- Antonio Fontanesi
Infobox Painting|
title=Der Gang zur Weide (The Course to the Pasture)
artist=Antonio Fontanesi
year=19th century
type=Oil on wood
height=
width=
height_inch=
width_inch =
city=Turin
museum=Galleria Sabauda Antonio Fontanesi (
23 February 1818 –17 April 1882 ) was an Italian painter who lived inMeiji period Japan between 1876 and 1878. He introduced Europeanoil painting techniques to Japan, and exerted a significant role in the development of modern Japanese "yōga " (Western style) painting. He is known for his works in the romantic style of the FrenchBarbizon school .Early life
Fontanesi was born in
Reggio Emilia ,Emilia-Romagna , and trained with the landscape paintersProspero Minghetti andVincenzo Carnevali . From 1841 to 1846 he madetheatre sets and began painting landscapes. In 1850, he moved toGeneva , where he stayed until 1865. His main area of interest waslandscape painting , which he expanded on after visiting the 1855 Exposition Universelle inParis . He participated in important artistic exhibitions, displaying his works inLyon ,Turin ,Milan ,Florence ,Genoa and the Triennial Exhibition of Fine Art inBologna . He was nominated professor at the Academy ofLucca , but moved to Turin when a chair as a landscape professor was created specially for him at theTurin Academy of Art from 1869 to 1876.Career in Japan
In 1876, the Technical Fine Arts School ("Kobu Bijutsu Gakko"), (later part of the University of Technology, and later the
Tokyo Institute of Technology ), an art school of painting and sculpture was founded inTokyo under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry. It was the first governmental art school founded in Japan.Upon recommendation of the Italian minister to Tokyo, Conte
Alessandro Fe , theMeiji government contracted three Italian artists as foreign advisors:Vincenzo Ragusa (1841–1927) for sculpture, Antonio Fontanesi for drawing andGiovanni Cappelletti (died 1885) for the preparatory course. The trio greatly influenced the development ofJapanese art and architecture through the next several decades. The acceptance of teachers in art from Italy alone was based on the unofficial government policy of accepting military advice fromFrance , industrial advice fromGreat Britain , agricultural advice from theUnited States , and legal and medical advice fromGermany .Fontanesi introduced the techniques of
charcoal ,crayon and oil paints to his Japanese students, who includedAsai Chu andYamamoto Hosui . He also taught western concepts of perspective,anatomy and sketching from life. His career in Japan was cut short by serious illness, which forced him to return to Italy in 1878.References
* Mason, Penelope. "History of Japanese Art". Prentice Hall (2001). ISBN 0131176021
* Sadao Tsuneko, et al. "Discovering the Arts of Japan: A Historical Overview". Oxford University Press (2003). ISBN 477002939X
* Yamada, Chisaburo. "Japanese Modern Art". Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Jul., 1940), pp. 567-578 Persondata
NAME=Fontanesi, Antonio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=19th century Italian romantic painter
DATE OF BIRTH=23 February 1818
PLACE OF BIRTH=Reggio Emilia ,Emilia-Romagna ,Italy
DATE OF DEATH=17 April 1882
PLACE OF DEATH=
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