The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (248 page)
Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists Online
Authors: Ian Chilvers
Kemp-Welch , Lucy
.
.
Kennington , Eric
(1888–1960).
British painter, sculptor, and graphic artist. He was an
Official War Artist
in the First and Second World Wars and is best known for his studies of the daily life of ordinary soldiers and the RAF in the Second World War. Between the wars he worked mainly as a portraitist but also did book illustration, including illustrations to T. E. Lawrence's
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
(1926). His sculptures included the
Monument to the 24th Division
in Battersea Park, London (1924) and figures (in carved brick) for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon (1930).
British painter, sculptor, and graphic artist. He was an
Official War Artist
in the First and Second World Wars and is best known for his studies of the daily life of ordinary soldiers and the RAF in the Second World War. Between the wars he worked mainly as a portraitist but also did book illustration, including illustrations to T. E. Lawrence's
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
(1926). His sculptures included the
Monument to the 24th Division
in Battersea Park, London (1924) and figures (in carved brick) for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon (1930).
Kent , William
(1685–1748).
English architect, designer, landscape gardener, and painter. He began his career as a painter and studied in Rome, where in about 1717 he painted a ceiling in the church of S. Giuliano dei Fiamminghi (offering to work without payment for the chance to establish his reputation). As a guide and agent for Englishmen on the
Grand Tour
he met the architect and patron Lord Burlington , who in 1719 invited him to return with him to London. From then until Kent's death in 1748 the two were inseparable partners. After some rather unsuccessful decorative painting at Burlington House and Kensington Palace in London, Kent began to find himself as an architectural impresario, interior decorator, and garden designer, and he abandoned his first profession. The richness and fantasy of his interior decoration and the imagination displayed in his garden designs are probably his chief claim to fame, and are the perfect complement to the somewhat rigid classicism of Burlington's architecture. As an architect Kent's most important work is Holkham Hall, Norfolk, begun in 1734 for the first Earl of Leicester, whom he had first met in Rome. Although he was a painter of little talent, Kent has the distinction of painting the earliest medieval history subjects in British art—a series of three pictures for Queen Caroline depicting scenes from the life of Henry V (Royal Coll.,
c.
1730). There is no attempt to re-create the scenes accurately, and in fact there is some doubt whether one of the pictures is intended to represent the Battle of Agincourt (1415) or the Battle of Crécy (1346).
English architect, designer, landscape gardener, and painter. He began his career as a painter and studied in Rome, where in about 1717 he painted a ceiling in the church of S. Giuliano dei Fiamminghi (offering to work without payment for the chance to establish his reputation). As a guide and agent for Englishmen on the
Grand Tour
he met the architect and patron Lord Burlington , who in 1719 invited him to return with him to London. From then until Kent's death in 1748 the two were inseparable partners. After some rather unsuccessful decorative painting at Burlington House and Kensington Palace in London, Kent began to find himself as an architectural impresario, interior decorator, and garden designer, and he abandoned his first profession. The richness and fantasy of his interior decoration and the imagination displayed in his garden designs are probably his chief claim to fame, and are the perfect complement to the somewhat rigid classicism of Burlington's architecture. As an architect Kent's most important work is Holkham Hall, Norfolk, begun in 1734 for the first Earl of Leicester, whom he had first met in Rome. Although he was a painter of little talent, Kent has the distinction of painting the earliest medieval history subjects in British art—a series of three pictures for Queen Caroline depicting scenes from the life of Henry V (Royal Coll.,
c.
1730). There is no attempt to re-create the scenes accurately, and in fact there is some doubt whether one of the pictures is intended to represent the Battle of Agincourt (1415) or the Battle of Crécy (1346).
Kersting , Georg Friedrich
(1785–1847).
German painter. After studying at the Copenhagen Academy he settled in 1808 at Dresden, where he specialized in small portraits set in delicately rendered interiors. He was a friend of
Friedrich
and painted several versions of a portrait showing him in his studio (Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, and Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim).
German painter. After studying at the Copenhagen Academy he settled in 1808 at Dresden, where he specialized in small portraits set in delicately rendered interiors. He was a friend of
Friedrich
and painted several versions of a portrait showing him in his studio (Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, and Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim).
Kessel , Jan van
(1626–79).
Flemish stilllife and flower painter active in Antwerp, where he became a Guild member in 1645. He continued the traditions of his grandfather, Jan ‘Velvet’
Brueghel
, and was also influenced by Daniel
Seghers
. Van Kessel painted garlands and bouquets of flowers, but is best known for small, jewel-like pictures, often on copper, of insects or shells against a light background, executed with strong colour and great exactitude. Good examples of his prolific output are in Oxford (Ashmolean), Cambridge (Fitzwilliam), and Madrid (Prado).
Flemish stilllife and flower painter active in Antwerp, where he became a Guild member in 1645. He continued the traditions of his grandfather, Jan ‘Velvet’
Brueghel
, and was also influenced by Daniel
Seghers
. Van Kessel painted garlands and bouquets of flowers, but is best known for small, jewel-like pictures, often on copper, of insects or shells against a light background, executed with strong colour and great exactitude. Good examples of his prolific output are in Oxford (Ashmolean), Cambridge (Fitzwilliam), and Madrid (Prado).
Ketel , Cornelis
(1548–1616).
Dutch portrait and history painter. He worked mainly in Gouda, where he was born, and in Amsterdam, where he died, but also in France and in England, where he lived 1573–81. Van
Mander
, who was well informed about him, mentions that he painted a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I for the Earl of Hertford in 1578, but the picture is not known. The portrait of Martin Frobisher (Bodleian Lib., Oxford), however, is a good example of his work from his English period. Ketel's finest works are his group portraits (examples in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), which prefigure those of Frans
Hals
.
Dutch portrait and history painter. He worked mainly in Gouda, where he was born, and in Amsterdam, where he died, but also in France and in England, where he lived 1573–81. Van
Mander
, who was well informed about him, mentions that he painted a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I for the Earl of Hertford in 1578, but the picture is not known. The portrait of Martin Frobisher (Bodleian Lib., Oxford), however, is a good example of his work from his English period. Ketel's finest works are his group portraits (examples in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), which prefigure those of Frans
Hals
.
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