A fascinating, beautifully illustrated narrative of a neglected group of artist designers and their impact on American visual culture in the nineteenth century.
Written by former Victoria Mansion curator Arlene Palmer, this volume is the result of many years of research of Giuseppe Guidicini, the previously unknown Bolognese artist who in 1860 was responsible for the design and decoration of the extraordinary wall and ceiling paintings that fill Victoria Mansion in Portland, Maine. Palmer’s meticulous pursuit of Guidicini’s history, from his training in Italy to his accomplishments in such cities as New York, Cincinnati, and Richmond, led to the discovery of a small but highly influential network of Italian immigrant decorative painters and scenic artists who made exceptional contributions to the artistic, architectural, and theatrical heritage of the United States between 1820 and 1880.
Drawing on a colorful and rich vocabulary inspired by the paintings of ancient Rome and the Italian Renaissance, Guidicini and his compatriots elevated the interiors of many structures with their “fresco painting,” It was chiefly through their spectacular ornamentation of theatres and opera houses, starting in the 1820s, that the fashion for sophisticated Italianate design began to spread and become an integral part of the visual experience of nineteenth-century Americans.
Foreword by Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, the Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang
Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art;
Foreword by Timothy Brosnihan, Executive Director, Victoria Mansion; Author's
Acknowledgments; Introduction; "A Style of Magnificence": Italian Artists and
Italian Opera; The Progress of "Gorgeous and Classical Decorations";
"Dedicated to the Muses; "Matters of Course": Fresco Painting and Theatrical
Scenery in the 1850s; "A Sort of Magic Power": Italian Artists in New
Orleans; "A Palace Good Enough for a King": Guiseppe Guidicini's Artistry in
Victoria Mansion; From Apollo to Locomotives; "The Incomparable Bragaldi":
Adventures Abroad, 1848-1869; A "Fertility of Imagination" from East to West:
Bragaldi and Gariboldi in the 1870s; Epilogue; Appendix: Additional
Architectural and Design Commissions; Index; Photo Credits
Arlene Palmer is a former curator at Victoria Mansion in Portland, Maine, a former curator at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware and a recognized authority in the field of glass and ceramics.
