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glaze, in pottery

(Encyclopedia)glaze, translucent layer that coats pottery to give the surface a finish or afford a ground for decorative painting. Glazes—transparent, white, or colored—are fired on the clay. Of the various art...

Wilkie, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Wilkie, Sir David, 1785–1841, Scottish genre painter. He studied in Edinburgh and at the Royal Academy and won early popularity with his admirable little scenes of everyday life. Anecdotal painting ...

Chardin, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon

(Encyclopedia)Chardin, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon zhäN-bätēstˈ-sēmāôNˈ shärdăNˈ [key], 1699–1779, French painter. He was a major figure of 18th-century painting. While the Académie royale still advocated h...

abstract expressionism

(Encyclopedia)abstract expressionism, movement of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the mid-1940s and attained singular prominence in American art in the following decade; also called action pa...

Chinese art

(Encyclopedia)Chinese art, works of art produced in the vast geographical region of China. It the oldest art in the world and has its origins in remote antiquity. (For the history of Chinese civilization, see China...

composition, in art

(Encyclopedia)composition, in art, the organization of forms and colors within the work of art. In traditional sculpture this means the arrangement of masses and planes. In representational painting it means the gr...

Apelles

(Encyclopedia)Apelles əpĕlˈēz [key], fl. 330 b.c., Greek painter, the most celebrated in antiquity but now known only through descriptions of his works. He is thought to have studied under Ephorus of Ephesus an...

Céspedes, Pablo de

(Encyclopedia)Céspedes, Pablo de päˈblō dā thāsˈpāᵺās [key], 1538–1608, Spanish artist, poet, and scholar. He studied for the priesthood and subsequently studied painting with Federigo Zuccaro in Rome....

Cavalcaselle, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Cavalcaselle, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä kävälkäsĕlˈlā [key], 1820–97, Italian art critic and writer. Cavalcaselle studied painting at the Academy of Venice and traveled ext...

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. ...