Luigi Bechi

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Luigi Bechi: Two children with bread and apples during the break. (around 1870)

Luigi Bechi (also Becchi ) (born March 1830 in Florence , † November 19, 1919 ibid) was an Italian painter . As an artist turned to both traditional academic and realistic painting, he played a role in the renewal of Tuscan painting during the Risorgimento .

Live and act

Luigi Bechi was born in Florence in March 1830. He studied from 1843 to 1853 at the Accademia di Belle Arti in his hometown. There he attended courses in drawing and painting (especially history painting ) with Giuseppe Bezzuoli , Enrico Pollastrini (1817–1876), Benedetto Servolini (1805–79) and Tommaso Gazzarini (1790–1853). From 1848 he made copies of the works of old masters as a student of Bezzuoli. In 1849 he was awarded a prize by the Academy for his nude drawings. In 1852 he took part in the Triennale . The following year he began painting academic paintings. Later on, however, he made the goals of the Macchiaioli artist group his own, which advocated a realistic image conception. In 1859 he took part in the Italian War of Independence and used experiences from it as current historical topics for his work. In the same year he took the Macchiaioli members Giovanni Fattori , Saverio Altamura (1822-1897), Giovanni Costa (1833-1893) and Silvestro Lega (1826-1895) at the first all-Italian bid to promote patriotic and national art Concorso Ricasoli part and won there with the cardboard for the painting Il Marchese Fadini salva la vita al colonnello De Sonnaz a Montebello ( The Marchese Fadini saves the life of General De Sonnaz in Montebello ) the second place in the department Episodi militari . This painting was to become one of the most important works of Bechi and is seen as exemplary of the desire in Italy at the time for realistically painted patriotic images. Still unfinished, he exhibited it at the Nazionale Esposizione (National Exhibition ) in Florence in 1861 and completed it in 1862 on behalf of the Italian government. It later became part of the collection of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna at Palazzo Pitti . At the Nazionale Esposizione , Bechi also showed academic pictures, such as Michelangelo che veglia il servo Urbino morente , which was honored there with an award . Around 1861, after traveling to Paris, Bechi began to devote himself mainly to landscape painting with friend and host Diego Martelli (1839–1896) and the Scuola di Castiglioncello . He remained unaffected by the Impressionist movement and largely faithful to studio painting , although he had got to know open-air painting in Paris . In addition to numerous exhibitions in Florence, Bechi also exhibited in Genoa (1864), Paris (1867) and London (1879). He also ran a private painting school that was also open to women. In 1866 he took part again in the War of Independence and was taken prisoner at Bezzecca . When he came back his painting became more anecdotal. In 1870 he became a professor at the Accademia di Belle Arti and took on the role of examiner in many competitions. He concentrated on genre painting and rarely took part in exhibitions. He died in Florence in 1919.

Works (selection)

  • Il Marchese Fadini salva la vita al colonnello De Sonnaz a Montebello ( The Marchese Fadini saves General De Sonnaz's life in Montebello ), 1859–1862, oil on canvas, 174 × 232 cm, Galleria d'Arte Moderna ( Palazzo Pitti ).
  • Susanna ei vecchi. Issued at the Nazionale Esposizione 1861.
  • Michelangelo che veglia il servo Urbino morente. Issued at the Nazionale Esposizione 1861.
  • Primavera della vita. Exhibited in Genoa in 1864, then acquired by Otto von Savoyen and frequently replicated.
  • Veduta al Gombo. Issued in Paris 1867.
  • Costume romano. Issued in London in 1879.
  • Two children with bread and apples during the break. Signed lower left: L. Bechi., Around 1870, oil on canvas, 116 × 88 cm.
  • La bolla di sapone. , 1886, exhibited in the Galleria Pisani in Florence
  • La lezione di treccia. 1888
  • Scherzi col gomitolo. 1888
  • Dopo la burrasca. Pinacoteca , Genoa.
  • Casa rustica. Galleria d'Arte Moderna.
  • Contadina con un vaso. Museo del Prado , Madrid.

Exhibitions (selection)

  • 1853: Promotrice di belle arti in Florence
  • 1861: Promotrice di belle arti in Florence
  • 1861: Nazionale Esposizione in Florence
  • 1865: Nazionale Esposizione
  • 1908/1909: 4. Esposizione associazione degli artisti italiani
  • 1933: Galleria Fontanarosa in Rome
  • 1956: Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome

literature

Web links

Commons : Luigi Bechi  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Antonio P. Torresi: Bechi Luigi In: Neo-Medicei: pittori, restauratori e copisti dell'Ottocento in Toscana. Liberty House, Ferrara 1996, p. 48.
  2. ↑ a b Günter Meißner (Ed.): General artist lexicon. The visual artists of all times and peoples. Vol. 8, KG Saur, Munich 1194, ISBN 3-598-22748-5 , p. 117.
  3. ↑ a b Claudia Refice Taschetta: BECHI, ​​Luigi In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Volume 7, 1970, accessed on May 29, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Bechi, Luigi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Becchi, Luigi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian painter
DATE OF BIRTH March 1830
PLACE OF BIRTH Florence
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1919
Place of death Florence