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Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

(Encyclopedia)Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, established in 1805, incorporated in 1806. It is supported by private endowment. The academy grew out of a proposal by Charles Willson Peale for an...

Luciano, Lucky

(Encyclopedia)Luciano, Lucky (Charles Luciano), 1896–1962, American crime boss, b. near Palermo, Sicily, as Salvatore Luciana. His family emigrated in 1906, settling in New York City, where he almost immediately ...

Langdon, Harry

(Encyclopedia)Langdon, Harry, 1884–1944, American silent film comedian and director, b. Council Bluffs, Iowa. He repeatedly ran away from home to join traveling shows and circuses as a youngster, and later develo...

Kanin, Garson

(Encyclopedia)Kanin, Garson kāˈnən [key], 1912–99, American director and writer, b. Rochester, N.Y.; grad. American Academy of Dramatic Arts, 1933. He worked as a saxophonist, comedian, and actor before becomi...

color-field painting

(Encyclopedia)color-field painting, abstract art movement that originated in the 1960s. Coming after the abstract expressionism of the 1950s, color-field painting represents a sharp change from the earlier movement...

Andre, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Andre, Carl änˈdrā [key], 1935–, American sculptor, b. Quincy, Mass. A student of Patrick Morgan and associate of Frank Stella, Andre produces sculptures of elemental form and abstract monumental...

Freilicher, Jane

(Encyclopedia)Freilicher, Jane frīˈlĭkər [key] 1924–2014, American painter, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Jane Niederhoffer; studied Hans Hoffmann School (1947), Brooklyn College (B.A. 1947), Columbia (M.A. 1948). Th...

Mashhad

(Encyclopedia)Mashhad mäsh-hädˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 1,759,155), capital of Razavi Khorasan prov., NE Iran. It is an industrial and trade center and a transportation hub. Manufactures include carpets, textiles...

sugarcane

(Encyclopedia)sugarcane, tall tropical perennials (species of Saccharum, chiefly S. officinarum) of the family Poaceae (grass family), probably cultivated in their native Asia from prehistoric times. Sugarcane some...

Franzen, Jonathan

(Encyclopedia)Franzen, Jonathan, 1959–, American novelist, b. Western Springs, Ill., B.A. Swarthmore College, 1981. His first two novels, The Twenty-Seventh City (1988) and Strong Motion (1992), were well receive...