Antonio Cirino, Providence, WWI Monument, 8" x 10" oil on canvas
Subject Matter:
genre painting & everyday life
Collections & publications:
RISD Museum of Art, Dayton Art Institute, Newport Art Museum, Providence Art Club, Rockport Art Association, Salamagundi Club and National Academy of Design.
Community:
Founding member of the Rockport Art Association
Art Friends:
Mabel May Woodward, Stacy Tolman and Frank C. Mathewson
Biography
Antonio Cirino's colorful and confident personality often distracted the Rhode Island art community. Many took for granted his remarkable talent even though this familiar local legend earned a national reputation. Since his death in 1983, scholars and collectors have gravitated toward his paintings, comparing him to his Rockport colleague, Emile Gruppe.
An immigrant from Italy at the age of two, Cirino integrated readily into the Rhode Island community. He graduated from Rhode Island School of Design and Columbia University. Although diminutive in size, he had an imposing personality and was a very successful artist. His fluid painting technique showed a keen understanding of composition and skillful craftsmanship in manipulating oil pigments, especially in the fluttering and lively effects of light reflecting off water.
A keen student of nature, Cirino painted outdoors for his entire artistic career. He was a kindred spirit to the Impressionists and focused on his own personal interpretation of nature. Read More
"When painting with a lion’s heart and in deep fervor, I wandered through the labyrinths of life, the country side, yea the wood interiors, mountain passes and the shores of the rivers and ocean and running streams conjuring up new worlds of beauty, ideas without ancestors, fact and fancies that stirred complacency and composure all this while in a world of facts or hard realities…"- A. Cirino Journal 1981