Bianchi, Mose (1840-1904) - The Sea Dog or The Helmsman (Christie's London, 2008)
Oil on panel; 74 x 50 cm.
The son of portraitist Giosuè Biachi, Mosè Bianchi was born in Monza and studied at the Brera Academy in Milan. His early output was largely academic, dominated by altarpieces and history painting, but even in this early phase his natural lightness of touch softened the stiff official idiom demanded by such subjects. In 1866 he was awarded the Pensionato Oggioni for his Conversion of St Paul, which enabled him to visit Venice, Rome and Paris. In Venice he came under the influence of the grand master Tiepolo, as well as contemporaries Giacomo Favretto and the Spaniard Mariano Fortuny, whose luminous palettes and playful subjects informed his work; while in Paris he admired Ernest Meissonier and the Realists. Back in Milan at the end of the decade he aligned himself firmly with the avant-garde, much like the Macchaioli had, embracing the tenets of realism and naturalism. By now, he had been discovered by the Paris art dealer Goupil; his reputation became European, and the added financial security enabled him to roam more widely in search of subjects. He remained particularly fond of Venice, however, and of the fishermen of the lagoon, and by the 1880s his treatment of these themes was increasingly free and impressionistic.
Notwithstanding his intense activity and continued public success (he was awarded the premio principe umberto in 1874, 1894 and 1900), Bianchi spent his final years in poverty, assisted by his nephew, the painter Pompeo Mariani (1857–1927).
Bianchi, Mose (1840-1904) - The Sea Dog or The Helmsman (Christie's London, 2008)
Oil on panel; 74 x 50 cm.
The son of portraitist Giosuè Biachi, Mosè Bianchi was born in Monza and studied at the Brera Academy in Milan. His early output was largely academic, dominated by altarpieces and history painting, but even in this early phase his natural lightness of touch softened the stiff official idiom demanded by such subjects. In 1866 he was awarded the Pensionato Oggioni for his Conversion of St Paul, which enabled him to visit Venice, Rome and Paris. In Venice he came under the influence of the grand master Tiepolo, as well as contemporaries Giacomo Favretto and the Spaniard Mariano Fortuny, whose luminous palettes and playful subjects informed his work; while in Paris he admired Ernest Meissonier and the Realists. Back in Milan at the end of the decade he aligned himself firmly with the avant-garde, much like the Macchaioli had, embracing the tenets of realism and naturalism. By now, he had been discovered by the Paris art dealer Goupil; his reputation became European, and the added financial security enabled him to roam more widely in search of subjects. He remained particularly fond of Venice, however, and of the fishermen of the lagoon, and by the 1880s his treatment of these themes was increasingly free and impressionistic.
Notwithstanding his intense activity and continued public success (he was awarded the premio principe umberto in 1874, 1894 and 1900), Bianchi spent his final years in poverty, assisted by his nephew, the painter Pompeo Mariani (1857–1927).