Giovanni Battista Ciolina (15 May 1870 – 29 May 1955) was an Italian neo-impressionist and

divisionist Divisionism, also called chromoluminarism, was the characteristic style in Neo-Impressionist painting defined by the separation of colors into individual dots or patches which interacted optically..Homer, William I. ''Seurat and the Science of ...

painter.

Biography

Born into a family of Valle Vigezzo farmers in 1870, he attended the ''Rossetti Valentini'' Art School in

Santa Maria Maggiore The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...

- where he became close friends with other future painters such as

Carlo Fornara Carlo Fornara (21 October 1871 – 15 September 1968) was an Italian neo-impressionist and divisionist painter. Biography Born in Prestinone (Craveggia) into a humble family of Valle Vigezzo farmers in 1871, his talent emerged after he began at ...

, Gian Maria Rastellini and Lorenzo Peretti Junior - for five years, beginning in 1882, absorbing the teachings of Enrico Cavalli, a great connoisseur of the French art of the era and the historic innovator of painting in Valle Vigezzo. In the late 1880s, he received a two-year scholarship to attend the ''Scuola libera del nudo'' at the Accademia di Belle Arti in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. A talented and precocious artist, he demonstrated the level of excellence he had achieved with the works ''Ritratto della madre (Portrait of the Artist’s Mother)'' (1890) and ''L'ombrellino rosso (The Little Red Umbrella)'' (1892). In the company of his friend and fellow painter Carlo Fornara, he spent a long period in Lyon between 1895 and 1896 studying the great masters and learning about the new painting on the other side of the Alps. On his return to Italy he turned to

Divisionism Divisionism, also called chromoluminarism, was the characteristic style in Neo-Impressionist painting defined by the separation of colors into individual dots or patches which interacted optically..Homer, William I. ''Seurat and the Science of P ...

, applying the new technique according to the example of

Giovanni Segantini Giovanni Segantini (15 January 1858 – 28 September 1899) was an Italian painter known for his large pastoral landscapes of the Alps. He was one of the most famous artists in Europe in the late 19th century, and his paintings were collected by ...

. After his first showing, at the ''Third Triennale of Brera'' in 1897 with the painting ''Il filo spezzato (The Broken Thread)'', he opened a studio in Milan, where he produced numerous paintings in the divisionist style, including ''La lavandaia (The Washerwoman)'', ''Fanciulla che guarda dalla finestra (Girl looking out the window)'' and ''Mestizia crepuscolare (Twilight Sorrow)''. He took part in numerous exhibitions in Italy and abroad, and, after gradually abandoning Divisionism, arrived at the

of 1907 with the painting ''Preludio di primavera (Prelude to Spring)'', making extensive use of ''impasto'' and retaining the luminosity of his earliest works, but with the addition of a melancholy lyricism typical of Neo-impressionism, often entrusted to compositions of broad and powerful scope as in paintings ''Ritorno all’alpe (Return to the mountain pasture)'' and ''Toceno al tramonto (Toceno at sunset)''. At the outbreak of the Great War, Ciolina left Milan and retired to Valle Vigezzo, where he continued to paint landscapes, still lifes and religious frescoes until his death.

Exhibitions

* "''Giovanni Battista Ciolina – Umanità e paesaggi della Val Vigezzo''": , Pallanza, 1986 * "''Una scuola di pittura in Val Vigezzo: 1881-1919''": Turin/ Novara, 1990 * "''Carlo Fornara. Un maestro del divisionismo''": Trento, 1998 * "''Carlo Fornara. Il colore della valle''": Acqui Terme, 2007 * "''Paesaggi dell'Ottocento. Verso la luce''": Riva del Garda, 2010 * "''Le soglie della natura''": Arco di Trento, 2010 * "''Alessandro Poscio, collezionista appassionato''": Domodossola, 2014 * "''Carlo Fornara e il ritratto vigezzino''":Exhibition "Carlo Fornara e il ritratto vigezzino" at Fondazione Poscio
/ref> Domodossola, 2015

Literature

* Thieme-Becker: "''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart''", Seemann, Leipzig, 1907-1950 * Guido Cesura: "''Enrico Cavalli e la pittura vigezzina''", Colombi, Milan, 1974 * Davide Ramoni: "''Scuola di belle arti Rossetti Valentini in Santa Maria Maggiore. Vicende e contributi alla pittura vigezzina nel centenario della fondazione''", tip. S. Gaudenzio, Novara, 1978 * Aurora Scotti: "''Giovanni Battista Ciolina, umanità e paesaggi della valle Vigezzo''", Vangelista, Verbania, 1986 * Dario Gnemmi: "''Una scuola di pittura in Val Vigezzo: 1881-1919. Carlo Giuseppe ed Enrico Cavalli, Giovanni Battista Ciolina, Carlo Fornara''", Il Quadrante, Turin, 1990 * Guido Cesura: "''Enrico Cavalli pittore''", Grossi, Domodossola, 1993 * Dario Gnemmi: "''Retour à la ferme''", Biglia Club, Domodossola, 1993 * Annie-Paule Quinsac: "''Carlo Fornara. Un maestro del Divisionismo''",

Skira The festival of the Skira ( grc, Σκίρα) or Skirophoria ( grc, Σκιροφόρια) in the calendar of ancient Athens, closely associated with the Thesmophoria, marked the dissolution of the old year in May/June. Description At Athens, t ...

, Milan, 1998 * Francesco Ferrari: "''La scuola di belle arti Rossetti Valentini in Santa Maria Maggiore''", Grossi, Domodossola, 1999 * Dario Gnemmi: "''Monticelli e la scuola di Enrico Cavalli''", Madame Webb, Domodossola, 2006 * Dario Gnemmi: "''Vigezzini di Francia. Pittura d'alpe e d'Oltralpe tra Otto e Novecento in Valle Vigezzo''", Skira, Milan, 2007 * Giovanna Nicoletti: "''Paesaggi dell'Ottocento. Verso la luce''", Temi, Trento, 2009 * Giovanna Nicoletti/Dario Gnemmi: "''Le soglie della natura''", Grafica 5, Arco di Trento, 2010 * Davide Brullo: "''Appassionata incompetenza. I primi cinquant'anni della collezione Poscio''", Madame Webb, Domodossola, 2011

References

External links

A gallery of Ciolina's paintings in Collezione Poscio, Domodossola

Archives of exhibitions

Archives of exhibitions at Collezione Poscio {{DEFAULTSORT:Ciolina, Giovanni Battista Landscape painters Portrait painters 1870 births 1953 deaths 19th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian male artists Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia alumni 19th-century Italian male artists