Icart Louis
(1888-1950, French Art Deco Painter and Illustrator)
Icon (Gr. image). Religious picture used as
an object of worship and often portraying the
Virgin and Child. The term is particularly used
of pictures of the Byzantine school and later of
the Russian school. Russian i.s show clear
derivation from Byzantine art and maintained a
stylized convention of composition and posture.
The works of such artists as *Rublev and his
school, to which is ascribed the Old Testament
Trinity, show the range of emotional anil
artistic expression possible in this form. In
later Russian i.s the painted figure was often
surrounded by a halo of precious metals and
stones. An iconostasis in a Greek Orthodox
church is a screen covered with i.s, usually
between the congregation and the altar.
Iconography. Art historical term describing the
investigation of" ideas and subject matter in
art, associated with the method used by
*Panofsky, *Saxl and *Warburg.
Iconology. Term used by *Panofsky for the
investigation of general meaning of works of art
m their historical and cultural contexts.
Ife. A town in W. Nigeria, traditionally the
spiritual centre of the Yoruba people, where a
number of very beautiful terracotta beads and
remarkable brass heads have been discovered
since the beginning of the 20th с These have
been tentatively dated to the 12th to 14th cs.
I. art is naturalistic and reveals an extremely
high standard of accomplishment. It has
therefore been compared with Greek statuary, but
there is no evidence that it was not completely
indigenous. The art of brass-casting was
probably passed on to the people of *Benin in
the 14th с.
Illumination. The decoration of mss. one of the
most common forms of medieval visual art;
because of its monastic origins, usually of
religious texts. The practice extends from heavy
decorations of initial letters and mter-woven
margin patterns (as in Celtic examples) to
miniatures and full-page ills, often of a formal
and grandiose kind (as in Byzantine mss). Rich
colours are a common feature, in particular a
luxurious use of gold and silver. I. survived
the advent of printing for some time and only
died out with the rise of printed illustration
in the 16th с Well-known examples are: The *Book
of Hours, The Book of Kelts, The Lindisfarne Gospels, The Luttrell Psalter and Les Tres
Riches Heures du Due de Berry.
Illusionism. Term used in painitng of a style
which exploits all the technical procedures of
perspective, etc., not merely to represent
3-dimensional space in 2 dimensions but rather
to give the impression that the pictorial space
is an extension of the real space; sculptured
3-dimensional figures are often integrated into
paintings to heighten the fusion of real and
artistic space. The term is especially used of
Baroque art.
Imaginistgruppen
[Swed.: ‘Imaginist group’].
Swedish Surrealist group, founded c. 1945, which
grew out of the short-lived MINOTAURGRUPPEN. Its founders were
C. O. Hultén, Max Walter Svanberg and Anders Österlin (b
1926), and later its members included the artists Gösta
Kriland (1917–89), Bertil Lundberg (b 1922), Bengt Orup
(b 1916), Bertil Gado (b 1916), Lennart Lindfors
and Gudrun Ählberg-Kriland. The Imaginistgruppen followed the
example of the Minotaurgruppen by using the styles and
techniques characteristic of Surrealism, as in Hultén’s
Beach Statue ( frottage, 1948; Malmö, Kstmus.). In
1947 the group founded its own publishing house in Malmö, and
that year it produced a collection of frottages,
Drömmar ur bladens händer (‘Dreams from the hands of
leaves’), by Hultén. Första fasen (‘First phase’), a
text on Imaginism written by Svanberg in 1948, was included in
the catalogue of an exhibition of his work in Göteborg in
1949. In this ‘manifesto’, the first part of his
Deklarationer om imaginism i tre utvecklingsfaser
(‘Declarations on Imaginism in three phases’), Svanberg
discussed the crucial role played by imagination, stressing
the free and revolutionary nature of Imaginist art. He claimed
that the image, which contained disparate elements, was
central and that its realization required the overthrow of
traditional art forms, as these were based on reality. These
were all familiar Surrealist ideas, and Svanberg developed
them further in Andra fasen (‘Second phase’) (1950) and
Tredje fasen (‘Third phase’) (1952), so becoming the
group’s chief theorist. The Imaginistgruppen participated in
the Surrealist exhibition held at the Galerie Aleby in
Stockholm in 1949, and Imaginistgruppen exhibitions were held
in Stockholm in 1951, in Malmö and Göteborg in 1952, at the
Galerie de Babylone in Paris in 1953 and at Lund University in
1954. In 1950 the publishing house issued an album of eight
lithographs by Svanberg. Svanberg left the group in 1953,
claiming to be the only true Imaginist, but the group
continued in existence until 1956.
Imago pietatis (Lat. image of piety).
Representation, especially in the late Middle
Ages, of the dead Christ standing in his grave,
sometimes supported by other figures. Emblems of
the Passion are often included to stress the
redemptive significance of his suffering.
Immendorf
Jorg
(born June 14,
1945 in Bleckede near Luneburg, died May 28,
2007 in Düsseldorf) was one of the best known
contemporary German painters; he was also a
sculptor, stage designer and art professor.
Impasto. In oil painting, thick heavy
application of paint. Where the strokes of the
brush or palette-knife are very pronounced,
causing the paint to stand up in relief, the
term loaded i. is used.
Impressionism. The major movement in 19th-c.
art. The name comes from a painting exhibited by
C. Monet in 1874, catalogued as Impression
Sunrise. The word was used as a label for the
whole group of artists who exhibited as the
'Society of Painters, Etchers and Engravers'. It
has been said that I. was not a style but a
moment in time. Nevertheless, the term is
applied most frequently to paintings where the
artist has aimed to capture the visual
impression made by a scene, usually of a
landscape, and not make a 'factual' report on
it; Impressionist painters are
characteristically absorbed by the play of light
on a scene. In a sense an Impressionist picture
is the sketch as opposed to the finished
picture; in Monet's own words 'a spontaneous
work rather than a calculated one'.
The 1st Impressionist exhibition was in 1874,
but Impressionist works had been seen in the
Salon des Refuses in 1863. The 1860s were the
formative years in which the possibilities of
working in the open air, using a light palette,
and close analysis of the actual colours in
landscape were explored. Monet, Renoir and
Sisley were students together and formed the
most close-knit group. In the 1870s the group
experienced much opposition, and their
exhibitions were generally unsuccessful. The
Impressionist painters were divided as to who
should exhibit, Degas arguing that work by
conventional painters would make the exhibitions
more accessible to the general public. Manet
never exhibited with the Impressionists although
his work strongly influenced them. Their
interest in the effects of light on landscape
was not at first acceptable, nor was the time of
day they chose to paint — clear sunny
afternoons, as opposed to scenes of twilight or
early morning. In the 1 880s these subjects had
become more general, and the movement achieved
slow recognition and success. But I. became less
coherent and less of a common style: Monet
continued to analyse his visual perceptions with
extreme care, and Sisley continued to paint
landscapes; but Renoir turned to a style which
stressed line, became accepted as a portraitist,
and began to paint many important figure
paintings, especially nudes. C. Pissarro came
under the influence of Seurat's *Divisionist
theory, and exhibited works m this style from
1886, the year of the last Impressionist
exhibition, at which Seurat and Signac also
showed work. Other Impressionists include J.-F.
Bazille, G. Caillebotte, M. Cassatt and B.
Monsot.
I. became widely accepted as an artistic style
from the late 1 890s, spreading through Europe.
No sculptor was directly associated with the
movement, but both Degas and Renoir did
sculpture (Renoir at the end of his life working
through an assistant). Rodin has been called
Impressionist because of the interest he took in
the effects of light on his sculpture, and
Medardo Rosso's evocative technique has caused
his work to be so called.
Independents Salon des. *Salon
Independent Group. Group of British artists,
architects and art critics (among them R.
*Hamilton and *Paolozzi) who met for discussion
at the I.C.A. (Institute of Contemporary Arts)
in London in the middle and late 1950s. The I.
G. was responsible for the birth of British *Pop art, with its
romanticization of U.S. mass-culture.
Independent Group.
British group of artists, architects and critics. It met as
an informal discussion group at the Institute of Contemporary
Arts, London, from 1952 to 1955. Its members, drawn from those
of the ICA who were dissatisfied with the Institute’s policy
towards modernism, included the art critic Lawrence Alloway
(1926–90), the design historian Peter Reyner Banham (1922–88),
the art historian Toni del Renzio (b 1915), the artists
Nigel Henderson, Richard Hamilton, Eduardo Paolozzi, William
Turnbull and John McHale (1922–78), and the architects Alison
and Peter Smithson, James Stirling and Colin St John Wilson.
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Indiana Robert (1928- ). U.S. painter associated
with 1950s N.Y. *Hard-edge, New Realist painting
and 1960s U.S. *Pop art. His work reflects the
influence of *Demuth and advertising techniques,
and includes the 20 ft (6.1 m.) EAT Sign, 1964
New York World Fair; LOVE paintings and
sculpture (1966).
Ingres Jean-Auguste
Dominique (1780—1867).
French painter and draughtsman. After the
Academy of Toulouse he entered the studio of
*David in 1797, and later the Ecole des
Beaux-Arts, Paris. In the Salon of 1806 his
portrait of Napoleon I on the Imperial Throne
created a stir and received adverse criticism
which he had to suffer from critics most of his
life. During a difficult period after the
downfall of his patrons, the Bonaparte family,
portrait drawings became the main source of
income and he lived in Italy for a time. He
returned to Paris, was elected to the Academy
(1825) and was able to open a successful
atelier; by the 1 840s he was a celebrated
public figure and eventually became a Senator.
I. was the painter of an ideal reality. He
sought to reconcile a searching truth (expressed
in the silhouette, relief-like modelling, purity
of line and perfection in craftsmanship,
strongly influenced by the Italian schools and
David), with
the inescapable Romanticism of his time. His
most famous paintings are La Grande Baigneuse
(1808), La Grande Odalisque (1819) and Le Bain Turc (1864). Though he had many pupils he had no
significant followers until Degas reinterpreted
his classical draughtsmanship.
Inkhuk. *Vkhutemas
Inkhuk
[Institut
Khudozhestvennoy Kultury; Rus.: ‘Institute of Artistic
Culture’].
Soviet institute for research in the arts that flourished
from 1920 to 1926. Inkhuk was a dominant force in the
development of Soviet art, architecture and design in the
1920s. Founded in Moscow in May 1920, with affiliations in
Petrograd (now St Petersburg) and Vitebsk, it attracted many
members of the avant-garde, especially LYUBOV’ POPOVA and
ALEKSANDR RODCHENKO; its key administrative positions were
occupied by Vasily Kandinsky (Moscow), Vladimir Tatlin
(Petrograd) and Kazimir Malevich (Vitebsk). At one time Inkhuk
maintained contact with Berlin (through El Lissitzky and the
journal Veshch’/Gegenstand/Objet), the Netherlands,
Hungary and Japan, although it never really had the chance to
develop these international connections. One of the principal
aims of Inkhuk was to reduce the modern movements such as
Suprematism and Tatlin’s concept of the ‘culture of materials’ to a scientifically based programme that could be used for educational and research
purposes—a development analogous to the initial endeavours of
the Russian Formalist school of literary criticism, which
attempted to analyse literature in terms of formal structures.
In its aspiration to elaborate a rational basis for artistic
practice, Inkhuk encouraged discussions on specific issues of
artistic content and form, such as the debate on ‘composition
versus construction’ in 1921.
Inness
George (1825—94). U.S. landscape painter
who made several visits to Europe where he
studied the paintings of Corot and the *Barbizon
school. His work showed a gradual loosening of
his early attachment to the *Hudson River school
in favour of these European influences.
Installation art. Multi-media, multi-dimensional
and multi-form works which are created
temporarily for a particular space or site
either outdoors or indoors — in a museum or
gallery (*Environmental art). Installations only
exist as long as they are installed, but they
can be recreated in different sites. The works
are perceived 'in time' as they cannot be looked
at like traditional art objects, but are
experienced in time and space, and are
interactive with the viewer. Although
installations have as long a history as modern
art, with pioneering works by *Duchamp,
*Schwitters and other *Futurist, *Dada and
*Surrealist artists, it is especially since the
1960s that I. a. has been more prominent (e.g.
*Beuys) with many of the most important younger
artists turning to this form post-1980.
Increasingly, galleries and large exhibitions in
museums include, or are wholly devoted to,
installations, e.g. the Venice Biennale, the
annual Docimienta exhibition in Kassel, Germany
and the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Artists who have created
prominent works include *Acconci, *Baumgarten,
*Bloom, *Boltanski, *Buren, *Christo, *De Maria,
*Gober, A. *Hamilton, *HoIzer, *Kabakov,
*Kosuth, *Kounellis, *Kruger and *Turrell.
*Happenings and *Performance art.
Installation
[Environment].
Term that gained currency in the 1960s to describe a
construction or assemblage conceived for a specific interior,
often for a temporary period, and distinguished from more
conventional sculpture as a discrete object by its physical
domination of the entire space. By inviting the viewer
literally to enter into the work of art, and by appealing not
only to the sense of sight but also, on occasion, to those of
hearing and smell, such works demand the spectator’s active
engagement. As an art form, installations are particularly
associated with movements of the 1960s and 1970s such as Pop
art, Nouveau Réalisme, Minimalism, conceptual art and process
art, but in theory they can be conceived within the terms of
virtually any style.
Intaglio. Method of printing in which the design
is incised on to a copper or zinc plate;
the block is inked and the surface cleaned so
that the ink is retained only in the incised
lines. Block and paper are then passed through a
copper-plate press and the paper picks up the
design as the heavy rollers force it into the
incisions in the block. *engraving.
Intarsia. A type of marquetry popular in Italy
during the 15th and 16th cs. Both Florence and
Venice were renowned for i. depicting, notably,
architectural perspectives and still-lifes.
Uccello and Piero della Francesca are known to
have made designs for use by intarsiatori, the
practitioners of the craft.
International Gothic. Sophisticated late Gothic
style of painting which spread through Europe in
the late 14th and 15th cs. It is a decorative
linear style with its origins in French Gothic
art, particularly ms. illumination, and is
characterized by refined and elegant figures,
graceful curves of drapery, jewel-like colour
and naturalistic detail. Examples include
Melchior Broederlam's Dijon altarpiece, which
owes a good deal to the Sienese influence of
Simone Martini, who worked at Avignon; also from
Burgundy is the ms. Les Tres Riches Heures ...
by the *Limbourg brothers. In Italy I. G., which
was highly developed in the work of Gentile da
Fabriano and Pisanello, existed simultaneously
with Masaccio's new realism. The style also
flourished in Germany, Bohemia and Spam. A
variant on I. G. found in German painting and
sculpture is known as the soft style
characterized by softly flowing drapery and a
sweetness of sentiment which found particular
expression in the representation of the Madonna
and Child (Schone Madonnen).
International
Style.
Term applied to architecture of the MODERN MOVEMENT after
1932. That year the first architectural exhibition at the
Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York, was held following a
visit to Europe by historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock and
Philip Johnson, Director of Architecture at MOMA; the term was
enshrined in the title of the accompanying book and catalogue
The International Style: Architecture since 1922.
Buildings selected for inclusion in the exhibition, with some
notable exceptions (see below), had certain formal
characteristics in common, being mostly rectilinear,
undecorated, asymmetrical and white.
Intimism. Term invented to describe the type of
painting of domestic interiors executed by
*Bonnard and *Vuillard.
Islamic art reflects the powerful influence of
the Islamic faith and is essentially a religious
art. Decoration is a fundamental element that
has been tirelessly and ingeniously elaborated
upon since the founding of the Moslem religion
in the 7th с. AD which forbade the portrayal of
living creatures. After the death of Mohammed
(632), the Umayyad family ruled the Islamic
empire (r. 650—c. 730) which contained Egypt,
Syria, Persia and Mesopotamia, and the Islamic
civilization was founded. Craftsmen from these
lands combined their skills but their differing
traditions produced an architecture of a
somewhat eclectic style that only developed and
established its form during the rule of the
Abbasid family (c 730-r. 790). Under this new
dynasty there was considerable creative and
intellectual advancement: the distinctive
elements of I. a. began to emerge such as the
decorative arabesque and rosette motifs which,
among others, later influenced Renaissance art;
Moslem craftsmen excelled in architecture using such designs to emphasize
structural beauty, most notably in the unique
character of the mosque. A tradition of
high-quality pottery and porcelain also
developed and was influenced particularly by
Chinese porcelain which reached Persia via the
trade routes. Elements of many other cultures
influenced the development of I. a. chiefly:
Mesopotamia!! and Persian, Mughal, Turkish and
Egyptian. Islam also became established in N.
India from с 700 and it was under the Mughal
rulers that Moslem art in this region reached
its peak. The Taj Mahal is perhaps the
best-known example of Islamic architecture in
India. During the 15th and 16th cs the Ottoman
Turks ruled over the majority of the Islamic
world which incl. Greece, the Balkans, Egypt and
Syria, Mesopotamia and most of N. Africa. The
enlightened rulers of these empires encouraged
artistic development to such an extent that the
period is considered one of the greatest in 1.
a. Both design and the harmonious use of colour
flourished and were used to great effect in
pottery and especially in the weaving of fine
fabric, particularly carpets. The earliest
Islamic paintings date from c. 1500, a
tradition cultivated by the Mughal rulers and
strongly influenced by Persian miniature
techniques. Typical paintings of the genre
depict court and hunting scenes, and use varied
and brilliant colour combined with a technical
perfection. *Mesopotamian art.
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Itten Johannes (1888-1967). Swiss painter and
teacher of the art of colour. I. began to study
under Adolph Holzell in Stuttgart, 1913, later
moving to Vienna where lie ran his own school
for several years. In 1919 he joined the staff
of the Weimar *Bauhaus where he formed an
association with *Albers, *Klee and *Kandinsky.
Many of the theories formulated by I. during his
long teaching career were published in The Art
of Color (1961) which still remains one of the
most important textbooks on colour.
Ivanov
Alexandr Andreyevich (1806-58). Russian
painter mostly of religious subjects, influenced
by the *Nazarenes in Rome where he spent most of
his life. His main work, other than drawings, is
Christ's First Appearance to the People
(1833-55).
Ivory. The elephant or walrus tusk has been used
for carving since palaeolithic tunes. It is one
of the most durable of all materials and lends
itself to a variety of techniques, relief,
entire carvings and to the most subtle and
intricate interweaving of shapes. It has been
employed equally for ornamentation and use at
all times, and there exist boxes, brooches,
chessmen, combs, pendants, as well as
statuettes, altarpieces, etc.
Although most naturally lending itself to
miniature work 1. has been used for the colossal
chryselephantine (gold and ivory) cult statues
in Greece, the most famous of which were those
of the Zeus at Olympia and the statue of Athena
by Phidias in the Parthenon on the Athens
Acropolis. It was also used as a decoration for
large objects, notably, e.g. the throne of
Archbishop Maximian at Ravenna.
Ivories were the predominant form of Byzantine
sculpture and the dispersal of Byzantine ivories
in W. Europe was an important vehicle of
cultural influence; Carolingian and Romanesque
work produced further outstanding examples in
the medium. The high period of medieval Europe
an i. carving was during the 9th—11th cs;
superb pieces from other cultures include the
carvings from African centres such as *Benin and
*lfe.
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