Fontanesi, Antonio (1818-1882) by Photographer Unknown to Me
Antonio Fontanesi was an Italian painter who lived in Meiji period Japan between 1876 and 1878. He introduced European oil painting techniques to Japan, and exerted a significant role in the development of modern Japanese yōga (Western style) painting. He is known for his works in the romantic style of the French Barbizon school.
Fontanesi was born in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, and trained with the landscape painters Prospero Minghetti and Vincenzo Carnevali. From 1841 to 1846 he made theater sets and began painting landscapes. In 1850, he moved to Geneva, where he stayed until 1865. His main area of interest was landscape painting. He participated in important artistic exhibitions, displaying his works in Lyon, Turin, Milan, Florence, Genoa and the Triennial Exhibition of Fine Art in Bologna. He moved to Turin when a chair as a landscape professor was created specially for him at the Accademia Albertina in Turin from 1869 to 1876.
In 1876, the Technical Fine Arts School (Kobu Bijutsu Gakko) an art school of painting and sculpture was founded in Tokyo under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry. It was the first governmental art school founded in Japan. Upon recommendation of the Italian minister to Tokyo, the Meiji government contracted three Italian artists as foreign advisors: Vincenzo Ragusa for sculpture, Antonio Fontanesi for drawing and Giovanni Cappelletti for the preparatory course. The trio greatly influenced the development of Japanese art and architecture through the next several decades. Fontanesi introduced the techniques of charcoal, crayon and oil paints to his Japanese students, who included Asai Chū and Yamamoto Hosui. He also taught western concepts of perspective, anatomy and sketching from life. His career in Japan was cut short by serious illness, which forced him to return to Italy in 1878.
Fontanesi, Antonio (1818-1882) by Photographer Unknown to Me
Antonio Fontanesi was an Italian painter who lived in Meiji period Japan between 1876 and 1878. He introduced European oil painting techniques to Japan, and exerted a significant role in the development of modern Japanese yōga (Western style) painting. He is known for his works in the romantic style of the French Barbizon school.
Fontanesi was born in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, and trained with the landscape painters Prospero Minghetti and Vincenzo Carnevali. From 1841 to 1846 he made theater sets and began painting landscapes. In 1850, he moved to Geneva, where he stayed until 1865. His main area of interest was landscape painting. He participated in important artistic exhibitions, displaying his works in Lyon, Turin, Milan, Florence, Genoa and the Triennial Exhibition of Fine Art in Bologna. He moved to Turin when a chair as a landscape professor was created specially for him at the Accademia Albertina in Turin from 1869 to 1876.
In 1876, the Technical Fine Arts School (Kobu Bijutsu Gakko) an art school of painting and sculpture was founded in Tokyo under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry. It was the first governmental art school founded in Japan. Upon recommendation of the Italian minister to Tokyo, the Meiji government contracted three Italian artists as foreign advisors: Vincenzo Ragusa for sculpture, Antonio Fontanesi for drawing and Giovanni Cappelletti for the preparatory course. The trio greatly influenced the development of Japanese art and architecture through the next several decades. Fontanesi introduced the techniques of charcoal, crayon and oil paints to his Japanese students, who included Asai Chū and Yamamoto Hosui. He also taught western concepts of perspective, anatomy and sketching from life. His career in Japan was cut short by serious illness, which forced him to return to Italy in 1878.