Gaetano Esposito (November 17, 1858 – April 8, 1911) was an Italian painter.

Biography

He was born in

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

. He first studied under Gaetano D'Agostino, but later enrolled at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts of Naples, where he studied under

Filippo Palizzi Filippo Palizzi (16 June 1818, Vasto – 11 September 1899, Naples) was an Italian painter, known for his rural genre scenes with animals, mostly goats. His brothers, Francesco Paolo, Giuseppe and Nicola, also became painters. Biography He was ...

Domenico Morelli Domenico Morelli (4 August 182313 August 1901) was an Italians, Italian painter, who mainly produced historical and religious works. Morelli was immensely influential in the arts of the second half of the 19th century, both as director of the Ac ...

and

Stanislao Lista Stanislao Lista (Salerno, December 8, 1824 – 1908) was an Italian sculptor active in Naples. Biography Stanislao Lista carved one of the four lions in marble in Piazza dei Martiri, Napoli. The lion, hit by a sword, is dedicated to the Carbonar ...

. In these studies, he was funded by a stipend from the government of Salerno. He was influenced by

Antonio Mancini Antonio Mancini (14 November 1852 – 28 December 1930) was an Italian painter. Biography Mancini was born in Rome, Papal States, and showed precocious ability as an artist. At the age of twelve, he was admitted to the Institute of Fine Art ...

, a lifelong supporter, especially in his

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

depictions of the activities of the lower classes of Naples. He also painted portraits. Gaetano, like other Neapolitan painters such as Morelli, rebelled from an academic temperament. He was described as ''Irascible, diffident, and prone the jealousy, he was not one to gain friends among his colleague painters, with the exception of Antonio Mancini''... and this ''lack of affability'' forced him to have to sell briskly to be able to sustain himself. He did get commissions in the last decade of the 19th century to decorate the

Caffè Gambrinus The Caffè Gambrinus is a historic, private Coffeehouse, cafe or coffeehouse in Central Naples, Italy on via Chiaia. It is located in the rear of the Palazzo della Prefettura, Naples, Palazzo della Prefettura, which lies in front and to side of t ...

in Naples, the ceiling (1895) of the Garibaldi Communal theater at

Santa Maria Capua Vetere Santa Maria Capua Vetere is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, in southern Italy. Though it is not connected with the ''Civitas Capuana'', the town is a medieval place and its proximity to the Roman amphit ...

, and the ceiling (1897–1898) of the refurbished Palazzo della Borsa in Naples where he painted allegories of work and history. He began to concentrate on painting marine

vedute A ''veduta'' (; : ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''. Origins This genre of landscape originated ...

, similar to those that had been traditional for the

School of Posillipo The School of Posillipo refers to a loose group of landscape painters, based in the waterfront Posillipo neighborhood of Naples, Italy. While some among them became academicians, it was not a formal school or association. In the 18th century, lands ...

. For example, he painted the scenic Palazzo Donn'Anna a number of times. At the 1904 Universal Exposition at Saint Louis, he won a gold medal for a large seascape canvas. His painting of ''Christ among the children'' was displayed at the 1880 Turin exposition. At the 1877 National Exhibition, he displayed ''Un triste presentimento'', ''Una figlia della colpa una cucina tutta fumo''. In 1883 at Rome he displayed ''Da Posillipo''. In 1884 in Turin he exhibited ''Brillo'', ''Tipo napoletano'', ''Primi palpiti'', ''Aspetti'', and ''Colloquio piacevole''. In 1910 a young female pupil, Venturina Castrignani, committed suicide after being romantically rejected by Gaetano. Tormented by guilt, Esposito himself committed suicide on April 7, 1911, in

Sala Consilina Sala Consilina is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of southwestern Italy. With 12,635 inhabitants it is the most populated town of Vallo di Diano. History The ancient village of Consilinum was built during ...

in Salerno.''The International Studio''
part 1, page 81.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Esposito, Gaetano 1858 births 1911 deaths People from Salerno Painters from Campania 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters Painters from Naples Italian genre painters Italian landscape painters Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli alumni 1911 suicides Suicides in Italy 19th-century Italian male artists 20th-century Italian male artists