Bold, Designing Fellows (Italian Decorative and Scenic Artists in Nineteenth-Century America)

A fascinating, beautifully illustrated narrative of a neglected group of Italian decorative and scenic artists and their impact on American visual culture in the nineteenth century.

Written by former Victoria Mansion curator Arlene Palmer, this volume is the result of many years of research of Giuseppe Guidicini, the previously unknown Bolognese artist who in 1860 was responsible for the design and decoration of the extraordinary wall and ceiling paintings that fill Victoria Mansion in Portland, Maine. Palmer’s meticulous pursuit of Guidicini’s history, from his training in Italy to his accomplishments in such cities as New York, Cincinnati, and Richmond, led to the discovery of a small but highly influential network of Italian immigrant decorative painters and scenic artists who made exceptional contributions to the artistic, architectural, and theatrical heritage of the United States between 1820 and 1880.

Guidicini and his compatriots brought Italian traditions to theatrical scenery and introduced an opulent style of painted ornamentation into American interiors that was inspired by classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. Their spectacular “fresco painting” of opera houses and theatres resulted in commissions to decorate commercial structures, churches, and private homes from Maine to Louisiana to California—and even to Cuba and Brazil.