Telemaco Signorini Painting by Paul Meijering

About "Telemaco Signorini Painting"

by Paul Meijering

About the artwork

Realistic painting in acrylic by the Italian painter Telemaco Signorini together with a portrait of the painter, painted by the artist Paul Meijering - the original painting is 90
x 120 cm and available for sale.

Telemaco Signorini (18 August 1835 – 1 February 1901) was an Italian painter. His early work belongs to realism. His later work is mainly considered to be Impressionism.

Signorini was the son of the court painter of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Initially he chose to study literature, but at the insistence of his father he entered the Florentine Academy of Art in 1852. He learned to draw figures there, but initially concentrated mainly on landscape painting 'en plein air', in a realistic style. He also created works inspired by Walter Scott and Machiavelli.

In 1855 he became a regular visitor to 'Caffè Michelangiolo' in Florence, where he met Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega and Saverio Altamura, with whom he would soon form the 'Macchiaioli' artists' society, which opposed conventional academic Italian art traditions. They mainly worked in the open air and placed a lot of emphasis on light and color. They are therefore considered today as precursors of Impressionism.

Signorini served in the army during the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859, after which he painted some military scenes. In 1861 he visited Paris for the first time and was impressed by the work of Jean-Baptiste Corot and Karl Daubigny. Back in Florence, he founded the 'School of Piagentina' with Silvestro Lega, Giuseppe Abbati and Odoardo Borrani. When he returned to Paris in 1869, he met the impressionist Edgar Degas, who would strongly influence his later work. He joined the Italian artists' colony in Paris, including Giovanni Boldini, Giuseppe De Nittis and Federico Zandomeneghi, without settling there permanently.

In the 1880s Signorini made trips to England and Scotland. At the same time, he was also impressed by James McNeill Whistler and Japanese art, especially in the search for atmosphere and the use of flat space.

Much of Signorinis' work was also influenced by photography. The asymmetrical layout of some of his works strongly suggests that they were painted after photographs.

In 1892 Signorini became a teacher at the Instituto Superiore di Belle Arti in Florence. He died in 1901, at the age of 65.