Augusto Valli (22 May 1867 – 1945) was an Italian painter, in a Realist style. His journeys to Africa influenced his choice of subject matter and he painted African themes with vibrant colours.

Life and career

Augusto Valli was born in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

on 22 May 1867 into a family of modest means. He enrolled in 1879 at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Modena under

Antonio Simonazzi Antonio Simonazzi (April 24, 1824 - 1908) was an Italian painter, active mainly in his native Modena. Biography Antonio Simonazzi first studied under Adeodato Malatesta in the Accademia Atestina di Belle Arti in Modena. In 1841 he won the first p ...

and Ferdinando Manzini completing his studies at the age of 18 years. There he attended the Corso Comune until 1881–1882 and the Corso Speciale of painting from 1882 to 1884. In 1885, he travelled to Africa. In 1896, he was part of an expedition to Abyssinia and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

with the Count Gian Pietro. He was detained in

Harar Harar (; Harari language, Harari: ሀረር / ; ; ; ), known historically by the indigenous as Harar-Gey or simply Gey (Harari: ጌይ, ݘٛىيْ, ''Gēy'', ), is a List of cities with defensive walls, walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is al ...

by the British Consulate. He escaped a massacre of the Italian mission by the rebels of the Emir Abdallah. In all, he returned three times to East Africa. His last journey was in 1890-91 where he served as a court painter at the Royal Court of Melenik of Ethiopia. He returned from these voyages with many folders of sketches, some of which were purchased by the Geographic Congress of Rome and are now in the museum of La Società Geografica Italiana. He illustrated a book (1942) about African (Ethiopian) travels by the colonist Conte Augusto Salimbeni, where he was described as a ''pittore africanista''.Vita africana di Augusto Salimbeni : con illustrazioni fuori testo del pittore africanista Augusto Valli e documenti inediti. Gino Benvenuti; Augusto Valli, Publisher:Modena : Tip. Ferraguti, 1942. For years, he painted for the church of San Giovanni Battista, Spilamberto.

Work

Valli worked in watercolours and in oils. He also illustrated several books. His style was often impressionistic and with touches of colour.

Select list of works

* ''Semiramide Dying on Ninu's Grave'', 1893 * ''Leggenda della morte di Semiramide'' * ''Ritratto Di Donna Africana'' * ''Ritratto Di Nubiana'' * ''The Good Samaritan'' *''African Landscape''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valli, Augusto 1867 births 1945 deaths 19th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian male artists Italian genre painters Italian male painters Painters from Modena Italian Orientalist painters 19th-century Italian male artists

Life and career

Work

Select list of works

See also

References