European Art & Old Masters: 500 Years

Provenance: Private Collection, Massachusetts.

NOTE:

Giulio Aristide Sartorio was born in Rome to a family of artists. After studying at the Institute of Fine Arts in Rome, Sartorio started to exhibit, entering a Symbolist painting into the Roman International Exposition in 1883, and winning the gold medal at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. He subsequently traveled to England, where he became familiar with the works of the British Pre-Raphaelites, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) and Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898). These painters and their influence through both subject matter and style, were precursors to the Symbolist movement , which deeply impacted Sartorio, now best known as a Symbolist painter of both landscapes and fantasy motifs based on classic poems and legends. He was also an illustrator, teacher, writer, and a film producer, as well as director over the course of his career.

The following lots illustrate Sartorio's pleasure (and keen ability) to paint landscapes, both with and without figurative elements. Highlighting nature and humanity in harmony, the artist depicts children playing on beaches, men hauling in bountiful nets full of fish, as well as jagged mountains juxtaposed with luminous trees. In each of these paintings, the viewer is presented with seemingly quotidian subject matter; however they are imbued with deeper meaning, and can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, true to the Symbolist philosophy.