John Califano - Untitled

The painting can be defined as a genre scene, that is, the depiction of an episode of everyday life that, apparently, lacks any significant element. These types of domestic subjects were long considered minor and only began to spread in Western art starting in the 17th century. Only with the development of 19th-century realism did everyday subjects become considered as important as historical or religious ones. It is within this context that John Califano's work developed, drawing primarily from popular genre scenes.

John Califano's paintings are (both in terms of their popular subject matter and execution style) a product of the 19th- and 20th-century Neapolitan school of painting, which found its main influence in Domenico Morelli. This style of painting fundamentally focused on a total naturalistic rendering and impeccable technical quality, the fruit of a high level of academic training. This, however, does not prevent him from embracing pictorial innovations and a more modern approach to artistic creation. For this reason, Califano's strokes are rapid and cursive, more concise and suited to giving the work a sense of freshness and immediacy. In this sense, the execution of the subject takes on a distinctive realist and veristic quality, which refers to a complexity of perception and, consequently, of representation of the subject itself. John Califano uses large, dense patches of paint, with a vibrant, luminous polychrome.

John Califano (1864 – 1924). Born in Rome in 1864, he moved to Naples where he studied under Domenico Morelli (1823 – 1901). In 1880 he won the gold medal at the Milan Exhibition. He emigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago, where he participated in exhibitions at the National Academy and the Philadelphia Art Club. He devoted himself particularly to genre scenes and snowy landscapes.

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