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ode

(Encyclopedia)ode, elaborate and stately lyric poem of some length. The ode dates back to the Greek choral songs that were sung and danced at public events and celebrations. The Greek odes of Pindar, which were mod...

Chittenden, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Chittenden, Thomas chĭtˈəndən [key], 1730–97, governor of Vermont, b. East Guilford, Conn. After moving to Vermont in 1774, he was active in the Windsor Convention, which declared (1777) Vermont...

Green Mountain Boys

(Encyclopedia)Green Mountain Boys, popular name of armed bands formed (c.1770) under the auspices of Ethan Allen in the Green Mountains of what is today Vermont. Their purpose was to prevent the New Hampshire Grant...

African Methodist Episcopal Church

(Encyclopedia)African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist denomination (see Methodism). It was established in 1816 in Philadelphia with Richard Allen as its first bishop. In 1991 there were about 3.5 million memb...

Delvaux, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Delvaux, Paul, 1897–1994, Belgian painter. Delvaux, influenced by Magritte and Chirico, created meticulous surreal compositions based on Renaissance ideas of perspective and peopled with self-absorb...

Stanfield, Clarkson

(Encyclopedia)Stanfield, Clarkson, 1793–1867, English marine and landscape painter. He was first a sailor, then a scenery painter. Later he became known for his paintings of dramatic marine scenes. He is well rep...

Shee, Sir Martin Archer

(Encyclopedia)Shee, Sir Martin Archer, 1769–1850, British portrait painter and writer, b. Dublin; pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds. He attained popularity in court and theatrical circles and executed many royal commi...

Nicholson, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Nicholson, Sir William, 1872–1949, English woodcut artist, illustrator, and painter. The striking contrasts of black and white of his woodcutting technique were used to great effect on posters, on w...

Bacon, Francis, English painter

(Encyclopedia)Bacon, Francis, 1910–92, English painter, b. Dublin. A self-taught artist, Bacon rejected abstraction in painting to explore a repertoire of strange, fractured, and often bizarre figurative images, ...

Hepworth, Dame Barbara

(Encyclopedia)Hepworth, Dame Barbara, 1903–75, English sculptor. Hepworth's smooth, usually nonfigurative sculptures recall those of Jean Arp. Working in Cornwall, she consistently sought perfection of form and s...