One thing about often-used words in Crosswords is that they seem to turn up no matter who creates the puzzles. True, you will find a certain emphasis of some categories with the individual publications.  There are probably more theater references in the New York Times Crosswords, movie references in the Los Angeles Times, etc., but since all of the puzzle composers seem equally fond of ART and ARTISTS, that should be a good category for this next column.

ART itself is probably one of the most popular words in Crosswords. It might turn up in a clue as "dance and music" or "kind of gallery" or "curator’s concern." It is probably so popular because it can also turn up as "Buchwald or Garfunkel" or even as "Paul’s singing partner."  ARTS will also turn up… quite often with clues such as "Beaux _ _ _ _" and "Martial _ _ _ _."
 
 

BEAUX ARTS refers most often to the Ecole national superieure des Beaux-Arts which is the centuries old Fine Arts university located across the Seine from the Louvre in Paris. We often remember it because of the TV images of student uprisings in Paris in 1968, 

but equally memorable are the many pictures we have seen in newspapers and magazines of the yearly  uninhibited Beaux Arts Ball, celebrated not just in Paris, but in many colleges and universities all over the world. A mouse click on the picture of the interior of the school will take you to a very comprehensive web page on the history of l'Ecole des Beaux-arts.

You guessed it..it’s an EASEL. Whether it’s a "painter’s prop," a "stand for a painter" or even a "Flip-chart support," you’d better know what it is because it’s a big favorite of the puzzle composers. They seldom bother fitting PAINTS or BRUSHES into their puzzles, but if you are any kind of artist at all, you must have an EASEL so far as they are concerned. And you must also be aware that an EASEL is an "atelier item." What’s an atelier? It’s an artist’s studio. To see pictures and descriptions of all kinds of wooden EASELs, just click on the picture to the left, or on the highlighted word at the beginning of this paragraph.  Just to prove that easels are big with more than just the cluemeisters, have a look at the really BIG easels on display in Australia, Canada and Kansas by clicking HERE.
 
 
 

As far as the Crossword clue writers are concerned there are only two places in the world which exhibit fine paintings….the PRADO, a "Spanish museum" or "Madrid attraction," and the TATE, a "London museum" or "London art gallery." Perhaps if the Louvre or the Metropolitan would identify themselves by four or five letter words, they could become as distinctive as the Tate and the Prado. In the meantime, you can find out all about the two favorites by clicking on the pictures shown below.

Almost certain to join the above two favorites is Los Angeles' brand new GETTY Center (see and read all about it by clicking on the picture to the left). GETTY just happens to be a handy little word that could fit easily into many a puzzle, and "L.A.'s new art center" would seem to be a sure bet for Crosswords considering the worldwide coverage and publicity it received on its opening in  December, 1997.
 
 

But now to the real business at hand. Just what kind of exhibit do we come up with if we stick to the most popular artists in our Crossword lexicon? A more eclectic group would be hard to imagine.

MONET…Claude MONET is probably one of the most popular painters with our Crossword puzzlers, and repeats again and again as "’Waterlilies’ painter" or "painter of haystacks.""French impressionist" isn’t really specific enough since it could just as easily refer to Manet or Degas.  A mouse click on his name will take you to the Web Museum in Paris (compliments of Nicolas Pioch) and then by clicking on either or both of his paintings shown here you can also see the Web Museum's selection of several of his waterlilies and haystacks paintings.
 
 

MANET…Edouard MANET seems to appeal to our puzzle composers to a much lesser degree, showing up in Crosswords only occasionally, usually as the "’Spanish guitar player’ artist" and sometimes as the "’Luncheon on the Grass’ portrayer." MANET was quite a controversial artist during his lifetime in 19^th century Paris, specifically because of his nude paintings of "Olympia" and the aforementioned "Luncheon on the Grass." He continues to be controversial in the "politically correct" time we are living in, not because of his painting of nudes, but because "Luncheon on the Grass" presents us with two fully clothed males sharing their picnic with two nude females.  I recall with some amusement being told of a replica of this painting (I believe it was in the window of a Santa Monica, California bookstore) in which the two ladies were fully clothed, but their two male companions were totally nude. You can click on either MANET or on his portrait above to reach the WebMuseum biography of the artist, and you can click on the picture shown above to learn more about "Luncheon on the Grass."

DEGAS…Edgar DEGAS fits neatly and easily into the corner of many a Crossword. Just think of how many words you can think of either beginning or ending with those five letters. Whether sloppily listed as a "French impressionist" or more accurately referred to as a "painter of ballerinas,"
his puzzle popularity over the years has never waned. Click on his name above to read a biography or the picture to the right to learn all about his ballerina paintings.
 
 

  DALI… Salvador DALI is even easier to include within the confines of a puzzle than the other well known artists listed above. Whether he is clued as "surrealist Salvador" or "painter of limp clocks," he continues to be used again and again and will probably remain as celebrated a Crossword artist in this 21^st century as he has been in the 20^th. One of the most interesting bits of information concerning this 1931 painting is that Dali was inspired to paint the melting watches after sliding a pencil under a piece of runny Camembert cheese he was having for lunch. A click on the picture, titled "The Persistence of Memory," will take you to biographical material about his early years, surreal years and classical years.
 

ERTE   Welcome to the Crossword Hall of Fame. You can take the sum total of all of the puzzle inclusions of the artists listed above and it wouldn’t come near the number of times ERTE has turned up in a Crossword. And it’s all a fluke. This Russian born painter and costume designer named Romain de Tirtoff early on decided to call himself ERTE after the French pronunciation of his initials (RT). Neither Romain or Tirtoff would have been of any use to the Crossword cluemeisters, but the name ERTE has proven to be eminently useable. They continue to revel in references such as "art deco artist" and "collectable modern illustrator" as well as more oblique clues such as "Dufy contemporary." Click on either his name or portrait for information about his life and career as well as links to pictures of his illustrations and sculptures.

DADA….A term coined during World War I to describe the "irreverent art form" being practiced and proclaimed by European artists, playwrights and authors in the second and third decades of the new century. It’s such an easy word to fit into almost any crossword that naturally it has managed to find a place in many a puzzle down through the years. Artists such as Duchamp, Grosz and Tzara can hardly be said to have endeared themselves to a very wide public, but the puzzle composers help to keep the "irreverent art form" known as DADAism very much alive. For a complete definition of DADAism as well as links to DaDa artists and their art, click on the George Grosz picture or highlighted word above.

ARNO…Peter ARNO has always been one of my favorite New Yorker cartoonists and I was really looking forward to including him here since ARNO pops up in puzzles nearly as often as any of the artists listed above. And what a marvelous addition he would make to our Crossword Gallery. As it turns out I couldn’t find any of his cartoons shown on the Web. I found only a short biography which you can access by clicking on his highlighted name above. Additionally, it seems only the New York Times includes such clues as "Peter the cartoonist" or "cartoonist Peter." Much more often ARNO is referred to as "Italian river" or "Pisa’s river" or "Florence’s river." So I ended up with this picture of Florence, Italy on the ARNO river. It’s not entirely out of keeping for a column about Crossword Art and Artists, however. After all, Florence was the home of Leonardo, Raffaello and Michelangelo. Click on the picture for more about Florence and its art.
 
 

copyright 1997 C. Schnebel, Revised 2002, 2005
all rights reserved
 

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