Vicolo di paese

Born in Florence, the son of the topographical painter, Giovanni Signorini (1808-62), who served as his teacher, Telemaco Signorini initially studied literature at the Scuola degli Scolopi in that city, before turning to painting in 1852. At first he painted historical subjects and themes taken from English romantic literature. In 1855, the painter Vito D'Ancona introduced him to the circle of artists and political activists, who met at the Caffè Michelangiolo. It was during this period that Signorini first met Degas, who visited Florence in 1855 and 1859. The two artists became lifelong friends. Signorini painted his first open air sketches in oil in the neighbourhood of Florence in 1858. He fought alongside the critic and writer, Diego Martelli, in the 1859 Lombard campaign for the liberation of Italy from Austrian rule. On Signorini's return to Florence, he began painting military subjects. In 1861, he visited Paris with his fellow Macchiaioli, Vincenzo Cabianca and Cristiano Banti. There, they saw the Salon and an exhibition of Barbizon paintings. Signorini also met Troyon, Corot and Théodore Rousseau. Back in Italy, he began to publish art criticism, becoming the principal champion of the Macchiaioli group in print. Among the journals for which Signorini wrote regularly was Diego Martelli's 'Il Gazettino degli Artisti di Disegno'. He also developed an interest in photography in the late 1860s, and began to use it as a resource for his paintings. Signorini's interest in the radical socialism of Proudhon encouraged his move away from romanticism to realism. He began to etch in 1869, and sent one of his first prints, 'Vicolo in Siena', to the Turin journal, 'L'Arte in Italia', in the autumn of 1870. Among Signorini's earliest etchings are his 18 illustrations to Diego Martelli's 1871 'Primi passi: fisime letterarie'. He was also to provide three etchings for the writer's 'Fornicazioni di Fra Mazzapicchio' in 1875. Other volumes for which he provided etchings included Gustavo Uzielli's 'Gita a Vinci' of 1872 (a single print), and his 'Richerche intorno a Leonardo da Vinci' of 1896 (two etchings), as well as Carlo Volterra's 'Storielline' of 1876 (four etchings). In 1877, Signorini, using the anagram of Enrico Gasi Molteni, published 'Le 99 discussioni artistiche', a series of 101 (not 99) sonnets, which he illustrated with his own woodcuts. Most of his etchings of the 1870s were of the streets of the historic towns of Tuscany. Signorini used a printer named Tedeschi for some of his plates. Signorini revisited Paris in 1873, when the dealers, Goupil and Reitlinger, acquired some of his paintings. On an excursion into the countryside south east of Paris, he painted with De Nittis and Boldini. Signorini also paid a brief visit to London. He returned to Paris and London in 1876. Francesco Netti, a contemporary critic, thought that Signorini's paintings of this period showed the influence of Japanese art. He returned to Paris in 1878 and 1880, from where he made a trip to Brittany. The following year, Signorini travelled to Bath, Edinburgh and London. His art was very well received in Britain. Arthur Lucas, Thomas McLean, and other leading London dealers showed Signorini's pictures. He exhibited at both the Royal Academy and the Grosvenor Gallery. Through Nino Costa, he was introduced to Leighton in 1883. After seeing Whistler's 1884 one - man show at Dowdeswell's, Signorini visited the American painter in his studio. Some have remarked on the tonal similarities of his Elba seascapes of 1888 to the work of the American artist. That year Signorini was made Professor at both the Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples, and at the Accademia di Belle Arti e Liceo Artistica in Bologna. In 1889, he shared responsibility for the selection of the Italian section of the Exposition Universelle in Paris. In 1893 Signorini published 'Caricaturisti e caricaturi al Caffè Michelangiolo', his reminiscences of the 1850s and early 1860s. He also collaborated with Uzielli on a monograph of the French painter and etcher, Marcellin Desboutin, whom he had known in Florence in the early 1860s, a volume which was published in 1895. Settignano, Riomaggiore, and the coastal towns of Liguria, provided much of the material for his later paintings. (Text from Martin Hopkinson, 'Italian Prints 1875-1975', BMP, 2007)