Antonio Mancini
Roman (trained in Naples), 1852–1930
The Sulky Boy, 1875
Oil on canvas
37 13/16 x 30 7/16"
Glasgow Museums, David Perry Bequest, 1940
2191
COMMENTS
One of the leaders of the Italian Verismo (realism or naturalism) movement, Antonio Mancini studied in Naples at the Istituto di Belle Arte before returning to Rome, the city of his birth, for the remainder of his career. However, two trips that he took to Paris in 1875 and 1877, at the encouragement of his patron, Albert, Count Cahen of Antwerp, shaped the work of the young artist. There he met avant-garde artists Édouard Manet (1832–1883) and Edgar Degas (1834–1917), and became immersed in the deep coloration and rich, expressive brushwork of the Baroque masters Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) and Diego Velázquez (1599-1660).
Back in Rome, Mancini continued his work as a genre painter, but also became a noted society portraitist. In fact, American artist John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) championed his work. Mancini’s paintings are marked by a dark tonality and an expressive use of pigment. Later in his career, his application of paint became increasingly experimental, and the thick, highly varied surfaces of his paintings result in images that shift and respond to the viewer in unique ways.
- Of Heaven and Earth: 500 Years of Italian Painting from Glasgow Museums, Milwaukee Art Museum
http://mam.org/of-heaven-and-earth/biographies.php
SBMA CURATORIAL LABELS
We do not know when or why the painting was given this title. It is possible that the “sulky boy” is a portrait of a real person, but that too is unclear. What is clear is that Mancini, who was only twenty-three when he made this painting, was aware of the most current trends in painting. He was born in Rome and trained in Naples but he visited Paris twice in the mid-1870s. In Paris he met Edouard Manet and Manet’s influence can be seen here in the sketchy, rich impasto of the brushwork.
But the big expanse of dark background, with the child’s head emerging from the shadows and peeping out from behind a colorful pile-up of objects is a very original amalgam of French, Spanish, Italian, even Neapolitan, influences.
Mancini had an international career, which included an exhibition of his work at the Paris Salon of 1872. He became a well-known society portraitist and was championed in Britain by his friend the American painter John Singer Sargent.
- Botticelli, Titian, and Beyond, 2015