The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (72 page)

Breker , Arno
.

See
DESPIAU , CHARLES
.

 
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(1896–1966).
French poet, essayist, and critic, the founder and chief theorist of
Surrealism
. He published the first
Manifesto of Surrealism
in 1924 and helped with the first number of the periodical
The Surrealist Revolution
, which he afterwards edited. His
Second Manifesto of Surrealism
was published in the final number of this journal, December 1929, and he wrote numerous other books and articles on Surrealism. Breton also made
assemblages
of surrealistically juxtaposed objects, which he called ‘Poem-objects’.

 
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(1830–1902).
English painter, mainly of coastal scenes and landscapes. He was influenced by the
Pre-Raphaelites
and
Ruskin
, and a handful of his early paintings such as
The Stonebreaker
(Walker Art Gal., Liverpool, 1857–8) are remarkable
tours de force
of minute and brilliant detail. His later work, however, tended to degenerate into a prosaic catalogue of objects.

 
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(1475/6–1537).
German painter and designer of woodcuts, probably a pupil of Ulrich
Apt
. Breu was one of the leading painters of his time in his native Augsburg, but his most important works there—a series of frescos in the town hall—are no longer extant. He was patronized by the emperor Maximilian and by Duke William IV of Bavaria, for whom he painted
The Battle of Zama
(Alte Pinakothek, Munich) in the same series as
Altdorfer's
celebrated
Battle of Issus
. His style was complex, sharing something of Altdorfer's passion and love of landscape, and showing strong influence from
Dürer
and from a journey he made to Italy in about 1514. His son,
Jörg the Younger
(
c.
1510–47), was court painter at Neuburg, and a prolific book illustrator.

 
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(1554–1626).
Flemish landscape painter, active mainly in Rome, where he settled in about 1575. Bril painted frescos, but his fame rests on his small easel paintings. He lived long enough to assimilate some of the qualities of
Elsheimer's
and Annibale
Carracci's
landscapes and his work bridges the gap between the fantastic 16th-cent. Flemish
Mannerist
style and the more plausible, idealized Italian landscapes of the 17th cent. He also made views of Rome for the tourist trade, and marine pictures. His conception of both of these subjects had considerable influence upon Agostino
Tassi
, the teacher of
Claude Lorrain
, and upon Claude himself. Paul's brother,
Matthew
or
Mattheus
(1550–83), also worked in Rome, and their work is hard to differentiate.

 
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British Museum
, London.

The national museum of archaeology and antiquities, which also houses the national library of manuscripts and printed books. It was established by Act of Parliament in 1753 when the government purchased the private collection of the physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753), consisting of ‘books, manuscripts, prints, drawings, pictures, medals, coins, seals,
cameos
and natural curiosities’. It was first housed in Montagu House, Bloomsbury, and for nearly 50 years it was necessary to make formal application for admission. With the acquisition of Sir William Hamilton's collection of classical vases and antiquities (1772), a plethora of Egyptian antiquities (including the Rosetta Stone donated by George III) on the defeat of Napoleon at the turn of the century, the
Elgin Marbles
, the magnificent library of George III (1823), and many other bequests and purchases, the Museum became established as one of the world's greatest treasure houses. The present structure (1823–47), one of the masterpieces of Greek Revival architecture, was designed by Sir Robert Smirke and the great circular Reading Room, designed by Smirke's brother Sydney , was completed in 1857. Until 1881 the building also housed the collections now in the Natural History Museum, and one of its greatest attactions was a stuffed giraffe in the entrance hall. The Department of Prints and Drawings was originally part of the Library, but led a separate existence from 1808 onwards. It began with over 2,000 drawings from the Sloane collections, which included an album of
Dürer's
drawings. Among the most important acquisitions since was the Richard Payne
Knight
bequest (1824) of over 1,000 drawings, including 273 drawings by
Claude
. It is now one of the largest and most comprehensive collections in the world, containing more than two million items. The British Museum Library (as it was formerly known) was reconstituted by Act of Parliament as part of the British Library in 1973, and will eventually be housed in a new and separate building near St Pancras Station. This was originally scheduled to open in 1989, but the move is now not expected to be complete until 1999.