Aachen Hans von (b Cologne, 1552; d Prague, 4 March 1615).
German painter and draughtsman, active also in Italy and Bohemia. One of the foremost painters of the circle gathered at the Prague court of Emperor Rudolf II, he synthesized Italian and Netherlandish influences in his portraits and erudite allegories.

Aaltonen Waino (1894—1966). Finnish sculptor and painter and a major force in modern Finnish sculpture. His work in granite is classical in line despite its monumental character. Besides a number of female torsos and portrait heads, A. executed public monuments.

Abbate Niccolo dell' (c 1512-71). A Modenese painter who, from 1552, worked in France and was, with Primaticcio, a leader of the school of *Fontainebleau. A. was stylistically influenced by the illusionism of Mantegna and the softness of Correggio, but more important was his characteristically Mannerist treatment of landscape, as in the Rape of Proserpine. There are similarities in his work to Dosso Dossi and also Patenier and the Antwerp school, and A. himself introduced Mannerism in landscape into France. A major picture is The Story of Aristacus.

Abbey Edwin Austin (1852-1911). U.S. oil painter, watercolounst and book ilk, who worked much in Britain, becoming an R.A. in 1898. He drew ills in pen for works by Robert Hernck, Oliver Goldsmith and Shakespeare, and painted the scenes of The Quest of the Holy Grail on the walls of the public library, Boston, Mass.

Abbott John White (1763-1851). British amateur landscape painter. He exhibited oils regularly at the R.A.; his drawings have been admired.

Abbott Lemuel Francis (c. 1760-1803). British portrait painter, known for his portraits of Lord Nelson and the poet Cowper.

Abildgaard Nicolai Abraham (1743—1809). Danish painter who studied in Italy (1772—9). His style was classical and he favoured heroic subjects. He painted little after 4 allegorical frescoes by him in the Royal Palace, Copenhagen, which he considered his best work, were burnt in 1794. Sketches of these together with many other works are preserved in the Royal Gallery, Copenhagen. B. Thorwaldsen was his pupil.

Aboriginal art. *Australian Aboriginal art

Abramtsevo Colony. A group of Russian artists drawn together in the 1870s and 1880s by the railway tycoon S. Mamontov. They included I. Levitan, V. Polenov, *Repin, *Serov, the Vasnetsov brothers and *Vrubel. A number were members of the *Wanderers group. The colony was nationalistic in outlook and Russian folk-art and the Russo-Byzantine tradition influenced their work. They were the 1st Russian artists to work as theatrical designers, most of them working in Mamontov's 'Private Opera'.

Abstract art. Art which does not mutate or directly represent external reality: some writers restrict the term to non-figurative art, while others use it of art which is not representational though ultimately derived from reality. Various alternatives have been suggested (non-representational art, non objective art, concrete art) but none has been generally accepted. 'Abstract' is frequently used as a relative term, paintings being more or less abstract in treatment. The original source of an abstract painting, e.g. a landscape or still-life, may be visible or decipherable: most Cubist painting is of this sort. Simplified or geometric shapes which have no direct reference to external reality may be used exclusively, as in *Mondrian's art. In a 3rd type of abstraction, brush-strokes, the colour and textures of the material used suggest the development of the painting, as in Pollock's work.
The idea that forms and colour in themselves can move the spectator underlies all A. a. Much 2Oth-c. painting and sculpture has attempted to have, like music, no representational purpose. Sources and parallels for this art have been found in ceramic decorations, decorative patterns in manuscripts and the applied arts (especially Celtic art, e.g. The Book of Kells), Mohammedan art, primitive and tribal sculpture and non-realistic elements in European painting (e.g. simplified architectural backgrounds in paintings by Fra Angelico).
20th-c. A. a. springs from Cezanne who treated some landscape motifs as geometric solids, and whose painting was much admired by the Cubists. Cubism, the 1 st abstract style, had a decisive effect on other artists and groups. The independent value of colour was not emphasized by Cubism, but by other groups. Flat pattern design in pictures, used by Gauguin and the Pont-Aven painters, was taken up by the *Nabis; the *Fauves were particularly-interested in colour. The 1st non-figurative painting was made by Kandinsky in 1910, but before this there were several painters in some of whose work the subject had become virtually indistinguishable, for example Holzel and Gustavo Moreau. The emotional impact of colour was also of the first importance for German *Expressionism. Cubism was followed and rivalled by *Futurism in Italy, *Vorticism in Britain, De Stijl in the Netherlands and various forms of abstraction in Russia, including the *Rayonism of Goncharova and Larionov, *Constructivism, and the rigid geometric A. a. of Malevich (Suprematism). Abstraction of various sorts became more common in the paintings and sculptures of the 1920s, having for the most part a geometric basis: exceptionally Arp had made some chance compositions (e.g. with torn paper), and in Surrealism there was some experiment with more informal types of abstraction. The main trend of A. a. in the 1930s was geometric, and the *Abstraction-Creation group was formed in 1932 to exhibit such art. This abstract salon was succeeded after the war by Salon des Rcalitcs Nouvelles. In abstract painting since the war informal compositions and innovations in technique have been more frequent and the main movement is *Abstract Expressionism. Sculpture during the 20th c. has been frequently abstract, particularly in the work of several major figures such as *Arp, *Brancusi and *Calder.

Abstract Expressionism. A term 1st used in 1919 to describe certain paintings by *Kandinsky — commonly applied to U.S. non-geometric abstract art by diverse artists centred mainly in N.Y. с 1942 and highly active and influential through the 1950s and early 1960s. The U.S. critic Robert Coates used tins term in 1946 with particular reference to De Kooning, *Pollock and their followers. It was officially recognized in the 1951 Museum of Modern Art exhibition 'Abstract Fainting and Sculpture in America'. The term embraces works of diverse styles and degrees of reference to content or subject, emphasizing spontaneity of expression and individuality. The U.S. critic *Rosenberg used the term *'Action painting' (1952), while *Greenberg that of 'American-type painting' (1952) to refer to the same general types of artistic activity which, however, began to be differentiated into two tendencies: brush painting concerned with gesture, action and texture (De Kooning, Pollock): *Color-field painting concerned with a large unified shape or area of colour (Newman, *Rothko, *Still).

Abstraction-Creation. School of non-figurative art founded in Pans in 1931 by A. Pevsner and N. Gabo, under the leadership of A. Herbin and *Vantongerloo. It has not attempted a full synthesis of the plastic arts but rather a merging of some of the techniques of painting and sculpture.

Academic Art. The term applies to art in a well-established, often realistic, tradition, showing expert command of draughtsmanship and other techniques. In the 19th с the academies of painting became centres of opposition to new movements so that a. a. now generally has the pejorative overtones of 'conservative' and 'unimaginative'.

Academies. Institutions which derive their name from Plato's Academy. In effect they originated in 15th-c. Italy, where humanist gatherings quickly attracted the official patronage, e.g. the famous Accademia Platonica founded by Cosinio I of Florence (c. 1542), which became a frequent feature of subsequent bodies. Vasari's Accademia di Disegno (1562) aimed to establish the status of artists (a frequent motive of these foundations); but many were essentially teaching organizations, e.g. the academy of the Carracci. By 1870 over 100 academies were flourishing in Europe indicating the growing awareness of reintegrating the arts and society. Among British institutions, examples are the Royal Academy of Music (R.A.M.; 1922), the Royal College of Music (R.C.M.; 1873) and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (R.A.I).A.; 1904). Literary academies have sometimes functioned as arbiters of language. In this respect the Academic Francaise, founded by Richelieu in 1635, is pre-eminent. It has, however, been accused of undue conservatism, and has excluded many great French writers, including Mohcre, Balzac and Flaubert. In painting the same kind of criticism has been levelled at the British Royal Academy (R.A.; 1768; many British painters were trained in its schools) and the French Academic Royale des Beaux-Arts (founded by Louis XIV in 1648, dissolved in 1793 and reinstated in 1816 as the Academic des Beaux-Arts). The British Academy (1901) is devoted to scholarship in many fields.

Acconci Vito (1940— ). U.S. artist, 1st noticed as a poet (1964—8), who then turned to *Performance, *Installation and *Action and Body art (1969) attracted by the experimentation of groups such as The Judson Church, and the conceptual framework established by such artists as *LeWitt, *Andre, R. *Morris, *Kosuth, *Weiner, D. Graham, *Oppenhenn and *Burden. His most notorious work in the 1970s was Seedbed (1972) in which he lay under the floor of the gallery loudly voicing his sexual fantasies while masturbating. In the 1980s he started making constructions, e.g. Sub-Urb (1983) and furniture, e.g. Sleeping Dog Couch (1984).

Ackermann Rudolf (1764-1834). German art publ. and bookseller who opened a shop in the Strand, London, in 1795. He introduced art lithography to Britain, 1817. A. publ. various ill. magazines, e.g. Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions, etc., topographical books, e.g. History of the University of Oxford (2 vols, 1814), The Microcosm of London (3 vols, 1808—11), and many travel books, employing artists such as *Rowlandson and A. Pugin. The illustrated annual Forget-me-not (begun 1825) was another of A.'s typographic and artistic successes.

Action and Body Art. Term used of certain art manifestations of the late 1960s, making use of the body, or direct reference to it, also involving actions by its exponents on their own bodies, or public performances calculated to shock or bore and so prompt consideration of the tedium and violence of life. Instances include patterned sun-burning, the taking of casts of limbs, e.g. B. Nauman's From Hand to Mouth (1967), a 12-hour lecture by *Beuys, self-mutilation, and shocking or obscene exhibitionism.

Action painting. A term first used by U.S. critic *Rosenberg to describe a method of painting widespread in the 1950s and 1960s, in which the paint is dripped, dropped or thrown on the canvas — hence the French term 'I'achisme (tache, 'stain' or 'spot'); some critics use both terms as interchangeable with *Abstract Expressionism. The term was first used about the work of *Pollock but has also been applied to European artists associated with lachisnie.

Activists [Hung. Aktivizmus].

Hungarian artistic, literary and political group that emerged c. 1914, after the disintegration of the group THE EIGHT  in 1912. Though not a cohesive group, the Activists were stylistically united by their reaction to the predominantly Post-Impressionist aesthetic of the Eight. Instead they turned for inspiration to Cubism, Expressionism, Futurism, Dada and Constructivism, and although some of these had previously influenced the Eight, the Activists made most consistent and profound use of these modern movements. The most notable Activists were Sándor Bortnyik, Péter Dobrovic (b 1890), János Kmetty, János Máttis Teutsch, László Moholy-Nagy, Jószef Nemes Lampérth, Lajos Tihanyi and Béla Uitz, of whom only Tihanyi had previously been a member of the Eight. Many Activists were at some time members of the MA GROUP, which revolved around the writer and artist Lajos Kassák, the main theoretical, and later artistic, driving force behind Hungarian Activism.

Adam Lambert-Sigisbert (1700-59). French Baroque sculptor, son of the sculptor Jacob-Sigisbert A. (1670-1747). In Rome (1723-33), he was strongly influenced by Bernini. His fountain Iriomphe de Neptune et d'Aniphitrile (1740) is at Versailles.

Adami Valerio (1935— ) Italian painter sometimes associated with European *Pop art. His paintings, frequently of bourgeois interiors, are in flat, bold colours, with objects outlined by strong, black lines. This allows an ironic play between figurative subject matter and abstract forms.

Adam Robert (1728-1792). Architect and designer, son of William Adam. He and his rival William Chambers were the leading British architects in the second half of the 18th century. After training under his father, he embarked on a Grand Tour in 1754; this ended early in 1758 when he settled in London rather than Edinburgh. There he established a practice that was transformed into a partnership with his younger brother James after the latter’s return in 1763 from his own Grand Tour. By then, however, the Adam style was formed, and Robert remained the partnership’s driving force and principal designer until his death. He not only developed a distinctive and highly influential style but further refined it through his large number of commissions, earning fame and a certain amount of fortune along the way. Eminently successful, he left an indelible stamp on British architecture and interior decoration and on international Neoclassicism.

Adams Herbert (1858-1945). U.S. sculptor who studied in Paris. A.'s work includes the tympanum of St Bartholomew's Church, N.Y. (1902).

Adam-Salomon Antony-Samuel (1818—81). French portrait photographer and sculptor. His photographs with their use of heavy *chiairoscuro effects were praised for their approximation to 17th-c. Dutch paintings.

Addams Lara. Pin -Up Art.

Adler Jankel (1895-1949). Polish painter. His figure studies were influenced by Picasso and Leger. He travelled widely in Europe teaching for a tune at the Dusseldorf Academy with Klee and working with *Hayter at *Atelier 17.

Aelst Willem van (1625/26-83?). Dutch still-life painter from Delft. He was a good draughtsman and vivid colounst. A.'s still—lifes are distinguishable from those of other Dutch painters, being frequently littered with bric-a-brac of Renaissance antiquariamsm.

Aeropittura.

Italian movement that emerged in the late 1920s from the second wave of Futurism, which it eventually supplanted. It was announced by the publication on 22 September 1929 of the Manifesto dell’Aeropittura, signed by Giacomo Balla, Benedetta (Marinetti’s wife, the painter and writer Benedetta Cappa, 1897–1977), Fortunato Depero, Gerardo Dottori, Fillia, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Enrico Prampolini, the painter and sculptor Mino Somenzi (1899–1948) and the painter Tato (pseud. of Guglielmo Sansoni, 1896–1974). This text became the key document for the new adherents of Futurism in the 1930s. Although Marinetti had written the first Futurist manifestos, and Balla, Depero and Prampolini were senior figures within the movement, it was Dottori and younger painters who developed the new form most impressively. Building on earlier concerns with the speeding automobile, both Marinetti and the Fascist government gave particular importance to aeronautics in the 1920s, extolling the pilot as a type of Nietzschean ‘Superman’.

Aertsen Pieter (Pier Lange) (1507/8—75). Dutch painter, working in Antwerp and Amsterdam, whose detailed and colourful genre and still-life paintings were highly popular and also stylistically influential on the 17th-C. Netherlands genre school. Many of his religious paintings have been destroyed.

Aesthetic movement. British literary and artistic movement of the 1880s in protest against the idea that art must serve some ulterior purpose and also against the 'philistine' taste of the period. W. *Pater was its most important member but Oscar Wilde its most vocal. The A. m. was ridiculed by Punch and in Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta Patience.

Aesthetics. The study of the concepts of 'beauty' and 'art'. A. attempts to give an account of the human reaction to beauty and art, to define the words, to explain how men perceive the 'beautiful' or the 'artistic', to decide whether the concepts have any other than a subjective meaning and to explain what happens when a man stands before a 'beautiful' sight or a work of 'art' — what kind of experiences he has and in what way he is able to 'experience' anything. Although the writings of Plato and Aristotle contain observations on the subject matter of a., the word was first used by the 18th-c. German philosopher A. G. Baumgarten. Some of the most prominent theoreticians in a. since the 19th с include *Winckelmann, I. Kant, *Lessing, J. Schiller, G. Hegel, J. G. Herder, F. Schelling, *Ruskin, *Baudelaire, *Taine, F. Nietzsche, *Crocc, *Worringer and *Gombrich.

African art. The term refers only to black African art and particularly to sculpture and carving (mostly in wood) from the vast area surrounding the Niger and Congo basins. Ancient Egyptian art and bushman painting from southern Africa are thus excluded. Distinction must be made between the courtly art (especially from *lfe and *Benin) which tended to be naturalistic and commemorative, and made in durable materials (stone, terracotta, bronze, hardwood); and the conceptual, often abstract art consisting mainly of wood-carvings (masks, ancestor figures) used during religious ceremonies. It was work of the 2nd kind which made its impact on Western artists at the beginning ot the 20th e.
All the tribal artists were inspired by similar beliefs. In African 'animist' religions 'being' is regarded as vital energy and not solely as the living state. Every existing thing has a vital force or energy and by understanding and correctly approaching these forces man can use them, but in order to ensure the continuance and increase of this vital energy in the tribe and in himself he must perform religious rituals at regular intervals and on set occasions. Masks and statues are used in communication with the spirit world, in the cult of the ancestors and as protective charms in the direct exploitation of the vital energy in the world.
The artist works within a formal convention to embody in his carving some concept related to the subject and to give his carving a dynamic power, so that it can be used to enlist and generate energy. He therefore does not aim to reproduce his subject realistically nor is bis 1st intention to produce 'beautiful' forms. The head of the statue is often disproportionately large owing to the belief that it is the seat of the life force and is therefore more important than the body. Statuettes are almost always made from a single block from a tree, thus leading to elongation of the body with the arms held close to the sides, and foreshortening of the features. *Ashanti, *Bakuba, *Baluba, *Bambara, *Ba(o)ule, *Dahomey, *Dogon, *Fang, *Mende, *Nok and *Yoruba.