1702-1785 Italian Pietro Longhi Galleries Pietro Longhi was born in Venice in the parish of Saint Maria, first child of the silversmith Alessandro Falca and his wife, Antonia. He adopted the Longhi last name when he began to paint. He was initially taught by the Veronese painter Antonio Balestra, who then recommended the young painter to apprentice with the Bolognese Giuseppe Maria Crespi, who was highly regarded in his day for both religious and genre painting. He was married in 1732 to Caterina Maria Rizzi. Among his early paintings are some altarpieces and religious themes. In 1734, he completed frescoes in the walls and ceiling of the hall in Ca' Sagredo, representing the Death of the giants. Henceforward, his work would lead him to be viewed in the future as the Venetian William Hogarth, painting subjects and events of everyday life in Venice. The gallant interior scenes reflect the 18th century's turn towards the private and the bourgeois. Many of his paintings show Venetians at play, such as the depiction of the crowd of genteel citizens awkwardly gawking at a freakish Indian rhinoceros (see image). This painting chronicles Clara the rhinoceros brought to Europe in 1741 by a Dutch sea captain and impresario from Leyden, Douvemont van der Meer. This rhinoceros was exhibited in Venice in 1751. There are two versions of this painting, nearly identical except for the unmasked portraits of two men in Ca' Rezzonico version. Ultimately, there may be a punning joke to the painting, since the young man on the left holds aloft the sawed off horn (metaphor for cuckoldry) of the animal. Perhaps this explains the difference between the unchaperoned women. Other paintings chronicle the daily activities such as the gambling parlors (Riddoti) that proliferated in the 18th century. In some, the insecure or naive posture and circumstance, the puppet-like delicacy of the persons, seem to suggest a satirical perspective of the artists toward his subjects. Nearly half of the figures in his genre paintings are faceless, hidden behind Venetian Carnival masks. Like Crespi before him, Longhi was commissioned to paint seven canvases documenting the seven Catholic sacraments. Longhi is well-known as a draughtsman, whose drawings were often done for their own sake, rather than as studies for paintings. Pietro's son, Alessandro, was also an accomplished painter. A paraphrase of Bernard Berenson states that "Longhi painted for the Venetians passionate about painting, their daily lives, in all dailiness, domesticity, and quotidian mundane-ness. In the scenes regarding the hairdo and the apparel of the lady, we find the subject of gossip of the inopportune barber, chattering of the maid; in the school of dance, the amiable sound of violins. It is not tragic... but upholds a deep respect of customs, of great refinement, with an omnipresent good humor distinguishes the paintings of the Longhi from those of Hogarth, at times pitiless and loaded with omens of change".  Related Paintings of Pietro Longhi :. | Dame bei der Schneiderin | Portrat einer Patrizierfamilie | A Fortune Teller at Venice | Der Spaziergang zu Pferd | Dame bei der Toilette |
Related Artists:
Felice Casorati
Italian, 1883-1940
Jean Paul Selinger
Jean Paul Selinger (1850-1909) and Emily Selinger (1848-1927), husband and wife, had summer art studios at the Glen House and the Crawford House. Born in Boston, Jean Paul studied at the Lowell Institute and in 1875 he went to Germany to study at the Munich Academy with Wilhelm Leibl. Upon returning, he opened an art studio in Providence, Rhode Island, and married Emily McGary, also an artist. The Selingers had a studio in Boston and a summer art studio at the Glen House, Pinkham Notch in the 1880s. In 1894 the Selingers moved into the former studio of Frank H. Shapleigh at the Crawford House. In August 1894 the Selingers accepted an invitation to serve on the board of judges for a North Conway Coaching Parade Committee. Jean Paul painted numerous portraits, still-life paintings, and White Mountain landscapes. Emily painted both watercolors and oils of local flora. Jean Paul was a member of the Boston Art Club. He exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1880 and the Paint and Clay Club in Boston in 1889.
Peto, John Frederick
American, 1854-1907 American painter. He trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1877-8), Philadelphia, where he became a friend of William Michael Harnett whose work was a dominant influence on his oeuvre. Peto maintained a studio in Philadelphia, exhibiting at the Academy from 1879 to 1887; he earned a living through occasional work as a photographer, sculptor and painter. After moving to Island Heights, NJ, in 1889,