The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (454 page)

 
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soft-ground etching
.

A method of
etching
, invented in the late 18th cent., that produces prints characterized by softness of line or a grainy texture. The
ground
used to coat the etching plate is softer and stickier than in normal etching, so that it adheres to anything pressed into it. Over this ground was laid a sheet of paper on which the artist drew with a pencil. Under the pressure of the pencil strokes the ground stuck to the back of the paper, so that when it was lifted the wax immediately underneath the lines came away with it, while the rest remained in place. The plate was then immersed in acid, and printed in the normal way. The printed lines were granular, coarse, or fine according to the texture of the paper used for the drawing: thus if the paper had been smooth, the lines resembled pencil, but if rough, they were more like chalk. Soft-ground etchings bear a strong likeness to prints in the
crayon
manner, but are generally a little softer and less regular. Although the technique was used in the late 18th and early 19th cents. chiefly for reproduction, a number of excellent original soft-ground etchings were produced by
Gainsborough
,
Cotman
, and
Girtin
. Interest in the technique has revived among some modern artists.

 
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(1657–1747).
The leading Neapolitan painter of the first half of the 18th cent. In a long and extremely productive career he painted frescos in many of the greatest churches in Naples, and he became one of the wealthiest and most famous European artists of his day. His vigorous style, often marked by dramatic lighting, owed much to the example of such
Baroque
artists as Luca
Giordano
(his outstanding predecessor in Naples),
Lanfranco
and
Preti
, but it also has a firmness of structure and a clarity of draughtsmanship that shows his allegiance to the
classical
tradition of
Raphael
and Annibale
Carracci
. Solimena's paintings were in demand all over Europe, and his international influence was spread also by his celebrity as a teacher.
Ramsay
was among his pupils and
Fragonard
copied his work in S. Paolo Maggiore .

 
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(1840–1905).
British painter and graphic artist, a member of a well-known family of artists. He was a member of
Rossetti's
circle and a friend of
Burne-Jones
, and his work shows strong
Pre-Raphaelite
influence. In the 1860s he built up a reputation as a book illustrator, but then sank into a life of idleness and dissipation (in 1871 he was arrested on homosexual charges). His later years were spent in a pathetically bohemian existence, and he died of alcoholism. His sister
Rebecca
(1832–86), who painted portraits and anecdotal historical scenes, also died an alcoholic. Their brother
Abraham
(1824–62) painted scenes from literature and contemporary life scenes, some of which attained great popularity, and were much reproduced as prints.

 
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(
c.
1577–1622).
Flemish portrait painter and engraver who settled in England in 1616 and became—with Cornelius
Johnson
and Daniel
Mytens
—the leading portraitist working at the court of James I. His finest work is
Queen Anne of Denmark
(Royal Coll., 1617), an imposing full-length, but more archaic in style than similar portraits by Mytens .

 
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(1863–1923).
Spanish painter and graphic artist, active mainly in Valencia. He was a prolific and popular artist, working on a wide variety of subjects—
genre
, portraits, landscapes, historical scenes—and producing many book illustrations. His pleasant and undemanding style was marked by brilliant high-keyed colour and vigorous brushwork, representing a kind of conservative version of
Impressionism
. He was well known outside Spain, and in 1910–20 he painted a series of fourteen mural panels for the Hispanic Society of America in New York, representing scenes typical of the various provinces of Spain. His former home in Madrid is now a museum dedicated to his work.