Sachgebiete

Beschreibung:

255 S. 32 Tafeln. Mit zahlr. auch farb. Abb. Gebundene Ausgabe mit Schutzumschlag.

Bemerkung:

Umschlag leicht berieben, sonst gutes Exemplar. - Few nations were so obsessed with portraiture at the expense of other forms of painting as Britain and America, and the development of portrait painting in the two countries was closely linked. It was the kind of painting with which people were most familiar and, until the invention of photography towards the middle of the nineteenth century, the taking of a likeness was one of the main activities of even the most distinguished artists, while many less accomplished painters did nothing else. It is surprising, therefore, that the specialized area of portrait painting has not, until now, had a separate account and work of reference devoted to it. This volume provides both an introduction to the history and practice of portraiture in Britain and America from the sixteenth to the twentieth century and a biographical dictionary of the portrait painters active in both countries between 1680 and 1914. In the first of three substantial and lively essays Robin Simon examines the nature of the portrait and traces its development in Britain and America. He tells the story of the arrival in England of Holbein, Van Dyck, Lely and Kneller and of the establishment of the British School in the eighteenth century, describing the traffic of portrait painters across the Atlantic in both directions and the fortunes of artists as diverse as Copley, West, Whistler and Sargent. The second essay contains a detailed analysis of the poses used by portrait painters and explains how artists drew upon earlier models and sources; the discussion includes many new insights into the repertory of poses and their transmission from one generation of artists to the next. In the third essay Robin Simon studies the working practices of portrait painters and presents new information about the role of assistants and drapery painters and about the use of optical devices. Particular attention is paid in these essays to the achievements of Copley, Eakins, Sargent, Hudson, Gainsborough, Hogarth and Reynolds. The dictionary which follows gives biographical details of more than 600 portrait painters who worked in Britain and America between 1680 and 1914. Included in each entry are details of collections on both sides of the Atlantic that hold representative examples of the work of these painters and bibliographical references indicating where further information may be found. ISBN 0714823864