Pietro Annigoni
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Pietro Annigoni (June 7, 1910 - October 28, 1988) was an Italian portrait and fresco painter.
Born in Milan, Annigoni is most famous for his 1954 portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (Fishmongers' Company, London[1]). Although he gained acclaim as a painter of royalty, Annigoni chose his subjects from a cross section of humanity. His work bore the influence of Italian Renaissance portraiture, and was in contrast to the modernist and post-modernist artistic styles that dominated the middle and late twentieth century.
Other subjects painted by Annigoni include Pope John XXIII, John F. Kennedy, perhaps his worst portrait as Kennedy would not sit still and Annigoni had no time or inclination to satisfy Time magazine, Vanna Bonta as a young girl, the Shah of Iran, Luigi Ugolini, ballet legend Margot Fonteyn, and the Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur.
Pietro Annigoni was chosen by TIME magazine to paint President of the United States John F. Kennedy for the (January 5) 1962 Person of the Year cover. Other TIME magazine covers that featured portraits by Annigoni were the issues of October 5, 1962 (Pope John XXIII), November 1, 1963 (Ludwig Erhard), and April 12, 1968 (Lyndon B. Johnson).
Annigoni works are in museums worldwide, including the Uffizi Gallery and Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy; the Benedetta Bianchi Porro Foundation in Dovadola (Forlì), Italy; the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Royal Collection of Windsor Castle; the National Portrait Gallery of London, England; the Vatican Museums in Rome, Italy.
There is an award winning film documentary on Annigoni's life and times titled, Annigoni: Portrait of an Artist.
He died in Florence. His body is interred in the Porte Sante (Holy Doors) cemetery at the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte, Florence.
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[edit] Pietro Annigoni quotes
- "Impulse alone does not make a work of art."
- "The emotional states which a painter or other artist feels irresistibly forced to express are those most intimate states of mind and soul from which may be struck the spark or revelation, kindling a light that shows things in their deepest, most universal, and perhaps even eternal reality; this light we may call the light of poetry."
- "Ineptitude has today, it seems, acquired full rights of citizenship in the realm of art."
- "Life is the greatest teacher."
[edit] References
[edit] Apprentices
- John Michael Angel
- Ben Long
- Nelson Shanks
