DOI issue:
Nr. 126 (August 1907)
DOI article:Studio-talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28252#0180
Studio-Talk
time, and resolved to cut all connections of a
purely commercial character and devoted himself
freely to real work which, though much less re-
munerative, was more serious and more really
profitable. He began now to direct his efforts to
the study of horses and found models of great
interest, if not of great beauty, among the trooper
horses requisitioned by the Government or among
the “pignaroli,” the little wild ponies of the
neighbouring pine forests.
In 1900 Guaccimanni painted his first large
picture—a charge of the Monferrato Lancers at
the Battle of San Martino—and this important
work was exhibited in Paris and was awarded a
medal. After this he returned to small military
sketches, working especially in black and white.
Some of these, exhibited in Venice in 1905, were
bought for the art gallery of that city, which also
purchased a larger sketch in oils, of some cavalry
soldiers putting their horses to a jump. He has
also exhibited at various times at Munich, at
Vienna in 1901, at Diisseldorf in 1904, and at
Trieste.
Hitherto Guaccimanni had neglected that inesti-
mable source of inspiration which Nature has put
at the very gates of his native city, the Pineta—
that sacred forest of stately pines which suggested
such divine fantasies to Dante -and to Byron.
He recognised and appreciated the grave beauty
of these woods, the decorativeness of the straight-
limbed pines, the varying colour of the tides in the
canals, and of the stagnant waters of the pools, the
free untrammelled existence of beasts and men,
the wealth of stately lines and chromatic harmonies,
and has known how to render it all.
Half Romagnole, half Venetian, most of his life
has been spent in this remote corner of Italy, and
his painting exactly expresses the character of his
birthplace. It is above all sincere, for there is
never one touch put in for mere effect; to him
beauty in Nature is a sacred thing, and his aim is
ever to depict faithfully that aspect of Nature
which he most feels and loves. If his colouring is
subdued, it is at the same time warm and rich in
passages. His values are finely balanced and his
chiaroscuro is powerful and well managed—especi-
ally in his chalk sketches.
Of the three works here reproduced the one
given as a supplement is a sketch in two chalks on
grey paper. The other two illustrations are from
oil paintings. The originals of both are striking
for their sobriety of colours, being painted almost
in chiaroscuro, the figures silhoutted against the
grey of the background. In the Donne del Pineto,
the women of the Pine Forest are seen returning
from their work bending under the heavy loads
of hewn branches, and the sacks full of pine
cones. It is a winter day—sad, windy and wet.
“WOMEN OF.THE PINETA” BY VITTORIO GUACCIMANNI
164
time, and resolved to cut all connections of a
purely commercial character and devoted himself
freely to real work which, though much less re-
munerative, was more serious and more really
profitable. He began now to direct his efforts to
the study of horses and found models of great
interest, if not of great beauty, among the trooper
horses requisitioned by the Government or among
the “pignaroli,” the little wild ponies of the
neighbouring pine forests.
In 1900 Guaccimanni painted his first large
picture—a charge of the Monferrato Lancers at
the Battle of San Martino—and this important
work was exhibited in Paris and was awarded a
medal. After this he returned to small military
sketches, working especially in black and white.
Some of these, exhibited in Venice in 1905, were
bought for the art gallery of that city, which also
purchased a larger sketch in oils, of some cavalry
soldiers putting their horses to a jump. He has
also exhibited at various times at Munich, at
Vienna in 1901, at Diisseldorf in 1904, and at
Trieste.
Hitherto Guaccimanni had neglected that inesti-
mable source of inspiration which Nature has put
at the very gates of his native city, the Pineta—
that sacred forest of stately pines which suggested
such divine fantasies to Dante -and to Byron.
He recognised and appreciated the grave beauty
of these woods, the decorativeness of the straight-
limbed pines, the varying colour of the tides in the
canals, and of the stagnant waters of the pools, the
free untrammelled existence of beasts and men,
the wealth of stately lines and chromatic harmonies,
and has known how to render it all.
Half Romagnole, half Venetian, most of his life
has been spent in this remote corner of Italy, and
his painting exactly expresses the character of his
birthplace. It is above all sincere, for there is
never one touch put in for mere effect; to him
beauty in Nature is a sacred thing, and his aim is
ever to depict faithfully that aspect of Nature
which he most feels and loves. If his colouring is
subdued, it is at the same time warm and rich in
passages. His values are finely balanced and his
chiaroscuro is powerful and well managed—especi-
ally in his chalk sketches.
Of the three works here reproduced the one
given as a supplement is a sketch in two chalks on
grey paper. The other two illustrations are from
oil paintings. The originals of both are striking
for their sobriety of colours, being painted almost
in chiaroscuro, the figures silhoutted against the
grey of the background. In the Donne del Pineto,
the women of the Pine Forest are seen returning
from their work bending under the heavy loads
of hewn branches, and the sacks full of pine
cones. It is a winter day—sad, windy and wet.
“WOMEN OF.THE PINETA” BY VITTORIO GUACCIMANNI
164