Showing results for "Legends" in Artists, Architects & Photographers

London has harbored many curious characters, but few more curious than the artist and visionary Austin Osman Spare (1886-1956). A controversial enfant terrible of the Edwardian art world, the young Spare was hailed as a genius and a new Aubrey Beardsley, while George Bernard Shaw reportedly said "Spare's medicine is too strong for the average man." But Spare was never made for worldly success and he went underground, falling out of the gallery system to live in poverty and obscurity south of the river.

It's possible that Michelangelo is the most famous artist in history, but it's also possible that he's an underrated artist. The vast influence of his career is reflected by the fact that he is not only known for his own art but has also come to embody an entire epoch of Western art. Along with Leonardo da Vinci, there are no other artists who so fully capture the spirit of scientific and artistic discovery that characterized art during the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

With women's wear couture and ready-made lines, Ralph Rucci is known for a signature style that merges extraordinary craftsmanship with a sophisticated, restrained aesthetic, derived from his connoisseurship of history and art. A recipient of the 2008 National Design Award, Rucci has taken on the role of ambassador for American fashion, as the first American to show in Paris couture since the 1930s.