Luigi Bechi Italian 1830-1919

Born in Florence, Luigi Bechi is an excellent example of the 19th century Italian school of peasant painters. He studied at the Academy of Modern Art in Florence under the guidance of Giuseppe Bezzuoli, known for his boldness in drawing and strength of color, and Enrico Polastrini, an imaginative genre painter.

He fought bravely in the Italian wars for independence from Austria in 1859 and 1866; was wounded and taken prisoner in Bezzecca in the later year. Between wars he became an ardent supporter of the artistic group "Macchiaioli," the Italian circle which followed the new trend toward Plein-air realism.

Initially a painter of historical subject's, the artist later left these productions and concentrated on story-like subjects. He began to use the local peasant children as models in their own character and these became his favorite topics.

The Magazine of Art in 1867 stated of the artist: "He delights in cottage interiors, with their picturesque poverty, and suggestions of human affections blossoming more fully in adversity."

In 1870 Bechi was nominated by his former instructors to a Professorship at the academy in Florence. The following years were to bring him a sense of economic stability thanks to the success his paintings found with the public, but his art also began to lose its freshness and originality as he became conventional and repetitive.

Biography excerpted from the unpublished catalog by Edward P. Bentley for the Hausner Restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland, titled: Haussner's, The Children.