Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Stella, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Stella, Joseph, 1877–1946, American painter, b. Italy, emigrated to the United States in 1896. He studied at the Art Students League of New York City with William Chase and later in Italy and Paris....

holography

(Encyclopedia)holography hŏlŏgˈrəfē, hō– [key], method of reproducing a three-dimensional image of an object by means of light wave patterns recorded on a photographic plate or film. Holography is sometimes...

leaf

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Microscopic cross section of the leaf blade CE5 Types of leaves leaf, chief food-manufacturing organ of a plant, a lateral outgrowth of the growing point of stem. The typical leaf consist...

Klee, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Klee, Paul poul klā [key], 1879–1940, Swiss painter, graphic artist, and art theorist, b. near Bern. Klee's enormous production (more than 10,000 paintings, drawings, and etchings) is unique in tha...

Whistler, James Abbott McNeill

(Encyclopedia)Whistler, James Abbott McNeill, 1834–1903, American painter, etcher, wit, and eccentric, b. Lowell, Mass. Whistler was dismissed from West Point for insufficient knowledge of chemistry and from the ...

minimum wage

(Encyclopedia)minimum wage, lowest wage legally permitted in an industry or in a government or other organization. The goal in establishing minimum wages has been to assure wage earners a standard of living above t...

Duveneck, Frank

(Encyclopedia)Duveneck, Frank dyo͞oˈvənĕk [key], 1848–1919, American portrait and genre painter and teacher, b. Covington, Ky., studied in Cincinnati and in Munich. In 1875 he showed a group of his canvases i...

Chevreul, Michel Eugène

(Encyclopedia)Chevreul, Michel Eugène mēshĕlˈ özhĕnˈ shəvrölˈ [key], 1786–1889, French chemist. He studied under L. N. Vauquelin, was director of the Gobelin tapestry works, and from 1830 was professor,...

amethyst

(Encyclopedia)amethyst ămˈəthĭst [key] [Gr.,=non-drunkenness], variety of quartz, violet to purple in color, used as a gem. It is the most highly valued of the semiprecious quartzes. It is associated with a num...

Girtin, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Girtin, Thomas gûrˈtən [key], 1775–1802, English draftsman and watercolorist. He was apprenticed to an engraver but was employed, together with J. M. W. Turner, to make topographical drawings. Gi...