Francesco Lojacono

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Francesco Lojacono (born May 26, 1838 in Palermo , † February 26, 1915 ibid) was an Italian landscape painter in Sicily .

Francesco Lojacono: The Orto Botanico of Palermo
Francesco Lojacono: Fisherman in front of Monte Pellegrino (Palermo)
Francesco Lojacono: Veduta di Palermo (1875)
Francesco Lojacono: Le paludi, 1895–1900 (Fondazione Cariplo)

Life

He received his first training from his father, the painter Luigi Lojacono (1806–1882). He continued his training with Salvatore Lo Forte .

In 1856 he achieved his first exhibition successes with ideal landscapes in Palermo, which allowed him to study further in Naples with the brothers Giuseppe (1812–1888) or Filippo Palizzi (1818–1899). It is controversial which of the two he was apprentice to. During his stay in Naples, which lasted until 1859, he dealt with the Posillipo School . It is believed that he learned about the works of the Barbizon School through Filippo Palizzi . He was also influenced by Giacinto Gigante .

Then he moved to Florence , where he contact with the group of painters Macchiaioli got that in Italy plein air painting of the Barbizon school represented.

In 1860 he, his father and brother Salvatore Lojacono Giuseppe Garibaldi joined and took part in the " procession of a thousand ". Despite his wounding in the Battle of Milazzo , he fought under Nino Bixio at the side of many artists in the Battle of Volturno on October 1st, 1860. In 1861 he successfully participated in the first all-Italian art exhibition in Florence. On August 29, 1862 , he and Garibaldi were captured in Aspromonte while trying to conquer Rome .

After his early release he returned to Palermo, where he stayed until his death. In 1865 he joined the Resìna School , which also included Giuseppe de Nittis and Antonino Leto . In the years that followed, he sent his works to numerous, mainly Italian, exhibitions, which enjoyed growing popularity. 1870 his works were also in Vienna known where he stayed in 1871 and personally by Emperor Franz Joseph I. was received. In 1873 he traveled to Paris to exhibit pictures in the salon. He stayed until 1874. In 1876 or later he also came to London and Berlin , where Wilhelm I is said to have received him. In 1877 he was elected to the jury of the Paris World Exhibition in 1878 , at which he also exhibited himself. On this occasion, criticism of his academic style of painting was expressed for the first time. In 1883 and 1888 his pictures were exhibited in Munich , in 1891 in Berlin, in 1895 at the 1st Venice Biennale , and again in Paris in 1900.

In 1878 he was appointed honorary professor of landscape painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples. In 1895 he was appointed professor for “ pittura di paesaggio e di marine ” (German: “Painting of landscapes and the marine”) at the Accademia di belle arti in Palermo, an office that he held from 1896 to 1914.

Lojacono was appreciated by Gabriele D'Annunzio , who wrote numerous positive reviews of his pictures. Among his students were Gennaro Pardo and Ettore De Maria Bergler .

He was married and had numerous children.

plant

Lojacono is considered the most important landscape painter of the 19th century in Sicily. Theoretical writings by him are not known, but his position can be deduced from his membership of the named artist associations. Before him, the ancient ruins and the well-known cities on the coast in Sicily were painted almost exclusively, with the painters mostly foreigners, especially Germans. Lojacono, on the other hand, in the spirit of romantic realism , chose not only views of Palermo but rather everyday motifs, including from the interior, for his painting.

As one of the first Italian painters, he used photographs as templates for his pictures in addition to painted studies. This is to be understood from his attempt to achieve the greatest possible realism. He then put the studies and photographs together in the studio to create mostly large-format pictures. Although there was a certain artificiality in this process, most critics praised it for the realistic effect it produced.

Country people, fishermen, shepherds and cattle enliven many of his pictures, sometimes they also represent the main subject and turn them into genre scenes. The hardship of working life can sometimes be guessed at, but it never turns into an accusation of social or ecological grievances. Lojacono painted on unprimed canvas or wooden panels with strong, covering paint.

There are three main creative periods.

Francesco Lojacono:
The Return , around 1883
  • From around 1863 to 1879 he painted meticulously executed landscapes in a cultivated and fertile aspect with a tendency towards idyllic, including well-known scenes from the area around Palermo. At that time he painted in layers and detailed down to individual leaves and branches.
  • From around 1880 to 1894 he painted monumental summer landscapes that looked bright, hot and relentless, but still beautiful. These works earned him the nickname "Thief of the Sun". Scenes known from traditional vedute were rarely chosen. Rural folk scenes were also shown, whereby the poverty of the population is not concealed, but is also not presented as a problem. He abandoned the layered painting and, as far as possible without blurring the color, placed the colored areas next to one another in one go. He kept the sharp demarcation of the forms. Occasionally he was the first Sicily painter to paint autumn scenes.
  • From around 1895 to 1915 he preferred cool, damp and dark series of scenes that seem rather untypical for Sicily, including gardens and plant portraits. He switched to a blurred style of painting, dispensing with human and architectural staffage. The artistic power of expression decreased sharply during this period.

On the occasion of an exhibition of his works in 2005 in the Galleria d'Arte Moderna (Palermo) , his life and work were comprehensively examined scientifically.

Works in public collections

One of his most avid collectors was the businessman Giuseppe Sinatra (1863–1948) in Agrigento, who in 1944 donated 88 of his paintings to the Galleria Civica in Agrigento , today's Museo Civico of Agrigento. 13 paintings, a portrait bust of the artist by Archimede Campini (1884–1950) and a portrait by Onofrio Tomaselli (1866–1956) are in the Galleria d'Arte Moderna (Palermo) . Further works in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome and in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples .

literature

Web links

Commons : Francesco Lojacono  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Lojacono, Francesco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Loiacono, Francesco Paolo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian painter
DATE OF BIRTH May 26, 1838
PLACE OF BIRTH Palermo
DATE OF DEATH February 26, 1915
Place of death Palermo