The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (490 page)
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Authors: Ian Chilvers
V
Valadon , Suzanne
(1865 or 1867–1938).
French painter. As a girl she worked as a circus acrobat, but had to abandon this after a fall and then became a model and the reigning beauty of Montmartre. The artists she posed for included
Renoir
,
Puvis de Chavannes
, and
Toulouse-Lautrec
(each of whom numbered among her lovers). Toulouse-Lautrec brought her drawings to the attention of
Degas
, who encouraged her to develop her artistic talent and she eventually became a successful painter. She owed little to formal training or to the influence of the artists with whom she associated and her painting has a fresh and personal vision. Her subjects included portraits and still lifes, but she was at her best in figure paintings, which often have a splendid earthy vigour and a striking use of bold contour and flat colour. A child of the people, she has been compared with the writer Colette for her sharpness of eye and avidity for life. Maurice
Utrillo
was her son.
French painter. As a girl she worked as a circus acrobat, but had to abandon this after a fall and then became a model and the reigning beauty of Montmartre. The artists she posed for included
Renoir
,
Puvis de Chavannes
, and
Toulouse-Lautrec
(each of whom numbered among her lovers). Toulouse-Lautrec brought her drawings to the attention of
Degas
, who encouraged her to develop her artistic talent and she eventually became a successful painter. She owed little to formal training or to the influence of the artists with whom she associated and her painting has a fresh and personal vision. Her subjects included portraits and still lifes, but she was at her best in figure paintings, which often have a splendid earthy vigour and a striking use of bold contour and flat colour. A child of the people, she has been compared with the writer Colette for her sharpness of eye and avidity for life. Maurice
Utrillo
was her son.
Valdés Leal , Juan de
(1662–90).
Spanish painter and engraver, born in Seville, where he worked from 1656 after some early years in Cordova. With
Murillo
he helped to found an
academy
of painting there in 1660, and after Murillo's death in 1682 he was the leading artist in the city. Like Murillo, he was primarily a religious painter, but he was very different in style and approach. He had a penchant for macabre or grotesque subject-matter, and his style is characterized by feverish excitability, with a vivid sense of movement, brilliant colouring, and dramatic lighting. His most remarkable works are two large
Allegories of Death
(commissioned 1672) in the Hospital de la Caridad, Seville. He also
polychromed
Roldán's
great altarpiece in the Caridad.
Spanish painter and engraver, born in Seville, where he worked from 1656 after some early years in Cordova. With
Murillo
he helped to found an
academy
of painting there in 1660, and after Murillo's death in 1682 he was the leading artist in the city. Like Murillo, he was primarily a religious painter, but he was very different in style and approach. He had a penchant for macabre or grotesque subject-matter, and his style is characterized by feverish excitability, with a vivid sense of movement, brilliant colouring, and dramatic lighting. His most remarkable works are two large
Allegories of Death
(commissioned 1672) in the Hospital de la Caridad, Seville. He also
polychromed
Roldán's
great altarpiece in the Caridad.
Valenciennes , Pierre-Henri de
(1750–1819).
French landscape painter and writer on art. From 1769 to 1777 he lived in Italy and his grand formal style was influenced most notably by Nicolas
Poussin
. He became a leading upholder of the classical tradition in landscape painting, but he also encouraged studying direct from nature.
French landscape painter and writer on art. From 1769 to 1777 he lived in Italy and his grand formal style was influenced most notably by Nicolas
Poussin
. He became a leading upholder of the classical tradition in landscape painting, but he also encouraged studying direct from nature.
Valentin , Moïse
(also called Le Valentin and Valentin de Boulogne )
(also called Le Valentin and Valentin de Boulogne )
(
c.
1591–1632).
French
Caravaggesque
painter active in Rome from about 1612. His life is obscure; the name ‘Moïse’ (the French form of Moses) by which he was called was not his Christian name (which is unknown) but a corruption of the Italian form of ‘monsieur’. He did, however, have one major public commission—
The Martyrdom of SS. Processus and Martinian
(Vatican, 1629–30), painted for St Peter's as a pendant to
Poussin's
Martyrdom of St Erasmus
. About fifty works are attributed to him. They vary in subject—religious, mythological, and
genre
scenes and portraits—but the same models often seem to reappear in them, and all his work is marked by an impressively solemn, at times melancholic, dignity. He was one of the finest of Caravaggio's followers and one of the most dedicated, still painting in his style when it had gone out of fashion.
Baglione
says that he died after taking a cold bath in a fountain following a drinking bout; his death was much lamented in the artistic community.
c.
1591–1632).
French
Caravaggesque
painter active in Rome from about 1612. His life is obscure; the name ‘Moïse’ (the French form of Moses) by which he was called was not his Christian name (which is unknown) but a corruption of the Italian form of ‘monsieur’. He did, however, have one major public commission—
The Martyrdom of SS. Processus and Martinian
(Vatican, 1629–30), painted for St Peter's as a pendant to
Poussin's
Martyrdom of St Erasmus
. About fifty works are attributed to him. They vary in subject—religious, mythological, and
genre
scenes and portraits—but the same models often seem to reappear in them, and all his work is marked by an impressively solemn, at times melancholic, dignity. He was one of the finest of Caravaggio's followers and one of the most dedicated, still painting in his style when it had gone out of fashion.
Baglione
says that he died after taking a cold bath in a fountain following a drinking bout; his death was much lamented in the artistic community.
Valentiner , William
(1880–1958).
German-American art historian, one of the foremost connoisseurs of Dutch painting, on which he published numerous books. From 1906 to 1908 he worked at the Berlin Museum under
Bode
, then moved to the
Metropolitan Museum
in New York, where one of his innovations was to ban the attendants from smoking cigars while they were on duty. He stayed there until 1914, then served in the German army in the First World War. At this time he knew various German
Expressionist
artists, notably
Schmidt-Rottluff
, and helped to make their work known in the USA. In 1921 Valentiner began working at the Detroit Institute of Arts, of which he was director from 1924 to 1945 and where he commissioned murals from Diego
Rivera
. He was then director of the County Museum of Art in Los Angeles (1946–54) and the first director of the North Carolina Museum at Raleigh (1955–8). Valentiner also founded the periodical
The Art Quarterly
(1938).
German-American art historian, one of the foremost connoisseurs of Dutch painting, on which he published numerous books. From 1906 to 1908 he worked at the Berlin Museum under
Bode
, then moved to the
Metropolitan Museum
in New York, where one of his innovations was to ban the attendants from smoking cigars while they were on duty. He stayed there until 1914, then served in the German army in the First World War. At this time he knew various German
Expressionist
artists, notably
Schmidt-Rottluff
, and helped to make their work known in the USA. In 1921 Valentiner began working at the Detroit Institute of Arts, of which he was director from 1924 to 1945 and where he commissioned murals from Diego
Rivera
. He was then director of the County Museum of Art in Los Angeles (1946–54) and the first director of the North Carolina Museum at Raleigh (1955–8). Valentiner also founded the periodical
The Art Quarterly
(1938).
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