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(b London, July 19, 1928; d Hastings, E. Sussex, July 20, 1992).

English painter, writer and teacher. He studied at the Kingston College of Art (1948–50) and later at the Royal College of Art (1951–4), where he was awarded a bursary to travel in Italy. However, he was not very stimulated by the art he saw there and subsequently preferred not to travel; his taste for domestic life in England is reflected in his painting (e.g. Window, Self-portrait, Jean and Hands, 1957; London, Tate). He worked in a harsh realist style, applying the paint thickly in vibrant colours, and portraying sometimes ugly and desperate faces. He primarily chose his family as subjects and incorporated all the clutter of urban domestic life in his paintings (e.g. Still-Life with Chipfryer, 1954; London, Tate). It was this concern with social realism that brought Bratby into contact with Jack Smith, Edward Middleditch (1923–87) and Derrick Greaves (b 1927), and these artists became the main exponents of the ...

(b Saint Louis, MO, Nov 3, 1903; d New Haven, CT, April 10, 1975).

American photographer and writer. He grew up in Kenilworth, a suburb of Chicago, but moved to New York with his mother after his parents separated. Primarily interested in literature, he sat in on lectures at the Sorbonne in Paris (1926–7), visited museums and bookshops, and thought of becoming a writer. In 1928 he acquired a camera and, out of frustration over his inability to find work and develop a literary means of expression, he decided to become a photographer (see fig.). Intermittent assignments instigated by friends such as Lincoln Kirstein made it possible for him to live a bohemian life in Greenwich Village, where he met the writers Hart Crane (1899–1932) and James Agee (1909–55) and the artist Ben Shahn, with whom he worked and shared a house for a short time. Within this circle he found his early influences (see fig....

(b Berlin, Sept 27, 1894; d Berlin, July 12, 1967).

German painter, printmaker and writer. He showed talent as a draughtsman at an early age. After showing Bruno Paul some drawings in 1908, he was promised a free place in the education department of the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin, following his training as a craftsman. He studied briefly in a stained-glass workshop (1908–10) but abandoned this to work as a studio assistant (1910–21). From 1913 to 1914 he also attended evening classes in drawing. As a pacifist he refused military service and was temporarily imprisoned. In 1919 his application to the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Charlottenburg, Berlin, was rejected.

At the home of the architect and art critic Adolf Behne (1855–1948) Nagel saw for the first time paintings by August Macke, whose bold use of colour made a lasting impression on his work, for example Self-portrait with Hat (oil on cardboard, 1920; Berlin, priv. col., see ...

(b Arequipa, 1912; d 1988).

Peruvian painter, teacher, printmaker, and writer. He studied until 1935 at the Universidad Nacional de S. Agustín, Arequipa, where he continued to teach history of art and aesthetics until 1950, although he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to study in the USA between 1943 and 1945; as an artist he was self-taught. He later settled in Lima, where he executed a number of large murals (e.g. Construction of Peru, 6 × 16 m, 1954; Lima, Min. Econ. & Finanzas). In these and in watercolor paintings he combined social realism with a degree of caricature reminiscent of the work of Pancho Fierro. In 1954 Núñez Ureta was awarded the Premio Nacional de Pintura, and from 1973 to 1976 he was Director of the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in Lima. His written works include a number of books on Peruvian art.

(b Calw, Baden-Württemberg, Dec 6, 1890; d Munich, May 3, 1955).

German painter, printmaker and writer. He served an apprenticeship as an enamel painter in Pforzheim and then attended the Kunstgewerbeschule in Stuttgart (1907–10) and the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Karlsruhe (1910–16). Guided by a longing to rebel against bourgeois morality, he made paintings and lithographs inspired by scenes from novels and films on the Wild West and oriental fairy tales, themes from which he continued to derive his subject-matter while also developing an increasingly critical stance towards society. In Karlsruhe in 1919 he co-founded the Gruppe Rih, one of the many artists’ groups formed in Germany after World War I in an attempt to democratize culture, to tear down social barriers and to proclaim freedom for the individual. That year he moved to Berlin, becoming a member of both the Novembergruppe and the Dada movement. Having also joined the Communist Party in 1919, he became increasingly politicized. The watercolour ...

(b Woodstown, NJ, Nov 6, 1876; d New York, May 1, 1953).

American painter, illustrator, designer, playwright, and film director. He studied industrial design at the Spring Garden School in Philadelphia from 1888 to 1890. In 1893 he became an illustrator at the Philadelphia Press. Simultaneously he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, where he met Robert Henri, John Sloan, William J. Glackens, and George Luks. Their style of urban realism prompted him to depict the bleak aspects of city life. In 1897 Shinn moved to New York and produced illustrations for several newspapers and magazines, for example Mark Twain (March 1900; see Perlman, p. 80), a frontispiece for The Critic. He also drew sketches for a novel by William Dean Howells on New York; although the novel was not published, Shinn’s drawings brought him national recognition.

Shinn’s work changed radically when, on a trip to Paris in 1901, he was inspired by the theatre scenes of Manet, Degas, and Jean-Louis Forain. He began to paint performers in action, from unusual vantage points, as in ...

(b Paris, April 5, 1876; d Rueil-la-Gadelière, Eure-et-Loir, Oct 7, 1958).

French painter, printmaker, draughtsman and writer. His nature, character, tastes and way of life were in perfect harmony with the freedom, daring and violence of his painting. He was brought up in a musical environment: his father, of Flemish origin, was a violin teacher and his mother, from Lorraine, was a piano teacher. He studied music himself to quite a high standard and later played the double-bass (and sometimes the bass drum, a source of considerable pleasure) in his regimental band. His family had come to live at Le Vésinet near Paris, and he spent his childhood both there and later at Chatou on the Seine. From 1892 he began to take an interest in painting, though he worked as a mechanic and became a racing cyclist.

After his first marriage (to Suzanne Berly) Vlaminck gave up cycling and returned to music. He gave violin lessons and played the violin in popular orchestras and café-concerts in Paris. He also made his début as a journalist in the late 19th century and wrote articles for anarchist papers such as ...