Artists

Bellini, Giovanni

Giovanni Bellini (Italian: [dʒoˈvanni belˈliːni]; Venetian: Zuane Belin; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, but now that familial generational relationship is questioned. An older brother, Gentile Bellini was more highly regarded than Giovanni during his lifetime, but the reverse is true today. His brother-in-law was Andrea Mantegna. Giovanni Bellini was considered to have revolutionised Venetian painting, moving it toward a more sensuous and colouristic style. Through the use of clear, slow-drying oil paints, Giovanni created deep, rich tints and detailed shadings. His sumptuous colouring and fluent, atmospheric landscapes had a great effect on the Venetian painting school, especially on his pupils Giorgione and Titian. The Bellini cocktail is named in his honour.

Bellini, Jacopo

Belli, Valerio

Valerio Belli (c. 1468–1546), also known as Valerio Vicentino, was a celebrated medallist, gem engraver, goldsmith, who with Giovanni Bernardi, who was twenty years younger, was the leading specialist in intaglios engraved in rock crystal, a difficult luxury form which Belli pioneered. These were highly sought after by wealthy Italian collectors. Though described as being "engraved", the intaglios are cut by drills, sometimes quite deeply, and developed their style from classical coins and engraved gems, to give "smoothly and eloquently orchestrated figural compositions". Castings of many of the crystal carvings were taken in wax and them used to make metal plaquettes, which Belli also designed and made de novo. He was described as a goldsmith, though no surviving works are known, and had some role at the Papal mint, though no coins are clearly attributable to him. Born in Vicenza, he was also active in Rome, his most important period, and Venice before returning to his native city in later life. In metal he designed many portrait medals and plaquettes, including copies of his works in crystal. He was mentioned by the art historian Giorgio Vasari, and drawn by Parmigianino (now Museum...

Bell, John

Bell, Larry

Larry Bell (born 1939) is an American contemporary artist and sculptor. He is best known for his glass boxes and large-scaled illusionistic sculptures. He is a grant recipient from, among others, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, and his artworks are found in the collections of many major cultural institutions. He lives and works in Taos, New Mexico, and maintains a studio in Venice, California.

Bell, Leland

Leland Bell (September 17, 1922 – September 18, 1991) was an American painter. Leland Bell was a self-taught painter whose passion for the discipline of painting has inspired and influenced many. He was also a fierce advocate for artists that he admired. In the early years of his career these included Karl Knaths, Jean Arp, and Piet Mondrian. In these early years he worked as a guard at the Museum of Non-Objective Art. In the mid-1940s his allegiance to abstract painting receded after he formed a friendship with Jean Hélion, and Bell subsequently became a champion of Hélion, Fernand Léger, Balthus, Alberto Giacometti, and André Derain. Bell was also a jazz aficionado and drummer. In 1944 he married the painter Louisa Matthíasdóttir (1917–2000), whose figurative style influenced his work. In contrast to Matthíasdóttir, who worked quickly, Bell labored over his paintings, sometimes for years. The couple had a daughter, Temma, in 1945. The family divided their time between New York and Matthíasdóttir's native Iceland. Bell was active as a painter, teacher, and lecturer. In 1987, he had a retrospective exhibition at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. He was diagnosed with leukemia...

Bellmer, Hans

Hans Bellmer (13 March 1902 – 24 February 1975) was a German artist, best known for his drawings, etchings that illustrates the 1940 edition of Histoire de l’œil, and the life-sized female dolls he produced in the mid-1930s. Historians of art and photography also consider him a Surrealist photographer.

Bell, Nikki

Belloc, Auguste

Bellocq, Adolfo

Adolfo Bellocq (1899–1972) was an influential Argentine artist known for his lithographs. Born in Buenos Aires, Bellocq was self-taught in the art of xylography and engraving. He was appointed Director of the Lithography Workshop at Buenos Aires' renowned Ernesto de la Cárcova Fine Arts School, in 1928. Soon earning his first awards for in his evocative work portraying harsh working conditions then prevailing in Buenos Aires' southside slaughterhouses, Bellocq parlayed this accomplishment into the first Argentine Lithography Exposition, in 1931. Contributing to Buenos Aires' premier art periodical at the time, Claridád, he began working closely with a number of the magazine's other contributors, forming what became known at the "Boedo Group" (named after the southside avenue where Claridád was published). He also illustrated a number of books, notably a 1930 edition of José Hernández's Martín Fierro. Bellocq drew the attention of Buenos Aires art patrons like Francisco Colombo and Eduardo Bullrich and was awarded a silver medal at the Paris International Art Exposition of 1937; but, though Colombo and Bullrich financed the curation of over 400 examples, over 2000 of Bellocq's lithographs...

Bellocq, E.J.

Ernest Joseph Bellocq (19 August 1873 – 3 October 1949) was an American professional photographer who worked in New Orleans during the early 20th century. Bellocq is remembered for his haunting photographs of the prostitutes of Storyville, New Orleans' legalized red-light district. These have inspired novels, poems and films.

Bellon, Denise

Denise Bellon (20 September 1902 – 31 October 1999) was a French photographer associated with the Surrealist movement.