Hailing from Rome, Giuseppe Signorini was a distinguished watercolourist famed for his precise figurative works.

One of the finest watercolourists of his generation, Signorini was a master draughtsman, producing an array of meticulously handled works. He trained at the revered Accademia di San Luca and undertook further tuition with Aurelio Tiratelli (1842-1900). His training was focused on studying the masters of antiquity, particularly via classical statues, in an effort to hone his drawing ability. Underpinning his achievements in watercolour was his superior nous with a pencil.

Specialising in portraits and ‘costume paintings’ as we see here, he rapidly became an artist in demand and was soon shown at the illustrious Paris Salon. Having spent a great deal of his time in the French capital, he established an atelier there in around 1899, while continuing to maintain his studio in Rome.

His other subjects included depictions of jovial cardinals gathering in lavish interiors and ‘orientalist’ scenes abundant with a profusion of colour. A scholar in his own right, he owned a vast cabinet of outfits, Islamic art, trinkets and textiles from which to draw inspiration. In 1888, L'Illustrazione Popolare stated: “The vases, the musical instruments, and the arabesque fabrics are cared for with the love of those who know the value of the details.” While L'Illustrazione Italiana proclaimed: “One cannot help but admire the arrangement and composition which places the majestic figure in the most suitable environment.”

Signorini spent 33 years in Paris where he developed a significant reputation, winning prizes in 1900 and 1913. Various national galleries acquired his works and he became particularly admired in North America.

He’s represented at the British Museum, the Met, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Brooklyn Museum, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Exhibited

Paris Salon.

Public Collections

The British Museum, the Met, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Morgan Library & Museum, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Brooklyn Museum, National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Timeline

1857

Born in Rome.

1889

Shown at the Glaspalast in Munich, Germany.
Enrolled at the Scuola di Geometria of the Academia di San Luca in Rome.

Studied under Aurelio Tiratelli (1842-1900).

1890

Shown at the Paris Salon.

From 1899

Maintained a studio in both Rome and Paris.

1900

Awarded a first prize at the Exposition Universelle.

1913

Awarded a first prize at the Paris Salon.

1932

Died in Rome.

Obituaries

Gazzetta di Venezia (1932)

“The painter Giuseppe Signorini passed away this morning, struck by a sudden illness. He was 76 years old, and until three days ago he had worked with the vigour and enthusiasm of his early years. With Giuseppe Signori, an artist with a good and supportive personality disappears. Expert in figure and composition, a conscious scholar of his artistic research, known in Italy and especially abroad, especially in Paris where he lived for 33 years, earning wide fame in the circles of that capital. His paintings, of which we remember The Moor, The Fruit Merchant, The Sleeping Torture, brought great success among critics and admirers in the numerous international exhibitions to which the artist was called.

Giovanni Signorini won first prize at the Paris Salon of 1900 and 1913. Some of his works were purchased by the national art galleries of Bremen, Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Paris and New York, where they are currently preserved. His fame was especially wide and fresh in North America, where in recent times the painter had had some personal exhibitions.”