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Tag Archives: MICA

Sorrento and Surrounding Region: Artistic Inspiration

18 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by fineartsbaltimore in Artistic Exchange, Artists, Baltimore Art History, Baltimore Artists, Italy, James J Hennessey, Landscape Painting, MICA, Travel

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Artistic Exchange, Baltimore Art History, Baltimore Artists, Italian landscape, MICA, Sorrento

sagnello1

For nearly a decade the painter Jim Hennessey was the director of a summer painting program in Southern Italy. He and his wife, Dr. Pamela Potter-Hennessey, were the artist and the art historian in residence. Together they brought more then 75 painting students to the region where they experienced the landscape and light of this amazing region.

Each fall Hennessey returned to his Baltimore studio with numerous Italian references– recorded on paper and canvas, or stockpiled as memories and ideas in his head. This raft of material was the fodder for winter production, and out of his summer experiences the artist created many paintings and drawings that are either directly referential, or inspired by the area.  His tendency was to make watercolors, or drawings while in residence in Italy, and then on his return to Maryland the studio production became oil paintings– some large and some small, like the painting above.  The subjects range from expansive views out of the hotel window or from perches on the regional hill tops, to more intimate views of familiar locales.  This particular painting is from 1995, and is titled S. Agnello, 24.5″ x 18.5″ the name of the tiny Italian town where Hennessey stayed with his students.

The group was always in residence at the Grand Hotel Cocumella, a wonderful, historic hotel that has a long history (since 1777) of hosting artists, writers and other creative people like Goethe, Freud and the Duke of Wellington!  cocumella

The opportunity to spend time in Italy at this amazing locale was the gift of Nino del Papa, a well-known Neapolitan architect who was the proprietor at the time. His interest in supporting artists extended to young American students from the Maryland Institute College of Art, in Baltimore.  The Cocumella staff helped create an atmosphere that was supportive of creativity and was welcoming, warm and intimate.

Each year, at the close of the painting program, the City of Sorrento would host an exhibition of the young artists’ work in the City Hall courtyard, or at the nearby Cloisters of S. Francesco.   sfrancesco  The facilitator of these exhibitions and the person who forged a link between Hennessey’s student groups and the town of Sorrento, was Antonino Fiorentino, a member of the Sorrento City government.  Fiorentino’s father, Domenico Fiorentino, was one of the local artists the students met and were fortunate enough to interact with (see past post: Domenico Fiorentino: Influence Reassessed).

sagnello6

Hennessey’s paintings that were inspired by his time in Southern Italy always seem to take into account the amazing light of the area.  Because the towns of Sorrento and S. Agnello sit on the cliffs above the Bay of Naples, there is often a misty quality to the air, even if the sun is shining.  The detail above illustrates how Hennessey took into account this hazy, mysterious light.

If you are interested in purchasing this painting, the link is:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221179061531&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT#ht_1497wt_1163

Domenico Fiorentino: Influence Reassessed

19 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by fineartsbaltimore in Artistic Exchange, Artists, MICA

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Artistic Exchange, Italian landscape, MICA, Sorrento

Since the artist Domenico Fiorentino died early this month, I’ve thought about his influence on the art world. I spoke in the past about his contact with our students in the MICA Sorrento Summer program, which was an important aspect of their Italian experience.  The painting forays, discussions about the work, and the social interaction with this local painter left a positive impact on many of the program’s participants.   However, we were only a few of the many people Domenico touched in his long and productive life.

There is also Domenico’s link to the greater world of art to consider–his friendships with other artists, with critics, writers, and museum professionals. He led a quiet daily life in beautiful, sleepy Sorrento, Italy, but Fiorentino had a significant impact on many people from around the world.  The photographs below show him painting his beloved Sorrento and interacting with two of these international art professionals.

The first photo was taken on November 10, 2007, and shows Domenico Fiorentino with Raffaele De Grada ( 1916-2010), a significant Italian art historian from Milan. Raffaele De Grada died on 1st October 2010.

The second photograph was taken on February 5th, 2010, and shows Fiorentino with the famous British art critic Charles Avery, who admires a painting Domenico made in Paris in the period 1982/1989.

The third photograph shows Domenico Fiorentino painting a view from Sorrento on the 6th of July, 2006.

As time passes, Domenico Fiorentino’s true legacy will be discussed and documented.  He led a long and fruitful artistic and personal life and will be sorely missed.

The Ties That Bind: Domenico Fiorentino, Sorrentine Painter and Baltimore

08 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by fineartsbaltimore in Artistic Exchange, Exhibitions, Landscape Painting, MICA

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Artistic Exchange, Baltimore painters, Italian landscape, MICA, Sorrento

The well-known Italian realist painter, Domenico Fiorentino, of Sorrento, Italy died a few days ago on the 4th of April. What a tremendous loss for the art world–both here and in Italy.  The Baltimore artist Jim Hennessey and I have known Domenico since 1992, when we met while directing a summer program in Sorrento for the Maryland Institute, College of Art.  We led a small group of American students to Italy in order to paint the lush landscape of the South.  I was the program art historian, and my husband Jim was the painter.

Domenico Fiorentino was introduced to us by his son, Antonino, an energetic and enthusiastic connoisseur of the arts, who orchestrated our encounters with this amazing artist.

Our students met with Domenico in the streets of Sorrento where they set up their French easels to paint the buildings and busy market stalls.  On several occasions he joined us on the beach and docks of Massa Lubrense, a small picturesque fishing village where they painted the boats and the rocky landscape.  

Domenico didn’t speak English and the students’ Italian was rudimentary at best and so during these forays Jim acted as translator.

When Antonino–who works as a functionary for the City of Sorrento–had time to join us he spoke with his father about the students’ experiences.  After the long days in the sun we all shared drinks at a nearby bar to cool off before our return by local bus to our hotel and studio.

It was during these encounters that first summer that a link between Baltimore and Sorrento was forged.  It continued and strengthened for several summers, with contact between our young students and the accomplished, Italian master.  When we left the MICA program after 5 years, our saddest moment came when we realized that we wouldn’t be able to interact with Domenico the next year, something we had come to expect and treasure at the same time.

One of the most amusing experiences with Domenico Fiorentino was the day that he and Jim Hennessey proposed a portrait challenge.  They faced off in an upstairs room in Pollio’s ice cream parlor, in the center of town, where the walls were hung with many of Domenico’s paintings. The two artists stared at one another with drawing boards propped on the table and pencils at the ready.  While Antonino and some of the students and I paced the floor, watching the progress, Drew Bacigalupa filmed the encounter.  You can see a few minutes of the challenge on Drew’s youtube video:

Domenico Fiorentino was born in 1923, and he spent his life painting his beloved town of Sorrento and the surrounding landscape. He studied early on at the Sorrento College of Art and then in Naples at the Accademia di Belle Arti.  He came to the attention of the Neapolitan painter Luigi Crisconio early in his life. Domenico’s family owned the pensione “Rosa Magra,” which attracted artists from around the world.  When Crisconio stayed in Sorrento at ” ZI TERESA,” a restaurant and pension in front of the house where Domenico lived, the little boy followed the artist about when he ventured out to paint.  Crisconio befriended the boy and later when he was Domenico’s teacher at the Accademia he encouraged this prolific, committed artist. Fiorentino continued to produce his realistic works that included insightful portraits, as well as the documentary landscapes.

By the time we met Domenico in the early 1990s, he had become an established member of the Sorrentine Plein Air School of Painting and was best known for his landscapes of the region. We were lucky enough to see many of his early portraits when we were shown a large group of his paintings by a local collector.

Domenico generously gave us one of his paintings of the town center. When the artist presented us with his gift we promised that we would frame the painting immediately upon our return to Baltimore.  It hangs today in our living room with other precious works done by artist friends.

The impact that Domenico Fiorentino had on Baltimore and Baltimore artists would be difficult to trace, but I know it was significant.  This kind and gentle man, a devoted painter who took out precious time to interact with our young students, met with more than 40 of them through the years.  He passed on his knowledge and love of painting and also demonstrated to them his devotion to the arts and his life-long work ethic. He will be sorely missed by many of us.

A biography of the artist can be found at this website:  http://reocities.com/Athens/parthenon/8708/prodf.htm

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