Impressionism and Art Nouveau
A Brazilian born in Italy, Eliseu Visconti was an impressionist painter, cartoonist, and teacher and is credited with bringing the style of impressionism and art deco to Brazil. In 1884, Visconti was allowed to study the arts in Paris after winning a prize for his work, there he went on to win different medals and awards as a Brazilian representative and honed his skills at the École des Beaux-Arts. His work draws inspiration from impressionism, pointillism, realism, and art nouveau, seen in his artwork over the years.
One of his most notable achievements is his painting for the Rio Opera House, Theatro Municipal, measuring 6500 square feet and spanned over the wall, ceiling, and curtains. This grand painting shows an elaborate scene with many figures seeming to move throughout the scene.
His more impressionistic work typically features soft colours and depicts natural scenes or women and children as the subjects. Visconti had a masterful technique for capturing the likeness of light, which brought his pieces of art to life. Using the over exposing technique like in cameras, he would wash out facial features in some of his works, creating an illusion of bright light.
Out of all Brazilian Artists, Visconti painted the most number of self portraits in his life, a total of 42. According to his grandson, he was an “energetic and anxious” person who could always rely on himself to be a model for his artwork. In his self portrait below, we can see again his use of soft colours and impressionist brush strokes in the serene and calming painting.
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Natasha,
I’m getting in touch with everyone today to give them their real marks for the mid term quiz. You scored a 42/50 which translates to an A-. Congrats.
Jeff
Natasha,
Fine work on a new artist for me with Visconti. I had not heard of him before so thanks for the introduction. I really like when students dig deeper in art history to unearth little known gems as in this case. Where did you come across him by the way? Good information and personal thoughts on the work in question. Well Done!
Jeff
Hello Jeff, thank you for the feedback!
I’m happy that you are open to blog posts on less famous artists.
I discovered Visconti when I looked up “Famous Impressionist Painters” on google! I scrolled farther down the suggested results, past the artists you already covered and I thought his work was very beautiful and that he would be interesting to write on.