International studio (20.1903)

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drawing somewhat, but he is always successful in
his colour schemes, and for lightness of touch and
delicacy of execution Signor Catani is unquestion-
ably a genius. He loves the wonderful turquoise
blues of bis country's skies for his backgrounds,
and he knows the way to snatch them from
the clouds for his ivory without losing their
delicate glory. Sometimes he chooses a ruddy
brown as a setting for a head, and against its rich-
ness the flesh tints glow wonderfully soft and trans-
parent—for Catani can paint flesh as few modern
miniature painters can—warm, velvety, pulsating
with life, and delicate as the ivory it is painted on.
With the revival of interest in this form of por-
traiture, there has sprung up in England a wide
and diversified following of the miniature cult,

PORTKAtTS OF PROFESSOR MARKS AND HtS SON

and some very good and some very poor work has
been the result; and so it is good to come upon a
worker, foreign or otherwise, whose touch is
always sure, always gifted and distinctive. Signor
Catani has been greatly influenced by Cosway,
whose work he has studied with loving admiration
Next to Cosway, Isabey has claimed his attention ;
and it is largely through his appreciation of the
work of these two artists that he has become so
earnest a follower of this most charming form of
portraiture; for his earlier years were given
over to portraits and figure studies in oil, and
it is only during the last five years that he has
devoted his time and ambition to the painting of
miniatures.

Catani has very original ideas for his picture
accessories. H e loves
flowers—roses, held daisies,
cornflowers, and forget-
me-nots—garlanded in the
hair, and he is unerring
in his choice of the
colours that show off to
best advantage his
sitter's hair and eyes.
One of his most charming
studies in his latest ex-
hibition was of a ruddy-
haired girl with a Romney
fichu in dark blue,
caught by a glorious
deep-red rose, setting off
the milky texture of the
flesh as no other colour
would have done; while
in the hair a spray of corn-
flowers of the same deep-
toned blue threw into light
the wonderful red and gold,
and intensified its colour
in the dark eyes. He was
showing some delightful
examples of half - figure
studies in soft, floating
draperies, which he hopes
to make popular as a new
note in arrangement; as
also the painting of head
and shoulder miniatures on
a larger scale than the con-
ventional one—about half
again larger than the
Cosways — believing that


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