Exhibition Surveys the Achievements of Antonio Mancini, Italian Master of Verismo
One of the most prominent Italian painters of the late 19th century, Antonio Mancini (1852-1930) was at the forefront of Verismo, the Italian response to realism. A brilliant colorist and technician, Mancini is known for his daring and innovative painting methods characterized by unusually thick impasto and the inclusion of glass, metal foil and other materials onto the surfaces of his paintings. Antonio Mancini: Nineteenth-Century Italian Master, on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (October 20, 2007 – January 20, 2008) includes more than 40 works by Mancini, celebrating a group of paintings and pastels that recently entered the Museum’s collection as a gift from the estate of the American collector and dealer Vance N. Jordan (1943-2003). The exhibition surveys the major themes of Mancini’s career, which brought him from the legendary slums of Naples to Paris, Rome and English country houses. It includes not only his haunting portrayals of circus performers, street musicians, and impoverished children from the streets of Naples, painted in the years following his studies at the Istituto di Belle Arti, but also the portraits Mancini produced for society patrons and several of his reflective self-portraits which chronicle periods of both inner turmoil and the serenity brought by old age and fame.
The international loan exhibition, the first solo exhibition devoted to Mancini in the United States in more than 100 years, it highlights the paintings from the Vance N. Jordan Collection together with important works from museums in Boston, Chicago, New York, Paris, London, Dublin, Turin, Florence, Naples, and Rome, as well as private collections in the U.S. and Europe. The exhibition was organized by guest curator Dr. Ulrich Hiesinger, an independent scholar who has written widely on nineteenth century art.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States, showcasing more than 2,000 years of exceptional human creativity in masterpieces of painting, sculpture, works on paper, decorative arts and architectural settings from Europe, Asia and the Americas. The striking neoclassical building stands on a nine-acre site above the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and houses more than 200 galleries. The Museum offers a wide variety of enriching activities, including programs for children and families, lectures, concerts and films.
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