Arturo Ricci (

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, 19 April 1854−1919) was an Italian painter, known for his figurative subjects, genre scenes, and art of family life. Historical genre, most particularly eighteenth century subjects, perceived as a golden age of elegance, sophistication, and taste, prior to the harsh realities of the Industrial Revolution. The wealthy class created by the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

collected his genre of art, specifically the representation of the pre-Industrial era. Ricci specialized in anecdotal scenes of elegant family life, a world of rustling silks and shimmering satins, displaying the virtuosity of his highly finished detail, composition and sense of colour. Working in Florence, Ricci's paintings appealed not only to Italians but to those on ‘The Grand Tour’, particularly collectors in Britain and the United States,

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

, of steel fame and wealth, owned Ricci's “The Village Wedding”.

Biography

Arturo Ricci was born on 19 April 1854 in Florence,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Aged 15 he entered the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze The Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze () is an instructional art academy in Florence, in Tuscany, in central Italy. It was founded by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1563, under the influence of Giorgio Vasari. Michelangelo, Benvenuto Cellini and ...

where he studied under Tito Conti (1842-1924). Painting figurative subjects, genre scenes and scenes from family life, Ricci soon established himself as one of the foremost artists in Europe in the field of historical costume genre, alongside Vittorio Reggianini (1858-1939) and Frédéric Soulacroix (1858-1933). Among his works: ''Veduta di Viareggio''; ''Il Ciabattino''; ''Il pranzo di nozze''; ''Il fanatico per la musica''; ''La visita alla figlia''; ''L'ultima lettera amorosa''; ''Risposta all'ultima lettera amorosa''; ''Ritorno dalla guerra''; ''Il pranzo di nozze''; and ''Il Ritorno degli sposi dalla Chiesa''.

Gallery

File:Arturo Ricci 002 (38672014144).jpg File:Arturo Ricci 003 (39350324512).jpg, Playing Chess File:Arturo Ricci Powder Puff.jpg, Powder Puff File:Arturo Ricci Die MusikstundeFXD.jpg, The Music Lesson

References

External links

1854 births 1919 deaths Italian costume genre painters 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters Painters from Florence 19th-century Italian male artists 20th-century Italian male artists {{Italy-painter-19thC-stub