Giuseppe Drugman

Self-portrait (c.1830)

Tiber Island

Giuseppe Drugman (27 April 1810 – 1 October 1846) was an Italian landscape and cityscape painter.^[1]

Biography

He was born in Parma, where his father was a carpenter and woodcarver at the Ducal Court. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Parma, where he studied with the landscape painter, Giuseppe Boccaccio.^[2] During the uprisings of 1831, he and his brother Massimo were suspected of belonging to the Carbonari, but were eventually cleared.^[2] In 1835, he participated in a competition for young artists sponsored by Duchess Maria Luigia. The first prize was eighteen months to study in Rome. He was awarded the prize in the landscape category for his painting of a deer hunt.

He went to Rome in 1837 and began sending his canvases home; notably scenes of Tiber Island and the Colosseum, done in a style reminiscent of Claude Lorrain. Towards the end of his stay, he spent some time in Albano.

He returned to Parma in the summer of 1838, was married, and began executing commissions for the Court, including views of the Palazzo del Giardino and several vedute of Parma. He also substituted for Boccaccio as a landscape teacher at the Academy whenever the latter visited Naples.^[2] In 1841, he was especially busy with commissions, doing canvases of the Ducal Palace of Colorno, a new road from Parma to La Spezia and a new bridge over the Sporzana.

In 1844 he and two other local artists were engaged to paint scenes from the operas I Lombardi and Maria di Rohan at the Teatro Regio.^[2] Two years later, after several more projects for the Court, he died in Parma of tuberculosis, aged only thirty-six.

In 2014, a retrospective of his works was held at the Museo Glauco Lombardi.^[3] A small street in Parma is named after him.

Born to an artisan working in the Ducal court of Parma, at 16 years of age he enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts of Parma, learning to paint landscapes from Giuseppe Boccaccio. During the riots of 1831, Giuseppe and his brother Massimo was suspected of Carbonari affinities, and nearly exiled. In 1835-1836, he won a contest with the painting Caccia al cervo^[4] at athe Institute of Parma, sponsored by duchess Maria Louise of Austria, that awarded him 2500 lira and an 18 month pension in Rome.

He left for Rome on 14 January 1837 on a journey that took 23 days. From Rome, he submitted the works, influenced by Claude Lorraine: Veduta dell’Isola Tiberina and a Veduta del Colosseo to the Accademia of Parma. His third essay was Exit of Albano (1837-1838, Istituto d’arte Paolo Toschi, Parma). He also painted La quercia del Tasso (now at Museo Glauco Lombardi in Parma).

He returned to Parma in the summer of 1838. He was commissioned paintings for the Court: Veduta delle Beccherie nuove di Parma; Veduta of the Royal Garden palace preso dall’angolo fuori porta S. Barnaba; and Veduta of Parma dalla Navetta. He replaced his former master Boccacio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Parma for a spell, then moved to Naples to continue painting landscapes. In 1841, he was commissioned a Veduta of the Royal Palace of Colorno,^[5] as well as other vedute of Parma, including:

• Peschiera del giardino ducale
• La strada da Parma a La Spezia
• Al monte Prinzera
• Presso il Taro
• La Città di Parma vista dalla strada di Langhirano
• il Ponte nuovo sulla Sporzana presso Fornovo
• Ingresso nella reale cittadella
• Nuova caserma reale della cittadella

In 1844 he was commissioned along with Luca Gandaglia and Giuseppe Giorgi, scenic designs fro the performance of I Lombardi alla prima crociata and Maria di Rohan for the Teatro Regio di Parma. He also painted for the court Veduta della nuova strada di Berceto (1844), a veduta del reale Casino dei Boschi (1845), and a veduta del reale giardino di Parma (1846).

He died at age 36 from pneumonia or tuberculosis.^[6]

References

External links

Media related to Giuseppe Drugman at Wikimedia Commons