Gaetano Esposito (November 17, 1858 – April 8, 1911) was an Italian painter.
Biography
He was born in
Salerno. He first studied under Gaetano D'Agostino, but later enrolled at the
Royal Institute of Fine Arts of Naples, where he studied under
Filippo Palizzi
Filippo Palizzi (1818 – 1899) was an Italian painter.
Biography
Filippo Palizzi was born in Vasto (Chieti). He moved to Naples in 1837 and enrolled at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts, but withdrew after a few months to attend the private sch ...
,
Domenico Morelli
Domenico Morelli (4 August 182313 August 1901) was an Italian painter, who mainly produced historical and religious works. Morelli was immensely influential in the arts of the second half of the 19th century, both as director of the Accademia di ...
and
Stanislao Lista. In these studies, he was funded by a stipend from the government of Salerno. He was influenced by
Antonio Mancini, a lifelong supporter, especially in his
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
depictions of the activities of the lower classes of Naples. He also painted portraits.
Gaetano, like other Neapolitan painters such as
Morelli, rebelled from an academic temperament. He was described as ''Irascible, diffident, and prone the jealousy, he was not one to gain friends among his colleague painters, with the exception of Antonio Mancini''... and this ''lack of affability'' forced him to have to sell briskly to be able to sustain himself. He did get commissions in the last decade of the 19th century to decorate the
Caffè Gambrinus in Naples, the ceiling (1895) of the Garibaldi Communal theater at
Santa Maria Capua Vetere
Santa Maria Capua Vetere ( nap, Santa Maria 'e Capua) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, part of the region of Campania (southern Italy).
Though it is not connected with the ''Civitas Capuana'', the town is a medieval place and ...
, and the ceiling (1897–1898) of the refurbished
Palazzo della Borsa in Naples where he painted allegories of work and history.
He began to concentrate on painting marine
vedute
A ''veduta'' (Italian for "view"; plural ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''.
Origins
This genre ...
, similar to those that had been traditional for the
School of Posillipo The School of Posillipo refers to a loose group of landscape painters, based in the waterfront Posillipo neighborhood of Naples, Italy. While some among them became academicians, it was not a formal school or association.
In the 18th century, lands ...
. For example, he painted the scenic
Palazzo Donn'Anna a number of times. At the 1904
Universal Exposition at Saint Louis, he won a gold medal for a large seascape canvas.
His painting of ''Christ among the children'' was displayed at the 1880 Turin exposition. At the 1877 National Exhibition, he displayed ''Un triste presentimento'', ''Una figlia della colpa una cucina tutta fumo''. In 1883 at Rome he displayed ''Da Posillipo''. In 1884 in Turin he exhibited ''Brillo'', ''Tipo napoletano'', ''Primi palpiti'', ''Aspetti'', and ''Colloquio piacevole''.
In 1910 a young female pupil, Venturina Castrignani, committed suicide after being romantically rejected by Gaetano. Tormented by guilt, Esposito himself committed suicide on April 7, 1911, in
Sala Consilina
Sala Consilina is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of southwestern Italy. With 12,635 inhabitants it is the most populated town of Vallo di Diano.
History
The ancient village of Consilinum was built during ...
in Salerno.
''The International Studio''
part 1, page 81.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esposito, Gaetano
1858 births
1911 deaths
People from Salerno
19th-century Italian painters
Italian male painters
20th-century Italian painters
Painters from Naples
Italian genre painters
Italian landscape painters
Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli alumni
1911 suicides
Suicides in Italy
19th-century Italian male artists
20th-century Italian male artists