Gottardo Fidele Piazzoni (1872–1945) was a Swiss-born American landscape painter, muralist and sculptor of Italian heritage, a key member of the school of Northern California artists in the early 1900s.

Life and career

Clark Hobart, portrait of Gottardo Piazzoni, 1919

Born in

Intragna, Switzerland Intragna is a village and locality in the municipality of Centovalli in the district of Locarno of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Intragna has good railway connection with Locarno, Switzerland and Domodossola, Italy, as well as bus connect ...

, Piazzoni moved at the age of 15 to his father's dairy farm in the Carmel Valley.Neff, Emily Ballew. ''The Modern West: American Landscapes, 1890-1950'', Yale University Press, 2006, p. 108. After training with

Arthur Frank Mathews Arthur F. Mathews (October 1, 1860 – February 19, 1945) was an American Tonalist painter who was one of the founders of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. Trained as an architect and artist, he and his wife Lucia Kleinhans Mathews had a s ...

at the

Mark Hopkins Institute of Art San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a Private college, private art school, college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mis ...

(now the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

), Piazzoni trained for three years in Paris at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

and under

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ran ...

. He then returned to California to begin his career and set up his own teaching studio. Specializing in landscapes in a muted palette, most scholars count Piazzoni among the Tonalists, and was one of the most influential exponents of this style in California. He sought out the lighting effects of certain times of day, taking a "special interest in full moonrises, the viewing of which became a family ritual. Venturing up a hill, the family would cheer the appearance of the moon. Piazzoni knew the exact time for each moonrise and kept precise records." He was able to portray the essential qualities of a scene and achieve a strong mood, using only minimal descriptive details. Silence by Gottardo Fidele Piazzoni, c

Piazzoni's best-known public work may be his 14 murals for the former headquarters of the

San Francisco Public Library The San Francisco Public Library is the public library system of the city and county of San Francisco. The Main Library is located at Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street. The library system has won several awards, such as ''Library Journals L ...

for architect

George W. Kelham George William Kelham (1871–1936) was an American architect, he was most active in the San Francisco Bay Area. Biography Born in Manchester, Massachusetts, Kelham was educated at Harvard University and graduated from the Ecole des Beaux-Art ...

, ten of them dating from 1932, the other four painted in 1945 and not installed until the 1970s. After public debate and lawsuits in the late 1990s, the ten principal murals can now be seen at the

M. H. de Young Memorial Museum ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of resp ...

. By early 1901 Piazzoni was sharing a studio with fellow painter

Xavier Martínez Xavier Timoteo Martínez (February 7, 1869 – January 13, 1943) was a California artist active in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was a well-known bohemian figure in San Francisco, the East Bay, and the Monterey Peninsula and one of ...

, with whom he founded a year later the short-lived California Society of Artists. An online facsimile of the entire text of Vol. 1 is posted on the Traditional Fine Arts Organization website (). He was also a co-founder of the California Society of Etchers in 1912, with Robert B. Harshe (1879–1938), art professor at Stanford University;

Pedro Joseph de Lemos Pedro Joseph de Lemos (25 May 1882 – 5 December 1954) was an American painter, printmaker, architect, illustrator, writer, lecturer, museum director and art educator in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to about 1930 he used the simpler name Ped ...

(1882–1954), professor at

; and

Ralph Stackpole Ralph Ward Stackpole (May 1, 1885 – December 10, 1973) was an American sculptor, painter, muralist, etcher and art educator, San Francisco's leading artist during the 1920s and 1930s. Stackpole was involved in the art and causes of social realis ...

(1885–1973), sculptor, printmaker, and at that time Piazzoni's studio assistant. He enthusiastically advanced the career of sculptor

Arthur Putnam Arthur Putnam (September 6, 1873 – May 27, 1930) was an American sculptor and animalier who was recognized for his bronze sculptures of wild animals. Some of his artworks are public monuments. He was a well-known figure, both statewide and na ...

. He was also a member of the

Bohemian Club The Bohemian Club is a private club with two locations: a city clubhouse in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco, California and the Bohemian Grove, a retreat north of the city in Sonoma County. Founded in 1872 from a regular meeting of journal ...

, exhibited with the Berkeley and Monterey art colonies, taught at the

, and served on the jury and advisory committee of the Art Gallery at the

Hotel Del Monte The Hotel Del Monte was a large resort hotel in Monterey, California, from its opening in 1880 until 1942. It was one of the finest luxury hotels in North America. During World War II, it closed and the building was leased to the United State ...

. In 1927 he publicly protested when the directors of the municipal Oakland Art Gallery threatened to remove two displayed paintings of “explicit female nudes.” Piazzoni was also a good friend of Impressionist

Granville Redmond Granville Richard Seymour Redmond (March 9, 1871 – May 24, 1935) was an American landscape painter and exponent of Tonalism and California Impressionism. He was also an occasional actor for his friend Charlie Chaplin. Early years Re ...

and introduced the deaf-mute artist to Charlie Chaplin. The relationship of Redmond, Chaplin and Piazzoni is explored in a play by Steve Hauk
"The Floating Hat,"
published by the Traditional Fine Art Organization, Inc. The play is also in the collection of the Gallaudet University library. Among his students were George Post,

Rinaldo Cuneo Rinaldo Cuneo (July 2, 1877 – December 27, 1939), was an American artist known for his landscape paintings and murals. He was dubbed "the Painter of San Francisco". Early life and education Rinaldo Cuneo was born in San Francisco on July 2, 1 ...

Dorr Bothwell Dorr Hodgson Bothwell (May 3, 1902 – September 24, 2000) was an American artist, designer, educator, and world-traveler. A varied artist, Bothwell was considered a part of the Bay Area Surrealist artist scene and has paintings, drawings, coll ...

, and

Clayton Sumner Price Clayton Sumner "C. S." Price (1874 – 1950) was an American expressionist painter from Oregon. Biography Price was born on May 11, 1874 near Bedford, Iowa, and raised on farms and ranches there and in Wyoming and Alberta, Canada. In 1905, a local ...

. American landscape painter Mireille Piazzoni Wood was Piazzoni's daughter, painter-writer Philip Wood his son-in-law. Artists Thomas Wood and

Russell Chatham Russell Chatham (October 27, 1939 – November 10, 2019) was a contemporary American landscape artist and author who spent most of his career living in Livingston, Montana. The artist was the grandson of landscape painter Gottardo Piazzoni, tho ...

are Piazzoni grandsons. Piazzoni is buried at the

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, established by Hamden Holmes Noble in 1892, is a rural cemetery located in Colma, California, a place known as the "City of the Silent". History Cypress Lawn Memorial Park is the final resting site for several membe ...

cemetery, in

Colma, California Colma (Ohlone for "Springs") is a small incorporated List of municipalities in California, town in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,507 at the 2020 census. The town w ...

Murals

References

External links

Web resource on the library murals

Piazzoni's papers at the Archives of American Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piazzoni, Gottardo 1872 births 1945 deaths American muralists 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters Académie Julian alumni San Francisco Art Institute faculty Tonalism 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists