El Greco by Xavier Bray

El Greco by Xavier Bray

A prophet of modernism: Strong colors and sinuous figures El Greco (1541-1614) was born Dom nikos Theotok poulos in Crete in 1541. He arrived in Venice in 1566, where his work was greatly influenced by Titian and Tintoretto. However when he made an offer to the Pope to paint over Michelangelo's>Last Judgement>in the spirit of the Counter Reformation, he incurred the wrath of Roman artists to such an extent that a career in Italy was no longer conceivable. El Greco settled in Spain, in Toledo, where he received numerous commissions from the Church and the nobility. Between 1586 and 1588 he created one of the great works of European painting, the monumental>Burial of the Count of Orgaz for a chapel altar in the parish church of Santo Tom in Toledo. El Greco confined his palette to a small number of very expressively used shades, with an evident preference for pale purple, pink, and yellow and greyish tones. He located the iconographical events in a space that he dramatized by means of light and atmospheric phenomena. His oeuvre had a wide-ranging impact on art up to and including modern 20th-century painting. Paul C zanne and later Picasso and the Expressionists regarded El Greco as a prophet of modernism. About the Series:
Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features:

• a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
• a concise biography
• approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

A prophet of modernism: Strong colors and sinuous figures El Greco (1541-1614) was born Dom nikos Theotok poulos in Crete in 1541. He arrived in Venice in 1566, where his work was greatly influenced by Titian and Tintoretto. However when he made an offer to the Pope to paint over Michelangelo's>Last Judgement>in the spirit of the Counter Reformation, he incurred the wrath of Roman artists to such an extent that a career in Italy was no longer conceivable. El Greco settled in Spain, in Toledo, where he received numerous commissions from the Church and the nobility. Between 1586 and 1588 he created one of the great works of European painting, the monumental>Burial of the Count of Orgaz for a chapel altar in the parish church of Santo Tom in Toledo. El Greco confined his palette to a small number of very expressively used shades, with an evident preference for pale purple, pink, and yellow and greyish tones. He located the iconographical events in a space that he dramatized by means of light and atmospheric phenomena. His oeuvre had a wide-ranging impact on art up to and including modern 20th-century painting. Paul C zanne and later Picasso and the Expressionists regarded El Greco as a prophet of modernism. About the Series:
Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features:

• a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
• a concise biography
• approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

Dr Xavier Bray is the director of the Wallace Collection, London. He was the guest curator of the acclaimed Goya: The Portraits exhibition at the National Gallery, London (2015). After completing a Ph.D at Trinity College, Dublin, Dr Bray began his career as assistant curator at the National Gallery, London, and as chief curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Bilbao before becoming chief curator at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London in 2011. He has curated and co-curated a number of exhibitions, which include A Brush with Nature: The Gere Collection of Oil Sketches at The Frick Collection, New York, (2000), An Intimate Vision: Women Impressionists at the Museum of Fine Arts in Bilbao (2001-2002), El Greco (2004), Caravaggio (2005), Velü¾Œ–”¼zquez (2006). and The Sacred Made Real: Spanish Painting and Sculpture, 1600-1700 (2009-2010) at the National Gallery, London, and Murillo and Justino de Neve: The Art of Friendship at Dulwich Picture Gallery (2013).