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Williams, William, American painter

(Encyclopedia)Williams, William, c.1710–c.1790, American painter, b. England. He probably led a seafaring life before settling (c.1747) in Philadelphia, where he was Benjamin West's first instructor in painting. ...

Ibsen, Henrik

(Encyclopedia)Ibsen, Henrik hĕnˈrĭk ĭbˈsən [key], 1828–1906, Norwegian dramatist and poet. His early years were lonely and miserable. Distressed by the consequences of his family's financial ruin and on his...

Bergman, Ingmar

(Encyclopedia)Bergman, Ingmar (Ernst Ingmar Bergman) ĕrnst ĭngˈmär bĕrˈyəmän [key], 1918–2007, Swedish film and stage writer, director, and producer. Acclaimed by many as the greatest director of the seco...

Barnes Foundation

(Encyclopedia)Barnes Foundation, museum and arborteum in Merion and Philadelphia, Pa. Founded in 1922, it houses the impressive art collection amassed by Albert Coombs Barnes, 1872–1951, a wealthy Philadelphia ph...

collage

(Encyclopedia)collage kəläzhˈ, kō– [key] [Fr.,=pasting], technique in art consisting of cutting and pasting natural or manufactured materials to a painted or unpainted surface—hence, a work of art in this m...

Dessoir, Max

(Encyclopedia)Dessoir, Max mäx dĕswär,ˈ [key], 1867–1947, German philosopher. He earned doctorates from the universities of Berlin (philosophy, 1889) and Würtzburg (medicine, 1892). He was a professor at Ber...

Denis, Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Denis, Maurice môrēsˈ dənēˈ [key], 1870–1943, French painter and writer on art. His paintings, usually on religious themes, have not proved so influential as his art theories. As the spokesman...

Ozenfant, Amédée

(Encyclopedia)Ozenfant, Amédée ämādāˈ ōzäNfäNˈ [key], 1886–1966, French art theorist and painter. He criticized the cubists after 1912 for creating a merely decorative art form. Ozenfant advocated a dis...

Blunt, Anthony Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Blunt, Anthony Frederick, 1907–83, English art historian and Soviet spy, grad. Cambridge. Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art after 1947 and professor of the history of art at the Univ. of Lo...

Muscovy Company

(Encyclopedia)Muscovy Company mŭsˈkəvē [key] or Russia Company, first major English joint-stock trading company. It began in 1553 as a group supporting exploration of a possible northeast passage to Asia. An ex...