Luigi Rossi | Symbolist / Genre painter

A Swiss painter Luigi Rossi (1853-1923) was born in Cassarate, Lugano. Having studied at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts under the guidance of Giuseppe Bertini, Rossi made his artistic debut in 1871, inaugurating a repertoire of Genre scenes🎨 with a subtle vein of social criticism that was to be a distinctive feature of his work.

His Swiss origin prevented him from receiving the prestigious Prince Umberto Prize, reserved for citizens of the Kingdom of Italy, in 1878. His repertoire then broadened during the 1880s to include mountain landscapes painted en plein air🎨, scenes of peasant life and portraits.

The period from 1885-1888 was spent in Paris, where he also worked a great deal as an illustrator for Alphonse Daudet and Pierre Loti in particular.

Having returned to Milan, he came into contact with the poet Gian Pietro Lucini, a meeting that marks a turning point also in his work as a painter.

This led to some of his most celebrated canvases, which are still solidly realistic but informed by the new Symbolist approach. 

A regular participant in the major Italian and international events with paintings and watercolours, he held a solo show at the Galleria Pesaro, Milan, in 1921. 

He died in Biolda, Lugano. His death was commemorated with two posthumous shows, one at the Società per le Belle Arti ed Esposizione Permanente in Milan and the other at Villa Ciani, Lugano, in 1924.

Luigi Rossi (1853-1923) è stato un'artista di respiro europeo operante fra realtà e simbolo, colto e spontaneo fautore di un'arte sincera. Ha dipinto con sobrietà e misura scene di genere e di vita contadina, ritratti e paesaggi. L'artista è stato illustratore di libri a Parigi e ha svolto un'attività di educatore democratico a Milano. Luigi Rossi nell'ultimo periodo dipinge frequenti motivi della regione amata della Capriasca.

Luigi Rossi nasce nel 1853 a Lugano. Tre anni dopo la famiglia si trasferisce a Milano, dove Luigi verrà iscritto all’Accademia di Brera.

La sua formazione avviene sotto la guida di Giuseppe Bertini, accanto a Bazzaro, Gignous, Tallone, e conosce una parentesi piemontese che gli consente di entrare in contatto con Calderini e Bistolfi.

Nel ’71 l’esordio: Questua infruttuosa e altre opere degli anni immediatamente seguenti, iscritte al filone della cosiddetta pittura di genere, di derivazione induniana, gli valgono il consenso del pubblico e della critica.

Nel ’78, con Ritorno al paese natio, il giovane artista sfiora il riconoscimento del premio Principe Umberto che gli sfugge in quanto non "regnicolo".

All’81 risale la cordiale pagina Verista🎨 dedicata alla sua città di adozione: Una via di Milano. Dai soggiorni nelle valli ticinesi trae invece lo spunto per alcuni dipinti legati al paesaggio o alla raffigurazione della vita contadina; all’altezza dei primi anni ottanta, Rossi esegue a Milano alcuni dei suoi migliori ritratti, intensi e psicologicamente profondi, d’impronta scapigliata.

Dall’85, per tre anni, l’artista è a Parigi, dove lavora come illustratore molto apprezzato in particolare da Daudet e Loti: del primo illustra il ciclo di Tartarino e Sapho, del secondo Madame Chrysanthème; con l’amico Conconi nel ’92 pone mano all’illustrazione delle pastorali Daphnis et Chloé di Longo sofista.

Di ritorno a Milano riprende la consuetudine con la pittura e riallaccia i contatti con l’ambiente artistico della città.

A partire dagli anni novanta si inaugura la stagione migliore della sua pittura entro la quale l’esperienza verista si muta in simbolo: agisce in questo senso l’influsso dell’amico scrittore Gian Pietro Lucini autore di alcune liriche riferite a dipinti di Rossi (Scuola del dolore, Rêves de Jeunesse, Il mosto) in cui si fondono componenti realiste e simboliste.

La sua presenza a rassegne italiane e svizzere è regolare e stimata, al pari della sua partecipazione alle commissioni artistiche dei due paesi.

Ai primi del novecento si apre una misurata parentesi di gusto liberty, mentre prosegue la passione per la pittura di paesaggio, nutrita dall’amore per la regione ticinese della Capriasca, dove nel ’13 acquista la casa di Biolda, il cui giardino sarà teatro di una serie di ritratti all’aperto della figlia Gina.

Dopo l’attiva partecipazione al gruppo degli Acquarellisti lombardi, svolta accanto a Carcano, Gola, Sala e Weiss, e all’attività delle scuole laboratorio dell’Umanitaria, Luigi Rossi tiene una personale nella prestigiosa galleria di Lino Pesaro a Milano nel ’21: l’ampia mostra è di taglio antologico e riunisce le opere dell’esordio, i ritratti, scene di Sicilia e dell’Atlantico, opere a sfondo sociale o allegorico e i paesaggi di diversa epoca.

Dopo la sua morte, avvenuta nel ’23 in Biolda, Luigi Rossi è stato ricordato in due mostre postume alla Permanente di Milano e a Villa Ciani di Lugano, allestite nel ’24. Nel ’79 soltanto, la pubblicazione della prima monografia (Bramante Editrice) segna la ripresa di interesse per l’artista, confermata dall’esposizione di Lugano (1980) e da quelle di Milano-Bellinzona-Losanna (1985-’86).

Al ’99 risale la stampa del catalogo ragionato (Cornèr Banca e Federico Motta) cui fa seguito l’edizione dell’atlante della casa museo Luigi Rossi, in Capriasca nel 2009.

Giuseppe Mentessi | Verist / Symbolist painter

Giuseppe Mentessi (29 September 1857 in Ferrara, - 14 June 1931 in Milan) was an Italian painter🎨, engraver and teacher. He was born into a peasant family and lost his father when he was five.

His mother managed to send him to drawing classes at the Civico Ateneo in Ferrara, where Gaetano Previati🎨 was his classmate, and then to the Accademia di Belle Arti in Parma, where he studied decoration and stage design.

Between 1877-1881 he attended the Accademia di Brera in Milan and was introduced by Previati into the circle of Gli Scapigliati.

Le Pho | Impressionist / Romantic / Surrealist painter

Lê Phổ / 黎谱 (1907-2001) was a French-Vietnamese painter, best known for his stylized depictions of figures, gardens and floral still lifes.

From 1925-1930, Lê Phổ studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Hanoi.

At this point, he earned a scholarship to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and he studied there for the next two years under the instruction of Victor Tardieu, a friend and companion of Henri Matisse.

Upon returning to Vietnam he taught at the École Supérieure des Beaux Arts de l'Indochine in Hanoi.

Johannes Rosierse | Genre painter

Johannes Rosierse (Dordrecht, 1818 - 1901) was a Dutch painter🎨 - from the Netherlands, who mostly painted portraits, genre scenes🎨 and candlelight-pieces.

His most important subject were interior images with staffage.

He focused on individual figures, or on groups arranged by candlelight in dark interiors.

He frequently painted kitchens, presenting a synopsis of food such as fruits and vegetables en passant.

Johannes Rosierse passed away in 1901.

Works of the artist can be seen in the museum of his hometown Dordrecht, as well as in Musée Fabre in the Southern French Montpellier.

Jacqueline Williams, 1962 | Impressionist painter

Born in Lincoln, Jacqueline Williams soon became interested in art at school and went on to attend the Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology. Her success at College earnt her a place at the prestigious Royal Academy School London.

Jacqueline's continued hard work and success meant that she was elected a member of the New English Art Club ( NEAC) in 1993.

She has won many awards including: The Antique Collectors prize, Antonio De Segonzac Travel Scholarship, Elizabeth Greenshields Award, Patterson Prize NEAC, Critics Prize NEAC, Patterson Memorial Prize.

Jackie's work is in the main-stream tradition of British painting in the twentieth century, from the Camden Town and Euston Road Schools through New English painters like Sickert and Steer; a worthy follower of that greatest of English women painters, Gwen John.

Her art is based on a personal vision expressed through sound craft, fine drawing, a wonderful sense of tonal pitch and a highly developed sense of colour.

Jacqueline has won many awards🎨, and has exhibited with this gallery since the 1980s.

• 1985 - Antique Collectors Prize;
• 1988 - Antonio De Segonzac Travel Scholarship;
• 1988/92 - Elizabeth Greenshields Award;
• 1993 - Patterson Prize NEAC;
• 1996 - Critics Prize NEAC;
• 2003 - Patterson Memorial Prize.

Nicolas Tournier (1590-1639) | Baroque painter

Nicolas Tournier (baptised 12 July 1590 - d. before February 1639) was a French Baroque painter.

Born in Montbéliard, he followed the profession of his father, André Tournier, "a Protestant painter from Besançon".

Little is known of his life before his arrival in Rome, where he worked between 1619-1626, and where he was influenced by the work of Caravaggio. According to one early source, he was a pupil of Valentin de Boulogne.

Marcantonio Franceschini | Baroque painter

Marcantonio Franceschini, (born April 5, 1648, Bologna, Papal States [Italy] - died Dec. 24, 1729, Bologna), Italian painter🎨, a leading artist of the Bolognese school of the Baroque period🎨.

Franceschini worked in Genoa, Modena, and Rome as well as in Bologna and worked extensively for patrons in Austria and Germany.

He was made director of the Clementina Academy in Bologna in 1721.

Franceschini was the last important representative of the tradition of the Carracci🎨; the works of Lodovico Carracci🎨 and Francesco Albani are the main sources of his style.

Jean-Léon Gérôme | Academic / Orientalist painter

Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism.

The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax.

He is considered one of the most important painters from this Academic period, and in addition to being a painter, he was also a teacher with a long list of students.