The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (349 page)

(1832–1910).
Scottish painter of
genre
subjects and portraits, active in London from 1862. He made his name with historical costume pieces, but later did his most memorable work in modern-day scenes of upper-class married life. In these he used large empty spaces to create feelings of psychological tension or despair. The best known are
The First Cloud
(Tate Gallery, London, 1887) and a pair representing
A Marriage of Convenience
(City Art Gallery, Glasgow, 1883, and Aberdeen Art Gallery, 1886).

 
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(d. 1520).
The first Spanish sculptor to show clearly the impact of the Italian High
Renaissance
. On stylistic grounds, he is presumed to have trained in Florence, perhaps with Andrea
Sansovino
, and in 1514–15 he was in Naples, working with Diego de
Siloe
on the marble
reredos
of the Caracciolo Chapel in the church of S. Giovanni a Carbonara. In 1517 he undertook part of the carved decoration for the choir of Barcelona Cathedral, executing in wood and marble a series of
reliefs
in a pure Renaissance style. There followed a number of contracts for tombs, including that of Charles V's parents, Philip I and Juana of Castille, commissioned by Charles himself for the chapel royal at Granada. Ordóñez died while carrying out these commissions with Italian assistants at Carrara; but his testament records that he had completed the greater part of the work, including most of the royal tomb. Although he died young (he was perhaps born
c.
1490), his elegant and imaginative style was highly influential.

 
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(
c.
1490–1541).
Netherlandish painter of religious subjects and portraits and designer of tapestries and stained glass. He was the leading artist of his day in Brussels, becoming court painter to Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands, in 1518 and to her successor Mary of Hungary in 1532. His work is characterized by the use of ill-digested Italianate motifs. There is no evidence that he visited Italy, and his knowledge presumably came from engravings and from
Raphael's
tapestry
cartoons
, which were in Brussels
c.
1516–19; he has (very flatteringly) been called ‘the Raphael of the Netherlands’. His best-known work is the turbulent
Job
altarpiece (Musées Royaux, Brussels, 1521). As a portraitist his style was quieter and more thoughtful (
Georg Zelle
, Musées Royaux, Brussels, 1519). None of van Orley's paintings bears a date later than 1530; after that time he was chiefly occupied with designing tapestries and stained-glass windows.

 
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(1883–1949).
Mexican painter, with his contemporaries
Rivera
and
Siqueiros
one of the trio of politically and socially committed fresco painters who were the dominant force in modern Mexican art. Following the first outburst of revolutionary activity in Mexico in 1910 (which was to last on and off until 1920), Orozco began working as a political cartoonist. In 1912 he began a series of watercolours called ‘House of Tears’ dealing with prostitutes (a favourite symbol of human degradation for Orozco). The angry reaction of critics and moralists to these works was one of his reasons for leaving for the USA, where he spent three unhappy and unproductive years, 1917–20. His career as a muralist began after he returned to Mexico in 1920. The country was now relatively stable under the government of Alvaro Obregón, who encouraged nationalistic subjects as a way of creating a positive identity for the country after years of turmoil. Orozco's first murals were in the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria (National Training School), 1923–4. They were controversial because of their caricatural style, and all except
Maternity
and
The Rich Banquet while the Workers Quarrel
were subsequently destroyed or altered. His style matured towards a greater monumentality in frescos in the Casa de los Azulejos (House of Tiles), Mexico City (1926), and in a second series at the National Training School (1926–7). The work brought him little recognition, however, so in 1927 to 1934 (broken by a brief trip to Europe in 1932) he again worked in the USA. This time he was much more successful, carrying out a number of important mural commissions, most notably a cycle for Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, on
The Coming
and
The Return of Quetzalcoatl
(1932–4). This huge scheme showed his outlook crystallizing into a contrast between a pagan paradise and a capitalist hell. Unlike Rivera and Siqueiros, Orozco did not align himself with a political movement, but his work had an intense humanitarian mission. He returned to Mexico in 1934 with a big reputation after his success in the USA, and he spent most of the rest of his life engaged on mural projects in Mexico City and Guadalajara, the country's second city. In his last years his work became ever more violent in expression, moved by a passionate concern for the suffering and miseries of mankind. His studio in Guadalajara is now a museum dedicated to him.

 
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(1878–1931).
British painter, chiefly famous as one of the leading fashionable portraitists of his day. Orpen was a child prodigy and had a brilliant student career at the
Slade
School. He worked mainly in London but he kept up links with his native Ireland, teaching parttime at the Metropolitan School in Dublin, 1902–14. His style had much in common with that of his friend Augustus
John
, being vigorous and painterly but sometimes rather flashy. He was at his best when he was away from his standard boardroom and drawing-room fare, and his numerous self-portraits are often particularly engaging, as he pokes fun at himself in character roles. Up to the First World war he had a steady rise in worldly success and after the war he earned an average of about £35,000 a year, rising to over £50,000 a year in 1929–a colossal sum then. In 1920 a story appeared in London newspapers that he had refused an offer of £1,000,000 to work for a dealer in the USA, and he was one of the few British artists of his time capable of attracting public attention in such a way. Apart from portraits, Orpen also painted genre subjects, landscapes, interiors, nudes, and allegories, and he did memorable work as an
Official War Artist
in France (he also attended the 1919 Peace Conference in Paris and painted
The Signing of the Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles
, 28 June, 1919 (Imperial War Museum, London)). His reputation faded badly after his death but revived greatly in the 1970s.