GRECO, EL

born 1541, Candia , Crete died April 7, 1614, Toledo, Spain "Burial of the Count de Orgaz," oil on canvas by El Greco, 1586-88; in the church 1/4 byname of Domnikos Theotokpoulos master of Spanish painting, whose highly individual dramatic and expressionistic style (see photograph) met with the puzzlement of his contemporaries but gained newfound appreciation in the 20th century. He also worked as a sculptor and as an architect. Additional reading Surveys of the artist's life and the development of his painting include Antonina Vallentn, El Greco (1954); Jos Gudiol, Domenikos Theotokopoulos, El Greco, 1541-1614 (1973, reissued as The Complete Paintings of El Greco, 1541-1614, 1983); and Jacques Lassaigne, El Greco (1973). Harold E. Wethey, El Greco and His School, 2 vol. (1962), provides both a biography and a catalog that separate the master's own work from school pieces, copies, and forgeries. Jonathan Brown et al., El Greco of Toledo (1982), the catalog of an international exhibition, contains a catalogue raisonn and a bibliography.