The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (403 page)

 
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(1470–1532)
. Italian sculptor, born in Trento, and active in and around Padua, where he was probably trained by Bartolommeo Bellano (
c.
1440–96/7), who in turn is assumed to have been one of
Donatello's
assistants. His nickname means ‘curly head’. Riccio was a virtuoso bronze-worker and his masterpiece is the great bronze Easter candlestick in the Santo (S. Antonio ) at Padua (1507–16), which with its relief scenes of classically draped figures, its satyrs, sphinxes, and decorative conceits, is an endlessly inventive work. He is best known, however, for his small bronze figures, which are done in an
antique
manner and greatly appealed to humanist circles in Padua and Venice (he was on intimate terms with leading scholars). They were much imitated, but works from Riccio's own hand are distinguished by a vivacity and delicacy of surface that none of his rivals could match.

 
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(1903–71)
. British painter and maker of
reliefs
, born at Dunvant, near Swansea, of a Welsh-speaking family. He was an artist of great versatility, able to absorb many influences without sacrificing his originality. From 1933, under the influence of
Picasso
, he worked on a series of relief constructions and
assemblages
which were described by John
Rothenstein
as ‘original creations of a rare order, and unlike anything else done in Britain at the time’. He was influenced by the London
Surrealist
Exhibition of 1936, which in his own words ‘helped me to be aware of the mystery, even the “unreality”, of ordinary things’. After the Second World War his painting drew inspiration from the large exhibition of Picasso and
Matisse
at the Victoria and Albert Museum (1945). His love of music showed itself in the many pictures with musical themes done during this time—e.g.
Cold Light, Deep Shadow
(Tate, London, 1950)—culminating in his
Cathédrale Engloutie
series illustrating Debussy's music on this theme. He was also inspired by Dylan Thomas and one of his finest paintings—
‘Do not go gentle into that good night’
(Tate, 1956)—is based on his poem of that name. Richards also did work for churches, designed for the stage, and made murals for ships of the Orient Line.

 
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(1665–1745)
. English portrait painter, writer, and collector. John
Riley's
most important pupil, he was one of the leading portraitists in the generation after
Kneller's
death. This period, however, has been described by Sir Ellis
Waterhouse
as ‘the most drab in the history of British painting’, and Richardson is remembered today more for his writings than his pictures. His most important book is
An Essay on the Theory of Painting
(1715), which made claims for the intellectual seriousness of painting and inspired the young
Reynolds
.
An Account of Some of the Statues, Bas-Reliefs, Drawings, and Pictures in Italy
(1722), which he wrote in collaboration with his son,
Jonathan the Younger
(1694–1771), also a portraitist, was much used as a guide-book by young Englishmen making the
Grand Tour
. Richardson the Elder made a superb collection of Old Master drawings.

 
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(1904–59).
French sculptor. She had a traditional training as a carver, working under
Bourdelle
from 1925 to 1929, but from about 1940 she began to create a distinctive type of bronze sculpture. Her figures became long and thin, combining human with animal or insect (and sometimes vegetal) forms. The surfaces of these powerful and disquieting works have a tattered and lacerated effect, creating a macabre feeling of decomposition, and she was one of the pioneers of an open form of sculpture in which enclosed space becomes as important and alive as the solid material. Such figures were often extremely difficult to cast and she showed great technical resourcefulness in bringing them to completion. The public sometimes found her work shocking, especially her
Crucified Christ
(church of Nôtre-Dame-de-Toute-Grâce, Assy, 1950), which caused a storm of controversy. Nevertheless, her international prestige grew steadily in the years after the Second World War.

 
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