The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (315 page)
Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists Online
Authors: Ian Chilvers
Mies van der Rohe , Ludwig
.
.
Mignard , Pierre
(1612–95).
French painter, one of the most successful of
Vouet's
pupils. His career culminated in 1690, when, on the death of
Lebrun
, he became Director of the Académie and first painter to the king. He was one of the principal supporters on the side of
De Piles
and the ‘Rubensistes’ in their battle against the
classicism
of the ‘Poussinistes’. His own historical and religious paintings, however, did not exemplify his theories but fitted into the scheme of academic classicism in the tradition of
Domenichino
and
Poussin
(he was in Italy 1635–57). His best works are his portraits; he painted many of the members of Louis XIV's court, sometimes fitting out his sitters with allegorical trappings. Pierre's brother,
Nicolas
(1606–68), also trained with Vouet and had a successful career painting portraits and religious subjects.
French painter, one of the most successful of
Vouet's
pupils. His career culminated in 1690, when, on the death of
Lebrun
, he became Director of the Académie and first painter to the king. He was one of the principal supporters on the side of
De Piles
and the ‘Rubensistes’ in their battle against the
classicism
of the ‘Poussinistes’. His own historical and religious paintings, however, did not exemplify his theories but fitted into the scheme of academic classicism in the tradition of
Domenichino
and
Poussin
(he was in Italy 1635–57). His best works are his portraits; he painted many of the members of Louis XIV's court, sometimes fitting out his sitters with allegorical trappings. Pierre's brother,
Nicolas
(1606–68), also trained with Vouet and had a successful career painting portraits and religious subjects.
Millais , Sir John Everett
(1829–96).
English painter and book illustrator. A child prodigy who was hard-working as well as naturally gifted, he became the youngest ever student at the
Royal Academy
Schools when he was 11, and although he suffered some temporary setbacks in his twenties, his career was essentially one of the great Victorian success stories. In 1848, with
Rossetti
and Holman
Hunt
, he founded the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
and had his share of the abuse heaped against the members until
Ruskin
stepped in as their champion. (In 1854 Millais married Effie Gray, formerly Ruskin's wife, after this first marriage had been annulled.) In the 1850s Millais's style changed, as he moved away from the brilliantly coloured, minutely detailed Pre-Raphaelite manner to a broader and more fluent way of painting—with a family to support he said he could not afford to spend a whole day working on an area ‘no larger than a five shilling piece’. His subjects changed also, from highly serious, morally uplifting themes to scenes that met the public demand for sentiment and a good story (
The Boyhood of Raleigh
, Tate, London, 1870). He became enormously popular, not only with subject pictures such as this, but also as a portraitist and book illustrator, his drawings for the novels of Anthony Trollope being such a success that Trollope said they influenced the way he developed the characters in sequels. Millais lived in some splendour on his huge income, in 1885 became the first artist to be awarded a baronetcy, and in the year of his death was elected President of the Royal Academy. To some contemporaries it seemed that he wasted his talents pandering to public taste, and many 20th-cent. critics have presented him as a young genius who sacrificed his artistic conscience for money. Millais, an easy-going and much-liked man, certainly enjoyed his success, but he was far from being a cynic. He was always proud of his skills (near the end of his career he wrote ‘I may honestly say that I have never consciously placed an idle touch upon canvas’), and few of his contemporaries could match his late works for sheer beauty of handling (
Bubbles
, A. & F. Pears Ltd.,1886).
English painter and book illustrator. A child prodigy who was hard-working as well as naturally gifted, he became the youngest ever student at the
Royal Academy
Schools when he was 11, and although he suffered some temporary setbacks in his twenties, his career was essentially one of the great Victorian success stories. In 1848, with
Rossetti
and Holman
Hunt
, he founded the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
and had his share of the abuse heaped against the members until
Ruskin
stepped in as their champion. (In 1854 Millais married Effie Gray, formerly Ruskin's wife, after this first marriage had been annulled.) In the 1850s Millais's style changed, as he moved away from the brilliantly coloured, minutely detailed Pre-Raphaelite manner to a broader and more fluent way of painting—with a family to support he said he could not afford to spend a whole day working on an area ‘no larger than a five shilling piece’. His subjects changed also, from highly serious, morally uplifting themes to scenes that met the public demand for sentiment and a good story (
The Boyhood of Raleigh
, Tate, London, 1870). He became enormously popular, not only with subject pictures such as this, but also as a portraitist and book illustrator, his drawings for the novels of Anthony Trollope being such a success that Trollope said they influenced the way he developed the characters in sequels. Millais lived in some splendour on his huge income, in 1885 became the first artist to be awarded a baronetcy, and in the year of his death was elected President of the Royal Academy. To some contemporaries it seemed that he wasted his talents pandering to public taste, and many 20th-cent. critics have presented him as a young genius who sacrificed his artistic conscience for money. Millais, an easy-going and much-liked man, certainly enjoyed his success, but he was far from being a cynic. He was always proud of his skills (near the end of his career he wrote ‘I may honestly say that I have never consciously placed an idle touch upon canvas’), and few of his contemporaries could match his late works for sheer beauty of handling (
Bubbles
, A. & F. Pears Ltd.,1886).
millboard
.
.
Milles , Carl
(1875–1955).
Sweden's greatest sculptor. From 1897 to 1904 he lived in Paris, where he worked for a time as assistant to
Rodin
, then moved to Munich (1904–6), where he was influenced by
Hildebrand
. In the following two years he lived in Rome, Stockholm, and Austria, then settled at Lidingö, near Stockholm, in 1908. His travels had given him a wide knowledge of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance art, as well as of recent developments, and he forged from these varied influences an eclectic but vigorous style. He is best known for his numerous large-scale fountains, distinguished by rhythmic vitality and inventive figure types (he would fuse classical and Nordic types such as tritons and goblins), and sometimes by a grotesque humour. From 1931 to 1945 he was Professor of Sculpture at the Cranbrook Academy at Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; his work in the USA includes fountains in Chicago, Kansas City, New York, and St Louis. He became an American citizen in 1945 but returned to Sweden in 1951 and died at Lidingö, where his home is now an open-air museum of his work, known as Millesgården.
Sweden's greatest sculptor. From 1897 to 1904 he lived in Paris, where he worked for a time as assistant to
Rodin
, then moved to Munich (1904–6), where he was influenced by
Hildebrand
. In the following two years he lived in Rome, Stockholm, and Austria, then settled at Lidingö, near Stockholm, in 1908. His travels had given him a wide knowledge of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance art, as well as of recent developments, and he forged from these varied influences an eclectic but vigorous style. He is best known for his numerous large-scale fountains, distinguished by rhythmic vitality and inventive figure types (he would fuse classical and Nordic types such as tritons and goblins), and sometimes by a grotesque humour. From 1931 to 1945 he was Professor of Sculpture at the Cranbrook Academy at Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; his work in the USA includes fountains in Chicago, Kansas City, New York, and St Louis. He became an American citizen in 1945 but returned to Sweden in 1951 and died at Lidingö, where his home is now an open-air museum of his work, known as Millesgården.
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