Paintings

Felix Henry Giacomotti
Italian, 1828-1909
Une Femme Elegant
Oil on canvas
29 by 24 in.  w/frame 45 ½ by 35 in.  


Inventory Number: Art G43
1800-1899 European Interior Period 1800-1899 Portrait Barbizon Impressionist/Post Impressionist

See Artist Bio below.


Felix Henry Giacomotti
Italian, 1828-1909

Giacomotti was born in Quingey , France to Italian parents.  He arrived in Paris when he was very young and studied at the Ecole de Beaux-Arts in the studio of Francois-Edouard Picot.  He came second in the painting Grand Prix in 1851 and won the Prix de Rome in 1854.  He traveled to Italy where he mostly studied the Old Masters notably Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci, whom he particularly admired.

He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1859 to 1909 and won medals in three consecutive years; 1864, 1865 and 1866.  From 1881 onwards he exhibited at the Salon of the Societe des Artistes Francais.  He was appointed curator of the Museum in Besancon locted in eastern France .

He produced a variety of religious compositions for churches in Paris for the chapel of St. Joseph in the church of Notre-Dame des Champs and a painting of Christ with the Lictors for the church of St. Etienne du Mont among others.  Giacomotti also painted historical and genre scenes but had a particular preference for portraits.  His works include “Portrait of Jules David”; “Portrait of Edmont About”; “Agrippina at the Camp of Ahasuerus” and “Capture.”

“The Glory of Ruebens” was commissioned by the French state for the ceiling of the Musee du Luxembourg in Paris ; it is now in the town hall in Bourges located in central France .  In terms of technique, the opulent nudes that adorn a larg number of his canvases recall those painted by William Adolphe Bouguereau and Alexandre Cabanel.

Museums and Exhibitions:

Besancon Museum ; Lille Museum ; Musee d’Orsay, Paris ; Museum of Belle Arts , Rouen

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