was much less successful in this field.
American illustrator and painter. He studied at the
Art Students League of New York
, 1884–5, and in the 1890s became a great success with pen-and-ink drawings contributed to such magazines as
Collier's Weekly, Harpers
, and
Life
. He specialized in scenes of fashionable social life and achieved immortality with his creation of the ‘Gibson Girl’, a type (modelled on his wife) representing an ideal of American womanhood—feminine and gracefully attired, but a lover of sports and the outdoor life. His work was immensely popular until about 1914, influencing fashions in women's clothes and hairstyles, and he earned a fortune. He also tried to gain recognition as a portrait painter, but he was much less successful in this field.
Gibson , John
(1790–1866).
British
Neoclassical
sculptor. His early years were spent as a monumental mason in Liverpool, where he became a protégé of the banker and connoisseur William Roscoe . In 1817 he moved to London, where he was taken up by
Flaxman
, on whose encouragement he went to Rome the following year with an introduction to
Canova
, whose pupil he became. Later he was also taught by
Thorvaldsen
. He spent nearly all the rest of his life in Rome apart from occasional visits to England, the longest being from 1844 to 1847. Gibson won recognition internationally as one of the outstanding Neoclassical sculptors, and in his enthusiasm for Greek art he experimented with the ancient practice of colouring statues (see
POLYCHROMY
), arousing much controversy. His best-known work of this type is the
Tinted Venus
(Walker Art Gal., Liverpool, 1851). He left the fortune he made from his work to the
Royal Academy
.
British
Neoclassical
sculptor. His early years were spent as a monumental mason in Liverpool, where he became a protégé of the banker and connoisseur William Roscoe . In 1817 he moved to London, where he was taken up by
Flaxman
, on whose encouragement he went to Rome the following year with an introduction to
Canova
, whose pupil he became. Later he was also taught by
Thorvaldsen
. He spent nearly all the rest of his life in Rome apart from occasional visits to England, the longest being from 1844 to 1847. Gibson won recognition internationally as one of the outstanding Neoclassical sculptors, and in his enthusiasm for Greek art he experimented with the ancient practice of colouring statues (see
POLYCHROMY
), arousing much controversy. His best-known work of this type is the
Tinted Venus
(Walker Art Gal., Liverpool, 1851). He left the fortune he made from his work to the
Royal Academy
.
Gilbert , Sir Alfred
(1854–1934).
British sculptor and metal worker. After beginning to train as a surgeon he studied art at the
Royal Academy
Schools and the École des
Beaux-Arts
, Paris, after which he spent six years in Rome. He returned to England in 1884 and worked on several major projects, the best known of which is his Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain in Piccadilly Circus (1887–93). The celebrated figure of
Eros
that surmounts the fountain is cast in aluminium, one of the earliest examples of the use of this metal in sculpture. Its light weight allowed Gilbert to achieve a much more delicately poised pose than if he had been restricted to the traditional medium of bronze. Although Gilbert was hard-working, respected, and sought-after, he was unworldly and a hopeless businessman; his refusal to delegate work or compromise his standards meant that he took on more work than he could handle and he sometimes lost money on commissions. In 1901 he became bankrupt, and in 1909 he moved into self-imposed exile in Bruges. However, in 1926 he returned to England at the request of King George V to complete his masterpiece, the tomb of the Duke of Clarence in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, which he had begun in 1892. The sinuous and labyrinthine detailing, crafted with consummate skill, reveals Gilbert as one of the major practitioners of
Art Nouveau
, although he himself was disparaging about the style. Gilbert's reputation suffered after his death because he was so clearly outside the mainstream of 20th-cent. art, but he is now regarded as the greatest English sculptor of his generation.
British sculptor and metal worker. After beginning to train as a surgeon he studied art at the
Royal Academy
Schools and the École des
Beaux-Arts
, Paris, after which he spent six years in Rome. He returned to England in 1884 and worked on several major projects, the best known of which is his Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain in Piccadilly Circus (1887–93). The celebrated figure of
Eros
that surmounts the fountain is cast in aluminium, one of the earliest examples of the use of this metal in sculpture. Its light weight allowed Gilbert to achieve a much more delicately poised pose than if he had been restricted to the traditional medium of bronze. Although Gilbert was hard-working, respected, and sought-after, he was unworldly and a hopeless businessman; his refusal to delegate work or compromise his standards meant that he took on more work than he could handle and he sometimes lost money on commissions. In 1901 he became bankrupt, and in 1909 he moved into self-imposed exile in Bruges. However, in 1926 he returned to England at the request of King George V to complete his masterpiece, the tomb of the Duke of Clarence in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, which he had begun in 1892. The sinuous and labyrinthine detailing, crafted with consummate skill, reveals Gilbert as one of the major practitioners of
Art Nouveau
, although he himself was disparaging about the style. Gilbert's reputation suffered after his death because he was so clearly outside the mainstream of 20th-cent. art, but he is now regarded as the greatest English sculptor of his generation.
Gilbert & George
(Gilbert Proesch , 1943– , and George Passmore , 1942– )
.
(Gilbert Proesch , 1943– , and George Passmore , 1942– )
.
British artists (Gilbert is Italian born) who met whilst studying at St Martin's School of Art in London in 1967 and since 1968 have lived and worked together as self-styled ‘living sculptures’: ‘Being living sculptures is our life blood, our destiny, our romance, our disaster, our light and life.’ They initially attracted attention as
Performance
artists, their most famous work in this vein being
Underneath the Arches
(1969), in which—dressed in their characteristic neat suits and with their hands and faces painted gold—they mimed mechanically to the 1930s music-hall song of the title. Although they gave up such ‘living sculpture performances’ in 1977, they still see themselves as living sculptures, considering their whole lifestyle a work of art. Since the early 1970s their work has consisted mainly of photopieces—large and garish arrangements of photographs, usually in black and white and fiery red, and often violent or homoerotic in content, with scatological titles. The images are often drawn from the street life of the East End of London in which they live. Gilbert & George have become the most famous British avant-garde artists of their generation. Their work has been shown world-wide and has attracted an enormous amount of commentary. In 1986 they won the
Turner Prize
. Critical opinion on them is sharply divided, however: to some they are geniuses, to others tedious poseurs.
Performance
artists, their most famous work in this vein being
Underneath the Arches
(1969), in which—dressed in their characteristic neat suits and with their hands and faces painted gold—they mimed mechanically to the 1930s music-hall song of the title. Although they gave up such ‘living sculpture performances’ in 1977, they still see themselves as living sculptures, considering their whole lifestyle a work of art. Since the early 1970s their work has consisted mainly of photopieces—large and garish arrangements of photographs, usually in black and white and fiery red, and often violent or homoerotic in content, with scatological titles. The images are often drawn from the street life of the East End of London in which they live. Gilbert & George have become the most famous British avant-garde artists of their generation. Their work has been shown world-wide and has attracted an enormous amount of commentary. In 1986 they won the
Turner Prize
. Critical opinion on them is sharply divided, however: to some they are geniuses, to others tedious poseurs.
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