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Cornell, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Cornell, Joseph, American artist, 1903–72, b. Nyack, N.Y. Cornell is best known for his surrealist-flavored shadow boxes. These are relatively small constructions, within glass-fronted shallow boxes...

cofferdam

(Encyclopedia)cofferdam, temporary barrier for excluding water from an area that is normally submerged. Made commonly of wood, steel, or concrete sheet piling (see pile), cofferdams are used in constructing the fou...

Guérin, Pierre Narcisse, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Guérin, Pierre Narcisse, Baron gārăNˈ [key], 1774–1833, French painter. He won enthusiastic recognition in 1799 for his Marius Sextus (Louvre). A defender of the classicism of J. L. David, he b...

Addams, Charles Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Addams, Charles Samuel, 1912–88, American cartoonist, b. Westfield, N.J. Beginning in 1932, Addams's work appeared regularly in the New Yorker, to which he eventually contributed more than 1,300 car...

Wheatley, Phillis

(Encyclopedia)Wheatley, Phillis, 1753?–1784, American poet, considered the first important black writer in the United States. Brought from Africa in 1761, she became a house slave for the Boston merchant John Whe...

Wang Wei

(Encyclopedia)Wang Wei wäng wā [key], 699–759, Chinese poet. He was an extremely versatile man, being a musician and painter as well as a poet. He wrote quatrains almost exclusively; these verses portray quiet ...

bougainvillea

(Encyclopedia)bougainvillea or bougainvillaea both: bo͞oˌgənvĭlˈēə [key] [for L. A. de Bougainville], any plant of the genus Bougainvillea of the family Nyctaginaceae (four-o'clock family); chiefly tropical ...

carol

(Encyclopedia)carol, popular hymn, of joyful nature, in celebration of an occasion such as May Day, Easter, or Christmas. The earliest English carols date from the 15th cent. The carol is characterized by simplicit...

Westmoreland, William Childs

(Encyclopedia)Westmoreland, William Childs, 1914–2005, U.S. general, b. Spartanburg co., S.C. He graduated from West Point in 1936 and fought with distinction in North Africa and Europe during World War II and la...

anthropology

(Encyclopedia)anthropology, classification and analysis of humans and their society, descriptively, culturally, historically, and physically. Its unique contribution to studying the bonds of human social relations ...
 

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