“La Signorina” Nerina (Nera) Simi (April 13, 1890,

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

– February 4, 1987, Florence) was an Italian artist and a teacher of painting and drawing. She was the daughter of the Italian painter Filadelfo (Philadelphus) Simi (1849–1923), himself a student of the French academician

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 ...

(1824–1904).

Education

She spent eight years under her father’s tutelage at his Florentine atelier The International Studio on Via Tripoli where, even as a child, she had assisted him preparing pencils, mixing colours and helping students. In 1909 she enrolled at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence and in 1914 graduated with a qualification to teach drawing.

Working life

She taught drawing in Florence at the Istituto delle Montalve, called

La Quiete La Quiete is an Italian screamo band formed in 2000 in Forlì. They are part of the 21st century European screamo movement alongside bands such as Raein, who they share members with, and Daitro. Members ;Current *Cebio – guitar *Michele – dr ...

(a villa once belonging to a branch of the

Medici family The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...

), while continuing to assist her father in his studio. During 1917 and 1918 she exhibited and sold her work at exhibitions in

Forte dei Marmi Forte dei Marmi () is a sea town and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy). It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013. Tourism is the principal activity of Forte dei Marmi's ...

and Florence alongside that of her father and her brother, Renzo Simi (1889–1943). Upon Filadelfo’s death, in 1923, she inherited his studio on Via Tripoli and took over his teaching. As well, for 40 years, she continued to teach at La Quiete. The Florentine painter

Pietro Annigoni Pietro Annigoni, OMRI (7 June 1910 – 28 October 1988) was an Italian artist, portrait painter, fresco painter and medallist, best known for his painted portraits of Queen Elizabeth II. His work was in the Renaissance tradition, contrasting ...

(1910–1988) considered Simi “the greatest drawing teacher of the 20th century.”

Stazzema

She spent summers in

Stazzema Stazzema is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lucca in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Lucca. History During World War II, the village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema was the site of ...

, a small town in the foothills of the

Apuane Alps The Apuan Alps ( it, Alpi Apuane) are a mountain range in northern Tuscany, Italy. They are included between the valleys of the Serchio and Magra rivers, and, to the northwest, the Garfagnana and Lunigiana, with a total length of approximately . ...

, where she often had a following of students. In 2014 the municipality of Stazzema renamed a public piazza for her and celebrated the event with a temporary exhibition of work by her former students. The

Studio Simi Lo Studio Simi. Studio Simi, home of Italian painters Filadelfo and Nera Simi, is an historic house museum dedicated to them. The building is located in the town of Scala di Stazzema, in the province of Lucca, Italy. The painter Filadelfo Sim ...

, the house that belonged to her and her father, has been opened as a museum of their work."Lo studio Simi è diventato Casa della Memoria"
''

Il Tirreno ''Il Tirreno'' (English: "The Tyrrhenian") is a regional Italian newspaper, printed in Livorno and serving the Tuscany region. ''Il Tirreno'' also features sixteen local editions around the whole region. History It was founded in 1877 under th ...

'', Edizione Versilia (28 October 2016)

Death

Simi died on February 4, 1987 in

. She is buried, with her parents, at the cemetery of San Miniato.

Bibliography

Joke Frima (coord.), ''La Signorina - Nera Simi and her Students'', Art Revisited, Tolbert, Holland 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simi, Nerina 1890 births 1987 deaths Artists from Florence 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian women artists Italian educators