William Blake

William Blake (born Nov. 28, 1757, London, Eng.died Aug. 12, 1827, London) English poet, painter, engraver, and visionary. He was trained as an engraver by James Basire and afterward attended classes at the Royal Academy. Blake married in 1782, and in 1784 he opened a print shop in London. He developed an innovative technique for producing…

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William Mortensen

Mortensen, William (1897-1975), American photographer. Controversial in his own time and even now, Mortensen was born in Utah, studied briefly in New York, then moved to Hollywood to work in set design, mask making, and then as a photographer and portraitist. His celebrated differences with the Group f.64 clique, particularly Ansel Adams, centred on Mortensen’s…

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Xavier Mellery

Xavier Mellery (b Laeken, nr Brussels, 9 Aug 1845; d Laeken, 4 Feb 1921). Belgian painter, decorative artist and draughtsman. A gardener’s son, he was brought up in a quiet suburb of Brussels, bordering the Parc Royal. He studied under the decorative artist Charles Albert (1821-89) and then, between 1860 and 1867, took a course…

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