Vito D'Ancona
Encyclopedia
Vito D'Ancona was an Italian artist of the Macchiaioli
group.
He was born in Pesaro
to a wealthy Jewish family. He began his artistic training in Florence, and in 1844 was admitted to the Accademia di Belle Arti, where he studied under Giuseppe Bezzuoli. He became friends with Serafino De Tivoli
, and joined him in painting landscapes en plein air
. In 1848 he fought as a Tuscan volunteer for Garibaldi
in the Risorgimento
. During the 1850s he became acquainted with the artists who frequented the Caffè Michelangiolo in Florence, who would soon be known as the Macchiaioli.
D'Ancona achieved success as a portrait
painter, and few of his landscape paintings can be traced today. His Woman at the Races (ca. 1873) reveals the influence of Japonisme he had absorbed while living in Paris between 1867 and 1874. His health disintegrated in the mid-1870s, and he ceased painting in 1878. He died in Florence on January 9, 1884.
Collections holding works by Vito D'Ancona include the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna
, Rome
, and the Israel Museum
, Jerusalem.
Macchiaioli
The Macchiaioli were a group of Italian painters active in Tuscany in the second half of the nineteenth century, who, breaking with the antiquated conventions taught by the Italian academies of art, did much of their painting outdoors in order to capture natural light, shade, and colour...
group.
He was born in Pesaro
Pesaro
Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italian region of the Marche, capital of the Pesaro e Urbino province, on the Adriatic. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....
to a wealthy Jewish family. He began his artistic training in Florence, and in 1844 was admitted to the Accademia di Belle Arti, where he studied under Giuseppe Bezzuoli. He became friends with Serafino De Tivoli
Serafino De Tivoli
Serafino De Tivoli was an Italian artist of the Macchiaioli group.He was born in Livorno. After initial study of Literature at a religious private school in Florence, he began his artistic training under local painter, Carlo Markò the elder. He met Vito D'Ancona during the mid-1840s, and joined...
, and joined him in painting landscapes en plein air
En plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
. In 1848 he fought as a Tuscan volunteer for Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
in the Risorgimento
Italian unification
Italian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...
. During the 1850s he became acquainted with the artists who frequented the Caffè Michelangiolo in Florence, who would soon be known as the Macchiaioli.
D'Ancona achieved success as a portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
painter, and few of his landscape paintings can be traced today. His Woman at the Races (ca. 1873) reveals the influence of Japonisme he had absorbed while living in Paris between 1867 and 1874. His health disintegrated in the mid-1870s, and he ceased painting in 1878. He died in Florence on January 9, 1884.
Collections holding works by Vito D'Ancona include the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, or the National Gallery of Modern Art , is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, dedicated to modern art....
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, and the Israel Museum
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem was founded in 1965 as Israel's national museum. It is situated on a hill in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the Bible Lands Museum, the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
, Jerusalem.
Further reading
- Panconi, T., Gavioli, V., & Marini, F. (2001). Vito D'Ancona: La pittura storica. Montecatini (Pistoia): MediArte.