Scuola Italiana (XX), firmato M. Calderini - Paesaggio di montagna - NO RESERVE

Marco Calderini (Turin 1850 – Turin 1941)

Mountain Landscape

Oil on canvas mounted on cardboard
Signed bottom right
Dimensions with frame: 42x58 cm
Painting: 28x38 cm

Marco Calderini was born in Turin in 1850 and enrolled in the Faculty of Letters at the University of Turin, while obtaining the diploma as a French, history and geography teacher. Guided toward art by some friends, he enrolled at the Albertina Academy of Turin, where from 1867 to 1873 he attended the classes of Enrico Gamba, Andrea Gastaldi, and the Romantic Antonio Fontanesi, earning a gold medal in 1872 at the conclusion of the landscape course. He was soon steered toward reproducing subjects from nature by Fontanesi himself, who accompanied him to paint in the Turin countryside; after completing his studies, Calderini opened a studio with his friend and colleague Francesco Mosso.
He began presenting at the annual exhibitions of the Società Promotrice di Belle Arti di Torino almost continuously from 1870, when he debuted with “The Banks of the Po at Turin” and “The Solitary Statues,” up to 1898: in 1871 “On the Garden of Refuge” was sold to the Prince of Savoy Carignano, and in 1873 “Royal Garden” was purchased by the same Promotrice Society.
At the 1880 Exhibition he presented nine canvases and won the jury prize; the following year he was awarded a bronze medal at the Genoa Columbian Exposition. In 1883 he again presented to the Rome International Exhibition of Fine Arts “The Solitary Statues,” which was purchased by the Government for the newborn Gallery of Modern Art, and he participated in the Nice exhibition.
The following year he attended the Turin General Italian Exhibition (where he was a member of the acceptance and installation committee) with several works.
In 1888 he was awarded a silver medal at the Barcelona International Exhibition and in 1889 he was president of the painting section of the Turin Artists' Circle and was awarded an honorary diploma and a gold star at the Cologne International Exhibition. In 1891 he was chosen by Minister Pasquale Villari as a member of the Permanent Commission of Fine Arts.
He also devoted himself with diligence to writing and art criticism, collaborating for numerous magazines such as L’Illustrazione Italiana, La Rassegna nazionale and the Gazzetta letteraria of Turin; In 1902 the Società Promotrice di Torino dedicated to him a solo exhibition, the following year he exhibited in Venice “Estate di San Martino,” also presented on two occasions at the Paris Salon.
In 1912 he was awarded the Prince Umberto prize. He later participated in the Rome Art Exhibition with “Autumn Evening” purchased by the Municipality of Rome.
The Marco Calderini Archive, kept at the State Archives of Turin, contains a collection of documents concerning the artist’s private life, monographs on painters as well as letters exchanged with relatives, colleagues such as Mosè Bianchi, Giovanni Boldini, Carlo Ademollo and Nicolò Barabino, and intellectuals such as Cesare Lombroso and Felice Cavallotti.
Calderini is considered one of the leading exponents of Piedmontese plein air painting in the 19th century, a man of broad culture and moral stature, whose long artistic career focuses almost entirely on the central and constant theme of landscape reproduced from nature between the countryside and the mountains of Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. The decisive artistic and moral influence of master Antonio Fontanesi is evident in his youth works, after which he distinguishes himself by moving closer to the verist current of the Rivara School and personalizes his works with rigorous naturalistic realism that emphasizes a sense of stillness, entirely opposite to that of the master. The subject is rendered with extreme precision, geometric and perspective calculation.

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(Cronache dell'Arte Italiana dell'ottocento, No. 18, Mondadori, Milan, 1989)

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Artwork in good conservation condition

The frame shown in the photos is provided at no extra cost so that the work can be exhibited as soon as it arrives. It is included as a courtesy and is not considered an integral part of the artwork. Therefore any potential damage to the frame that does not affect the artwork itself will not constitute a valid reason to file a complaint or request order cancellation.