The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (373 page)

(1728–1808).
French painter and designer. As a painter he is best known for his charming landscapes, which are strongly indebted to
Boucher
but more atmospheric. His importance, however, lies more in the engravings made after his drawings, which were popular throughout Europe and of influence in spreading the
Rococo
style, particularly the taste for
chinoiserie
. Pillement himself was well travelled, visiting Austria, England, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.

 
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(
c.
1525–90).
The most powerful and original French sculptor of the 16th cent. He was born in Paris, the son of a sculptor,
André Pilon
, and spent most of his career there. His first known work is the group of
Three Graces
on the monument for the heart of Henry II (Louvre, Paris, 1561–2), which shows that his early manner was based on the elegant decorative style of the School of
Fontainebleau
, in particular
Primaticcio's
stucco
-work. Although his work never lost its tendency towards graceful
Mannerist
elongation, it developed in the direction of greater naturalism and emotional intensity. These qualities are seen most memorably in his marble
gisants
on the tomb of Henry II and Catherine de Médicis at St Denis (1563–70), poignant works in which the semi-nude figures are shown relaxed in death. The kneeling effigies on the tomb are of bronze and Pilon excelled in this medium as well as marble, both as a portrait sculptor (Charles IX, Wallace Coll., London) and a medallist—he was appointed Controller General of the Paris Mint in 1572. Pilon's early work was influential on his successors, but the deeply felt emotion of his later style proved too personal to inspire imitation. Several examples of his sublime late work are in the Louvre, notably the tomb of Valentine Balbiani (before 1583).

 
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(1826–86).
German painter. After training in Antwerp and Paris, Piloty settled in Munich, where in 1856 he became a professor at the Academy and in 1874 its Director. He was highly successful with large, opulent history paintings in which the settings, furnishings, and costumes were reconstructed with great accuracy. They gave the public the same kind of feast for the eye as Hollywood epics and now have a distinctly hollow ring.

 
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(
c.
1454–1513).
Italian painter, born in Perugia. He was probably a pupil of
Perugino
and it is likely that he assisted him with his frescos in the Sistine Chapel, Rome (1481–2). His style was strongly influenced by Perugino , especially in his sweet, elegant figure types, but Pintoricchio lacked Perugino's lucidity of design and was more interested in decorative effects. His chief works are frescos in the Borgia rooms in the Vatican (1492–5) and the colourful
Scenes from the Life of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini
(i.e. Pope Pius II) in the Piccolomini Library of Siena Cathedral (1503). In these he showed the brilliant colours, ornamental detail, and fanciful charm that make him at his best, in the words of Frederick Hartt (
A History of Italian Renaissance Art
, 1970), ‘one of the most endearing masters of the
Quattrocento
…a kind of Perugian Benozzo
Gozzoli
’. Pintoricchio was a prolific painter of panels as well as frescos—there are several examples of his work in the National Gallery, London.

 
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(1903–92).
English painter, graphic artist, designer, and writer. He reluctantly became an articled clerk in his father's legal firm, but took up the study of art after his father's death in 1926, first at the Richmond School of Art and then at the
Royal College of Art
. From 1928 to 1933 he wrote as an art critic for the
Listener
and the
Nation
and was among the first to recognize such contemporaries as William
Coldstream
, Ivon
Hitchens
, Victor
Pasmore
, and Ceri
Richards
. By the mid 1930s he was one of the leading British abstract artists, but by the end of the decade he had become disillusioned with non-representational art and reverted to naturalism. He concentrated on landscape and architectural views in a subjective emotionally charged style that continued the English
Romantic tradition
. Some of his most memorable works were done as an
Official War Artist
when he made pictures of bomb-damaged buildings. A similar stormy atmosphere pervades his famous views of country houses of the same period. Piper's work diversified in the 1950s and he became recognized as one of the most versatile British artists of his generation. He did much work as a stage designer and designer of stained glass (notably at Coventry Cathedral) and was a prolific printmaker. In addition he made book illustrations and designed pottery and textiles. As a writer he is probably best known for his book
British Romantic Artists
(1942). He also compiled architectural guidebooks to several English counties, usually in collaboration with the poet Sir John Betjeman .

 
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