Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

overture

(Encyclopedia)overture, instrumental musical composition written as an introduction to an opera, ballet, oratorio, musical, or play. The earliest Italian opera overtures were simply pieces of orchestral music and w...

Taeuber-Arp, Sophie

(Encyclopedia)Taeuber-Arp, Sophie, 1889–1943, Swiss textile designer, painter, and sculptor, b. Sophie Henriette Gertrude Taeuber. She taught textile design (1916–29) at the School of Arts and Crafts in Zürich...

Goldwater, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Goldwater, Robert, 1907–73, American art historian, b. New York City. Goldwater taught at Queens College, N.Y., from 1934 to 1957, when he was appointed professor of fine arts at New York Univ. The ...

Duchamp-Villon, Raymond

(Encyclopedia)Duchamp-Villon, Raymond rāmôNˈ düshäNˈ-vēyôNˈ [key], 1876–1918, French sculptor; brother of the artists Marcel Duchamp and Jacques Villon. From the tradition of Rodin he turned to cubism in...

ormolu

(Encyclopedia)ormolu ôrˈməlo͞o [key], finish used on metal to imitate gold. It is employed chiefly for furniture mountings. The term originally applied to a coating of ground gold and was extended to alloys of ...

Sorel, Agnès

(Encyclopedia)Sorel, Agnès änyĕsˈ sôrĕlˈ [key], c.1422–1450, mistress (1444–50) of Charles VII of France. She was the first mistress of a French king to be officially recognized as such. Witty and astute...

Browse by Subject