Eliseu Visconti, born Eliseo d'Angelo Visconti (30 July 1866,

Giffoni Valle Piana Giffoni Valle Piana, commonly known as Giffoni, is a town and comune in the Province of Salerno, Campania, southwestern Italy. Economy is mostly based on agriculture, with the presence of a small number of light industries and services firms. ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Eliseu Visconti Website
''Primeiros tempos 1866-1892'' – 15 October 1944,

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

) was an Italian-born Brazilian painter, cartoonist, and teacher. He is considered one of the very few

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

painters of

. He is considered the initiator of the

art nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

in Brazil.

Training

In 1884 he entered the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios do

, where he studied under

Victor Meirelles Victor Meirelles de Lima (18 August 1832 – 22 February 1903) was a Brazilian painter and teacher who is best known for his works relating to his nation's culture and history. From humble origins, his talent was soon recognized, being admitted as ...

. Parallel to his studies in the Liceu, he entered the

Academia Imperial de Belas Artes The Imperial Academy of Fine Arts ('' pt, Academia Imperial de Belas Artes'') was an institution of higher learning in the arts in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, established by King João VI. Despite facing many initial difficulties, the Academy was e ...

( en, Brazilian Imperial Academy) studying under professors Henrique Bernardelli,

Rodolfo Amoedo Rodolfo Amoedo (11 December 1857 – 31 May 1941) was a Brazilian painter, designer and decorator. Biography His interest in art and decoration began when a family friend (who was a lyricist) invited him to do work on the now defunct Teatro Sã ...

and Jose Maria de Medeiros. In 1888 he received a gold medal at the Academy. Like many of his contemporaries, including some of his teachers, he was involved in the effort to renew the Academy's teaching methods, deemed obsolete and was among the creators of the short-lived "Ateliê Livre", together with professors João Zeferino of Costa,

, Henrique Bernardelli and Rodolpho Bernardelli.

Exhibitions

Thanks to a prize received in 1892, Visconti travelled to Paris, where he attended the

École des Beaux Arts École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

the following year. He also took classes at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number ...

and the

École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs The École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ÉnsAD, also known as Arts Decos', École des Arts Décoratifs) is a public grande école of art and design of PSL Research University. The school is located in the Rue d'Ulm in Paris. Profil ...

, where he was a pupil of

master Eugène Grasset. He was accepted at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...

of the

Société des Artistes Français The Société des Artistes Français (, meaning "Society of French Artists") is the association of French painters and sculptors established in 1881. Its annual exhibition is called the "Salon des artistes français" (not to be confused with the ...

. As one of the Brazilian representatives to the Exposition Universelle 1900 he exhibited the paintings ''Gioventú'' and ''Oréadas'', for which he received a silver medal. Back in Brazil, Visconti exhibited in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and obtained the first place in a contest for the drawing of postal stamps for the Brazilian Casa da Moeda. He traveled again to Europe, where he exhibited at the Paris

of 1905 the portrait of the artist

Nicolina Vaz de Assis Nicolina Vaz de Assis Pinto do Couto (Campinas, 1874 – Rio de Janeiro, 1941) was a Brazilian sculptor. Early life She began her studies at the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro , where she entered in 1897, and studied under Pr ...

now at the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes. In this same year, he was invited to paint the stage curtain for the Teatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro which he completed in his studio in Paris.

Teaching activities

In June 1906, he was selected to replace Henrique Bernardelli as a professor of painting at the

Escola Nacional de Belas Artes Escola de Belas Artes (School of Fine Arts) is one of the centers of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and dates back to colonial times. A royal letter of Nov 20 1800 by John VI of Portugal established the ''Aula Prática de Desenho e Figu ...

, the same Imperial Academia renamed after the proclamation of the republic. He accepted the position the following year after returning to Brazil, where he remained a teacher until 1913. Among his disciples were painters Marques Junior and Henrique Cavalleiro.

Works

Decorative schemes executed for the National Library or

Biblioteca Nacional Biblioteca Nacional (Spanish or Portuguese: ''National Library'') may refer to: *Biblioteca Nacional de Chile, in Chile *Biblioteca Nacional de España, in Spain *Biblioteca Nacional del Perú, in Peru *Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, in Portugal ...

in (Rio de Janeiro) date from this period as does another gold medal he received at the International Exhibition of Saint-Louis (

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...

), in 1904, for the painting ''Recompensa de São Sebastião'' (see external links). The museum of Santiago of the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

acquired his ''Sonho Místico'' (''Mystical Dream'') in 1912. In 1913, Visconti returned to Europe in order to paint large scale panels for the "foyer" of the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro. His plans to return were interrupted by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

so he stayed in France until 1920. The resulting paintings for the "foyer" were sent to Brazil during the war, in 1915. In 1922 his triptych "Lar" gained him the Medal of Honor in a large exhibition created in Rio de Janeiro to commemorate the first centennial of Brazilian Independence, the Exposição do Centenário. The following year Visconti painted the mural decoration of Rio de Janeiro's municipal council hall. In 1924, he painted the panel depicting the signature of the first Republican Constitution, for the old federal court, also in Rio de Janeiro. File:Eliseu Visconti - Dorso de mulher 02.jpg, ''Woman's Back'', 1895 File:Eliseu Visconti - Cena bíblica (Ló e suas filhas).jpg, ''Lot and his Daughters'', circa 1913 File:Eliseu Visconti - As duas irmãs ou No verão.jpg, ''The two sisters, or, In summer'', 1894 File:Eliseu Visconti - Homem com gorro vermelho.jpg, ''Man with a Red Cap'', 1894 File:GIOVENTÙ - OST - 65 x 49 cm - 1898 - MNBA-Ibram-Minc, Rio de Janeiro.jpg, '' Gioventù'', 1898 File:Eliseu Visconti - Roda de Crianças.jpg, ''Circle of Children'', circa 1918 File:Eliseu Visconti - O beijo c. 1910.jpg, ''The Kiss'', 1910

References

External links

Official page and Eliseu Visconti Catalogue Raisonné

* ttps://eliseuvisconti.com.br/obra/p331/ Gold Medal in Universal Exposition of Saint Louis - USA - 1904
Biography Eliseu Visconti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Visconti, Eliseu Brazilian painters 1866 births 1944 deaths Académie Julian alumni Italian emigrants to Brazil People from the Province of Salerno Art Nouveau painters Brazilian Impressionist painters Italian Impressionist painters