Antonio Alice (23 February 1886 – 24 August 1943) was an Argentine

portrait painter Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...

. He was awarded the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1904.

Early years

Alice, of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent, was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. His father, an Italian immigrant, was barely literate. His two sisters, Matilde and Santina, posed for several of his paintings. Expelled from school and considered incorrigible for drawing in his textbooks, Alice went to work as a shoeblack. At the age of 11, while sketching

Gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...

portraits between shoe shines, he was discovered by Cupertino del Campo, who went on to become the Director of the National Museum of Fine Arts of Buenos Aires. Del Campo referred Alice to the painter, Decoroso Bonifanti who gave the boy his first painting lesson in 1897. In 1904, he was awarded the

(''Premio Roma'') and entered the Royal Academy of Painting in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, studying under

Giacomo Grosso Giacomo Grosso (23 May 1860 in Cambiano – 14 January 1938 in Turin) was an Italian painter. Biography After spending his childhood at Glaveno seminary, Giacomo Grosso enrolled at the Accademia Albertina in Turin in 1873, thanks to a schola ...

, Francisco Gilardi, and Andrea Tavernier. During his four years at the Academy, he was awarded three Gold Medals.

Career

left, ''La muerte de Güemes'' (1910) 150px, Portrait of the priest and politician, Benjamín Lavaisse (ca. 1920) At the 1908 Quadriennale di Torino, his ''Portrait of the Painter Decoroso Bonifanti'' won acclaim, and in 1911 in Buenos Aires, he received the painting prize at the 1st Salon Nacional de Bellas Artes for ''Portrait of a Lady''. Salon des Artistes Français. ''San Martin en el destierro'', painted in 1913 in Paris, is considered one of his best works. He was awarded the Silver Medal at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1914, which included an annually exhibited ''hors concours'' painting. His painting ''La muerte de Güemes'', which received a Gold Medal at the 1910 Centenary of National Independence Exposition, was later purchased for display by the Salta Provincial Government. In 1915, he won the Medal of Honor in paintings at the

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, USA. Three years later, he exhibited 60 Brazilian canvases in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. Alice painted several portraits of notable Argentines of his time, including

General Julio Argentino Roca Alejo Julio Argentino Roca Paz (July 17, 1843 – October 19, 1914) was an army general and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 1880 to 1886 and from 1898 to 1904. Roca is the most important representative of the Generation ...

, Joaquín Víctor González, and

Marcelino Ugarte Marcelino Ugarte (1855–1929) was an Argentine jurist and politician, who served for two terms as governor of the Province of Buenos Aires. He also served as deputy and national senator for the Province of Buenos Aires. He was born in Buenos ...

. Other important works were large canvases with the theme of patriotic exaltation, including ''"San Martín en Boulogne-sur-Mer'', ''Argentina, Tierra de promisión'', and ''Los Constituyentes de 1853''.

Criticism

At the 10th Salon Nacional de Bellas Artes, his work was described by the painter and art critic José León Pagano (1875-1964) as "struggling in vain with an ingrate theme...and his effort is limited to giving us a violent note and doubtful taste."

Later life

Alice died in Buenos Aires in 1943 at the age of 57.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alice, Antonio 1886 births 1943 deaths Argentine people of Italian descent People from Buenos Aires Argentine portrait painters Prix de Rome for painting 20th-century Argentine painters 20th-century Argentine male artists Argentine male painters Shoeshiners