painting in rome under the inﬂuence of past & present masters, plein air magazine, aug.-sept.,...

7/27/2019 Painting in Rome Under the Influence of Past & Present Masters, Plein Air Magazine, Aug.-Sept., 2013

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August-September 2013 / www.pleinairmagazine.com

A

merican painter Stephan Giannini is

passionate about landscape and figure

painting, and he has traveled to South-east Asia, Australia, and Bali to create plein air

paintings. In the years since he left art school,

he has made his living as a muralist and art

restorer; Giannini has created or restored murals

in state capitals, cathedrals, and for the White

House.

Last March, he found himself between

mural jobs, so he bought a one-way ticket to

Rome, with the intention of spending three

months painting on location where the great

artists of the past created plein air paintings. His

trip was stretched to four months, with the last

weeks spent painting in France, another countrynoted for great plein air painters.

Kinship With The MastersGiannini, who holds dual American and

Italian citizenship, looked at many paintings of

Italy before he embarked on his trip. One of the

artists whose work he studied most carefully was

the French artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

(1796-1875), who painted in Rome from 1825

to 1828 and completed more than 200 draw-

ings and 150 paintings of the Italian capital.

A few years ago I was working in D.C.

and I drooled over the collection of Corotpaintings and other small plein air works at

the National Gallery, Giannini recalls. I was

conscious of the paintings for a long time. Art-

ists today tend to have a brasher, more colorful

application of oil colors, but the subdued tones

and subtle edges of some of the

pre-Impressionism works are very

attractive to me. I really respond-ed to the soft, ephemeral feel of

Corots work.

As his last mural project

was coming to an end, Giannini

started to imagine himself paint-

ing the same views that inspired

Corot. But when he finally got to

the Eternal City, he recognized

that Rome has changed a great

deal over the last two centuries.

Its not the same city, he says,

STEPHAN GIANNINI

Painting in Rome Under theInfluence of Past & Present Masters

When I am painting subjects that once were painted by great masters,I get a feeling of kinship with those past painters, says Stephan Giannini.

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Stephan Giannini paints the

Roman aqueduct in the rain.

Parco Aqueducto, Roma

2013, oil, 8 x 10 in

Collection the artist

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www.pleinairmagazine.com / August-September 20

and both the views and the access to the sites where Corot painted

are now difficult, if not impossible, to locate. For example, when I

paintede Fabricius Bridge, Tiber Island, I realized that Corots view

was not blocked by a newer bridge. I did find a few locat ions that

were similar enough that I could come close to what Corot saw.

John Singer Sargents Italian views were also on Gianninis mind

When I was being educated as a painter, Sargent was definitely the

supreme deity, he says. Sargent is the first really great painter I

studied, and all those wonderful Italian architectural views were an in

fluence. It was his work that first got me thinking about going abroa

to paint. Ive looked at those paintings in books so often that I can s

some of the details in my minds eye. Sargent loved painting fountai

and statuary, and Im also attracted to those subjects.

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Giannini painting in Rome

Terme Carcalla, Rom

2013, oil, 5 x 8 iCollection the arti

Plein a


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When I am painting subjects that once were

painted by great masters, I get a feeling of kinship

with those past painters. My feelings were perhaps

akin to a classical musician who reinterprets the

compositions of past masters. More than anything,

walking around in Rome, Naples, or Angkor, Cam-

bodia, gives me a feeling of connection to people of

the past. Just knowing that 700 years ago, people

were stepping on those same cobblestones is amazing.

And when I do see paintings and frescoes in situ,

that makes me feel a kinship with the past artisans

because I create so many mural paintings.


Fabricius Bridge, Roma, Tiber Island

2013, oil, 8 x 10 in.


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Veduta del Foro Romano (View of the Roman Forum)2013, oil, 5 x 7 in.


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Near the Teatro-Marcello, Rom

2013, oil, 10 x 8 i

Collection Paul Reuth

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Observations & ImpressionsGiannini spends time looking at art because he strongly believes

one has to look at genuinely great works of art to be able to make really

good paintings. Careful observations and study will leave an indelible

impression on ones mind about what a really good painting should loo

like, he says. Perhaps that is why Im often disappointed with my ow

work. High standards may challenge one to get better, but they also

make it hard to feel truly satisfied with ones painting.

Giannini also looked at the work of contemporary artists who havpainted in Italy, most particularly Marc Dalessio. His blog definitely

influenced my desire to come here and paint, he says. Marc is very

generous with his knowledge, and I started using painting mediums

after reading his blog. He also blogged about lights one could use for

night painting, and I bought one of the Mighty Bright lights he recom

mended for nocturnal painting. Its actually a clip-on, battery-operated

double halogen light designed for orchestra stands.

I really liked the paint quality in Marcs work as well. He has

learned how to capture the intense sun of Italy, which is brighter than in

the American Midwest, where I grew up. One key thing Marc mentione

Via Tribunali, Naples

2013, oil, 8 x 10 in.


Plein air

Pulcino della Minerva (Berninis Elephant), Rom2013, oil, 10 x 8 i

Collection the arti

Plein a

Equipment for TravelStephan Giannini takes an 8 x 10-inch Open Box M pochade box with

him when he travels, and a supply of panels he makes by mounting

oil-primed linen to sheets of Multimedia Artboard. Because those pan-

els are rather thin, he uses an 8 x 10-inch board as a backing when he

paints. Giannini also made a wet-panel carrier in case he had a group

of paintings that needed to dry before being packed for travel.

There are only a couple of art supply stores in Rome and their

prices are quite high, so Giannini prepared and purchased most

everything he would need before his trip. Normally he uses a

lightweight Manfroto tripod to support his pochade box, but some

archeological sites in Rome forbid tripod photography and dont un-

derstand the use of a tripod as painting equipment and in Naples,

tripod photography is strictly forbidden. Giannini took a supply of

Blue Ridge oil colors and had to buy only an extra tube of titanium

white during his trip.

Ive tried to slim my painting equipment down as much as pos-

sible, but will do it even more the next trip, the artist says. I would

take multiple small tubes of oil color instead of one large tube to cut

down on the weight of my daypack, and I would even cut down the

handles of some of my brushes so they would fit more easily into my

daypack when I was getting around on foot or on a bicycle.


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was that he felt most great landscapes had big sky areas.at thought has been

influencing my compositional choices. However, it isnt always easy to include a

big sky when painting in some of the intimate spaces of a city.

Corot, Sargent, and Dalessio have wildly different painting styles, yet Gi-

annini was able to learn from each of them how he might approach the Italianlandscape. He says, With those masters to guide me, I always aimed higher in

hopes of making my paintings better.

STEPHAN GIANNINI grew up in Chicago, studied there at the American Academy

of Art and the Palette and Chisel Art Club, and subsequently studied at the Lyme

Academy of Fine Arts in Old Lyme, Connecticut. He has worked as an artist for more

than 20 years, and in addition to being a plein air landscape painter, he creates figur

tive works, larger studio pieces, and outdoor murals. He also restores and re-creates

historical visual art in architectural settings. Giannini has worked on over 30 historic

or religious buildings, including a project for the White House. For more information,

visit his website and blog at http://stephangiannini.com. His paintings of Rome can

be seen at http://stephangiannini.com/my-paintings/rome-paintings-2013, and his

blog post about meeting other painters abroad is at http://wp.me/ptYLF-SM

M. Stephen Doherty is editor ofPleinAirmagazine.

Vico Carbonari, Naples

2013, oil, 8 x 10 in.


Plein air

Ponte SantAngelo di Notte, Roma (Sant Angelo Bridge by Nigh

2013, oil, 8 x 10 i

Collection the arti

Plein a

Ostia Antica, Rome

2013, oil, 5 x 8 in.


Plein air

painting in rome under the inﬂuence of past & present masters, plein air magazine, aug.-sept.,...

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