The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (275 page)
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Authors: Ian Chilvers
Lightfoot , Maxwell Gordon
Limburg
(or Limbourg )
Brothers.
(or Limbourg )
Brothers.
Netherlandish manuscript
illuminators
,
Herman, Jean (Jannequin )
, and
Paul (Pol)
, all three of whom died in 1416, presumably victims of the plague or other epidemic. Pol was probably the head of the workshop, but it is not possible to distinguish his hand from those of his brothers. They were born in Nijmegen, nephews of Jean
Malouel
, and Herman and Jean are first documented in the late 1390s apprenticed to a goldsmith in Paris. In 1402 Jean and Pol were working for Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and after Philip's death all three Limburgs worked for his brother Jean, Duc de Berry, remaining in his service until their deaths and holding privileged positions at his court, which moved with him around France from one magnificent residence to the next. He was, indeed, one of the most extravagant patrons and collectors in the history of art, and the Limburgs illuminated two manuscripts for his celebrated library: the Belles Heures (Met. Mus., New York,
c.
1408) and the Très Riches Heures (Musée Condé, Chantilly), which was begun
c.
1413 and left unfinished at their deaths (it was completed by the French illuminator Jean Colombe (
c.
1440–93?) about seventy years later). The Très Riches Heures (
see
BOOK OF HOURS
) is by common consent one of the supreme masterpieces of manuscript illumination and the archetype of the
International Gothic
style. Its most original and beautiful feature is the series of twelve full-page illustrations of the months (the first time a calendar was so lavishly treated), full of exquisite ornamentation and beautifully observed naturalistic detail. The
miniatures
are remarkable, too, for their mastery in rendering space, strongly suggesting that one or more of the brothers had visited Italy, and they occupy an important place in the development of the northern traditions of landscape and
genre
painting.
illuminators
,
Herman, Jean (Jannequin )
, and
Paul (Pol)
, all three of whom died in 1416, presumably victims of the plague or other epidemic. Pol was probably the head of the workshop, but it is not possible to distinguish his hand from those of his brothers. They were born in Nijmegen, nephews of Jean
Malouel
, and Herman and Jean are first documented in the late 1390s apprenticed to a goldsmith in Paris. In 1402 Jean and Pol were working for Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and after Philip's death all three Limburgs worked for his brother Jean, Duc de Berry, remaining in his service until their deaths and holding privileged positions at his court, which moved with him around France from one magnificent residence to the next. He was, indeed, one of the most extravagant patrons and collectors in the history of art, and the Limburgs illuminated two manuscripts for his celebrated library: the Belles Heures (Met. Mus., New York,
c.
1408) and the Très Riches Heures (Musée Condé, Chantilly), which was begun
c.
1413 and left unfinished at their deaths (it was completed by the French illuminator Jean Colombe (
c.
1440–93?) about seventy years later). The Très Riches Heures (
see
BOOK OF HOURS
) is by common consent one of the supreme masterpieces of manuscript illumination and the archetype of the
International Gothic
style. Its most original and beautiful feature is the series of twelve full-page illustrations of the months (the first time a calendar was so lavishly treated), full of exquisite ornamentation and beautifully observed naturalistic detail. The
miniatures
are remarkable, too, for their mastery in rendering space, strongly suggesting that one or more of the brothers had visited Italy, and they occupy an important place in the development of the northern traditions of landscape and
genre
painting.
limner
.
.
A word for a painter that has been used in different ways according to time and place. In the Middle Ages it was applied to manuscript
illuminators
, and from the 16th cent. it was used of painters of
miniature
portraits (Nicholas
Hilliard's
treatise is called
The Arte of Limning
). In American usage it denotes the anonymous and often itinerant painters, particularly portraitists, of the 17th and 18th cents. Limners in this last sense are sometimes given invented names in the same manner in which the term ‘Master of’ is used in European painting—the Schuyler Limner, named after one of the families he portrayed, is an example.
illuminators
, and from the 16th cent. it was used of painters of
miniature
portraits (Nicholas
Hilliard's
treatise is called
The Arte of Limning
). In American usage it denotes the anonymous and often itinerant painters, particularly portraitists, of the 17th and 18th cents. Limners in this last sense are sometimes given invented names in the same manner in which the term ‘Master of’ is used in European painting—the Schuyler Limner, named after one of the families he portrayed, is an example.
Lindner , Richard
(1901–78).
German born painter who became an American citizen in 1948. He fled from the Nazi regime in 1933 and settled in Paris, then moved to the USA in 1941. At first he worked as a magazine and book illustrator (in Germany he had been art director of a publishing firm), and he did not begin to paint seriously until the early 1950s. His most characteristic works take their imagery from the vulgar and sordid aspects of New York life, often with overtly erotic symbolism, and are painted with harsh colours and hard outlines. The effects he created owed something to
Expressionist
exaggeration,
Surrealist
fantasy, and
Cubist
manipulations of form, but his style is vivid and distinctive and anticipates aspects of
Pop art
.
German born painter who became an American citizen in 1948. He fled from the Nazi regime in 1933 and settled in Paris, then moved to the USA in 1941. At first he worked as a magazine and book illustrator (in Germany he had been art director of a publishing firm), and he did not begin to paint seriously until the early 1950s. His most characteristic works take their imagery from the vulgar and sordid aspects of New York life, often with overtly erotic symbolism, and are painted with harsh colours and hard outlines. The effects he created owed something to
Expressionist
exaggeration,
Surrealist
fantasy, and
Cubist
manipulations of form, but his style is vivid and distinctive and anticipates aspects of
Pop art
.
Lindsay
.
.
Family of Australian artists. The members included five of the children of Dr. R. C. Lindsay of Creswick, Victoria:
Percy Lindsay
(1870–1952), painter and graphic artist;
Sir Lionel Lindsay
(1874–1961), art critic, watercolour painter, and graphic artist in pen, etching, and woodcut, who did much to arouse an interest in the collection of original prints in Australia;
Norman Lindsay
(1879–1969), painter, graphic artist, critic, and novelist;
Ruby Lindsay
(1887–1919), graphic artist; and
Sir Daryl Lindsay
(1889–1876), painter and Director of the National Gallery of Victoria from 1942 to 1956. Norman's son
Raymond
(1904–60) and Daryl's wife
Joan
(1896–1984) were also painters. For over half a century this family, through one or other of its members, played a leading role in Australian art. The most interesting character among them was Norman Lindsay, who according to Robert
Hughes
(
The Art of Australia
, 1970) ‘has some claim to be the most forceful personality the arts in Australia have ever seen’. He believed that the main impulse of art and life was sex, and his work was often denounced as pornographic. However, when he saw some of Lindsay's works at an exhibition of Australian art in London in 1923, Sir William
Orpen
commented that they were ‘certainly vulgar, but not in the least indecent. They are extremely badly drawn, and show no sense of design and a total lack of imagination.’
Percy Lindsay
(1870–1952), painter and graphic artist;
Sir Lionel Lindsay
(1874–1961), art critic, watercolour painter, and graphic artist in pen, etching, and woodcut, who did much to arouse an interest in the collection of original prints in Australia;
Norman Lindsay
(1879–1969), painter, graphic artist, critic, and novelist;
Ruby Lindsay
(1887–1919), graphic artist; and
Sir Daryl Lindsay
(1889–1876), painter and Director of the National Gallery of Victoria from 1942 to 1956. Norman's son
Raymond
(1904–60) and Daryl's wife
Joan
(1896–1984) were also painters. For over half a century this family, through one or other of its members, played a leading role in Australian art. The most interesting character among them was Norman Lindsay, who according to Robert
Hughes
(
The Art of Australia
, 1970) ‘has some claim to be the most forceful personality the arts in Australia have ever seen’. He believed that the main impulse of art and life was sex, and his work was often denounced as pornographic. However, when he saw some of Lindsay's works at an exhibition of Australian art in London in 1923, Sir William
Orpen
commented that they were ‘certainly vulgar, but not in the least indecent. They are extremely badly drawn, and show no sense of design and a total lack of imagination.’
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