Alfred Ainger (1837 - 1904)

Author, Religious Leader.  Born in London, England in the family of an architect, he was educated , at King’s College, where he experienced the influence of John Frederick Denison Maurice, one of the principal theologians of his time.  The sudden death of his father made it imperative that he enter a profession in which he […]

Delmira Agustini (1886 - 1914)

Poet. A major Latin American author of the early 20th Century. Her verse expressed intense erotic yearning with bold, dense imagery.  Many view her as a proto-feminist because she saw sex as empowering for women, much to the  outrage of her predominately male critics. Agustini’s most provocative work is the poem cycle “The Rosary of […]

Sarah Flower Adams (1805 - 1848)

Poet. Born in Old Harlow, Essex, in England. The youngest daughter of Benjamin Flower, a newspaper editor. During the years 1832 to 1835 Sarah became a contributor to the pages of the Monthly Repository, then edited by Mr. W. Johnson Fox, and contributed to by John Stuart Mill, Crabb Robinson, Robert Browning, R. H. Horne, […]

Hannah Adams (1755 - 1831)

Author. She wrote a number of works on religious themes, including “Alphabetical Compendium of the Various Sects Which Have Appeared from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Present Day,” “A Summary History of New England,” “History of the Jews” and “Letters on the Gospels.”  Family links:  Parents:  Thomas Adams (1725 – 1812)  Elizabeth […]

Ed Benedict (1912 - 2006)

Cartoon Animator. Best known for designing the characters of “The Flintstones” cartoon series. He designed the look of Fred, Barney, Wilma and Betty as well as their houses and foot-driven cars. He was working for MGM, Universal and various other studios on cartoon shorts when, in the late 1950s, he joined Bill Hanna and Joe […]

George Wesley Bellows (1882 - 1925)

Artist. He was a realist painter-lithographer noted for his paintings of action scenes, expressive portraits and seascapes. While attending Ohio State University, he started by providing illustrations for the school’s student yearbook, then relocated to New York in 1904, to study at the New york School of Art. By 1908, he had his own studio […]

Bill Belew (1931 - 2008)

Costume Designer. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York, designed costumes for over 70 theatrical productions, musicals, operas, ballets, Television specials and series. He was once former head costumer at NBC Studios in Burbank, California until the early 1980’s. He designed apparel for such celebrities as Lynne Redgrave, Lena Horne, Josephine […]

Sir Max Beerbohm (1872 - 1956)

Caricaturist, Author. Born in London, England. The youngest of nine children of a Lithuanian-born grain merchant, Julius Ewald Edward Beerbohm (1811–92). His mother was Eliza Draper Beerbohm (d. 1918).  Affectionately known to everyone as “Max” he was the younger half brother of the actor-producer Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, he was accustomed to fashionable society from […]

Claud Beelman (1884 - 1963)

American Architect. Beelman de­signed numerous buildings in the Beaux-Arts, Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles. In the 1920s, Beelman and his then partner, William Curlett, designed no fewer than 22 structures in Los Angeles.  Following the dissolution of the partnership in the early 1930s, Beelman designed the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, an addition to the […]

Saul Bass (1920 - 1996)

Graphic Designer. He was born in New York. He is known as one of the best ever graphic designers for film, specially for the Alfred Hitchcock Film “Psycho” (1960) of which he co-directed the very famous shower scene. Also he is remembered for his creations for Alfred Hitchcock films “Vertigo” (1958) and “North by Northwest” […]

Henry Coleman Baskerville (1905 - 1969)

Architect. The son of architect Henry Eugene Baskervill, he added an “e” to the family named after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and joining his father’s firm, which was reorganized as Baskervill and Son. His professional work was interrupted in World War II when he entered the United States Navy as a Lieutenant and […]

Sidney Howard Barnsley (1865 - 1926)

British Architect. He was born in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. He trained under Norman Shaw. He and his brother, Ernest, established a Guild Crafts Workshop in Pinsbury Park and at Daneway in Sapperton, Gloucestershire with Ernest Gimson. His works include St. Sophia’s in Surrey, Beechanger in Sapperton, Gyde Almshourses in Painswick, and blocks of cottages […]

Jenő Barcsay (1900 - 1988)

Artist. He was considered the Master of the Human Form. Born in Transylvania in the town of Katona, but moved to Budapest in 1919. He spent a year in Paris after graduating from art school in Hungary. He was influenced a great deal by the artist Cezanne. While visiting Italy he was then greatly influenced […]

Francisco Baños Martos (1970 - 2006)

Painter. He was born in Linares (Jaén) and died in Valencia (Comunidad Valenciana), Spain. Among his works, he is best remembered for his religious paintings such as the mural of the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Linarejos and the presbitery of the Church of San Isidoro (Valencia). He was cremated in Valencia. (bio by: José […]

Hugo Ballin (1879 - 1956)

Artist, Director, Writer. As a painter his first ceiling mural was in the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison in 1913. In 1917 he received commissions for murals at the Los Angeles Times Building and the City Hall in Burbank, California. These caught the eye of film producer Samuel Goldwyn, who hired him as a […]

Tonico “Antonio” Ballester Vilaseca (1910 - 2001)

Artist. He was born in Valencia (Comunidad Valenciana) and died in Alella (Catalunya). He was a representative of the Vanguard sculpture in the 1930s in Spain, during the Second Spanish Republic. He was the son of sculptor Antonio Ballester Aparicio and the cousin of baritone Vicente Ballester Aparicio. Also, his sisters Rosita and Manuela were […]

Arturo Ballester Marco (1892 - 1981)

Painter, illustrator and poster designer. He was born and died in Valencia (Comunidad Valenciana, Spain). He attended the School of Arts and Trades at the School of San Carlos of Valencia. Afterwards, Ballester worked as an illustrator for several Valencian magazines such as La Traca Nova, El Guante Blanco or Rondalles Noves. The posters he […]

John Bacon (1740 - 1799)

Sculptor. His original technique did much to improve the transition of statues from artificial stone to marble. In 1769 he was awarded the first gold medal by the Royal Academy for sculpture. His many works and monuments can be found at St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. (bio by: s.canning)

Henry Bacon (1866 - 1924)

Architect. Raised in and around Wilmington, North Carolina, where his father was a civil engineer, Henry spent a year at the University of Illinois. Beginning in 1885 as a draftsman, briefly in Boston, and then in the office of McKim, Mead and White in New York City. After four years, a fellowship enabled him to […]

Gunnar Asplund (1885 - 1940)

Noted Architect. He was a leader of modern design, whom the magazine “Architectural Review” called “high priest of functionalism in Sweden.” Born in Stockholm he studied there at the Technical High School and the Academy of Art, graduating in 1909.  In the same year he entered an architectural competition for the Swedish Church in Paris. […]

Jean Arp (1887 - 1966)

Artist, Poet. Born in Strasbourg, France, he began his career as a poet, before he developed a succesful work on sculpture and painting (but never abandoing writing poetry). He was a founding member of the Dada movement, becoming one of the most respected abstract artists of his time. In 1950, he executed a relief for […]

Boris Aronson (1899 - 1980)

Theatre Stage Scenic Designer.  Born in Kiev, in the Russian Empire in present day Ukraine. He was the  son of a Jewish rabbi. Boris enrolled in art school during his youth. He became an apprentice to the designer Aleksandra Ekster, who introduced him to the directors Vsevolod Meyerhold and Alexander Tairov, who influenced Boris to […]

Peter Arno (1904 - 1968)

Cartoonist. Born Curtis Arnoux Peters, Jr. to Edith Theresa Haymes and State Supreme Court Justice Curtis Arnoux Peters in New York City. He attended the venerable Hotchkiss boarding school and Yale University where he organized his own band, developing a reputation as a playboy. After leaving school he settled in New York’s Greenwinch Village, and […]

Débora Arango (1907 - 2005)

Artist. She was born in Medellín (Colombia) and died in Envigado (Antioquía, Colombia). She was the disciple of painters Eladio Vélez and Pedro Nel Gómez. In 1939, she shocked the hypocrite moral of colombian society of her time, with her nude painting “Cantarina de Rosa.” She was hardly criticized and almost excommunicated by the catholic […]

Manuel Encarnacion Amador Torreros (1869 - 1952)

Artist, Diplomat. He is best recognized as the designer of the Panamanian flag. Amador studied in Cartagena, Colombia and the United States, receiving his degree in accounting, before taking a position in the Treasury Department. Following independence of the Republic in 1903, he was appointed Minister of Finance. From 1904 until 1908, he served as […]

Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema (1852 - 1909)

Artist. The second wife of noted Dutch-born artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, she had a significant career as a painter in her own right. Raised in London, Laura met the somewhat older Alma-Tadema in late 1869 at the home of artist Ford Madox Brown. Lawrence, who had just lost his wife, was apparently taken with her, […]

Berenice Abbott (1898 - 1991)

Photographer. She is best known for her black-and-white photography of New York City, New York architecture and urban design of the 1930s. She attended the Ohio State University, but dropped out in early 1918. In late 1918 she moved with friends from Ohio to Greenwich Village in New York. She pursued journalism, but soon became […]

John Leech (1817 - 1864)

Illustrator. Leech illustrated many works for Charles Dickens and was the greatest friend of William Makepeace Thackerey. (bio by: Kieran Smith)

Sydney Lee (1866 - 1949)

Lee was a painter, a printmaker & an engraver. He was best known for his paintings & prints of mountains, landscaped, town scenes & architectural subjects. He studied art at the Manchester School of Art & later worked in Paris. He was a founding member of the Society of Wood Engravers in 1920. Many of […]

S. Charles Lee (1899 - 1990)

S. CHARLES LEE As the motion picture capital of the world, Los Angeles was the perfect place for architect S. Charles Lee to launch one of the most celebrated and prolific careers in theatre design. Born Simeon Charles Levi in Chicago in 1899, Lee attended Chicago Technical College and graduated with honors in 1918. He […]