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Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for contributing to the understanding of evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental concept in science. In a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history, and he was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.
Dorothea Maetzel-Johannsen was a German modernist painter. She was a co-founder of the Hamburg Secession. Since 1919 she based her major expressionist works on the work of the dissolved Brücke (group of artists), early cubism and African sculpture.
Dorothea Maetzel-Johannsen has developed an individual mode of expression in Expressionism. Although her works feature the typical angular contours, two-dimensional concept of space and dynamic oblique compositions, unlike her peers, the artist refrained from any form of aggressiveness in her compositions. In her still life and figurative paintings, a contemplative mood resonates, contrary to the dynamic composition of the painting.
In 1937, Dorothea Maetzel-Johannsen's works were confiscated from the Kunsthalle Hamburg as part of the Nazi action "Degenerate Art" and then destroyed.
John Baldessari was an American conceptual artist known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images. He lived and worked in Santa Monica and Venice, California.
Initially a painter, Baldessari began to incorporate texts and photography into his canvases in the mid-1960s. In 1970 he began working in printmaking, film, video, installation, sculpture and photography. He created thousands of works which demonstrate — and, in many cases, combine — the narrative potential of images and the associative power of language within the boundaries of the work of art. His art has been featured in more than 200 solo exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe. His work influenced that of Cindy Sherman, David Salle, Annette Lemieux, and Barbara Kruger among others.
