Fausto Zonaro - Buy or sell works
18 September 1854, Masi/Padua (Italy) - 19 July 1929, San Remo (Italy).
Fausto Zonaro was an outstanding 19th-century Orientalist painter, who distinguished himself in his depictions of the Orient and North Africa. His landscapes are atmospheric and filled with light effects, his genre scenes often have a narrative, anecdotal character and are lively with bright colours and loose brushstrokes.
Zonaro trained in Verona and Naples, and returned to Venice repeatedly in his early years. He moved to Paris in 1888, where he opened a watercolour school for women and came into contact with Impressionism, rendering his painting style looser and his contours softer.
His passion for orientalist motifs eventually led Zonaro to Constantinople, where he met important local artists of the time, including Osman Hamdi Bey. Zonaro became the official court painter at the Ottoman court in 1891. During this time, Zonaro also forged close relationships with high-ranking figures in the empire, including Sultan Abdulhamid II. Further signs of his success lie in his participation in international exhibitions, including the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900. Fausto Zonaro remained in Constantinople until 1909, only returning to Italy after the Turkish revolution, which overthrew his patron Abdulhamid II, and the transition to a constitutional monarchy.
Fausto Zonaro left behind fascinating depictions of Oriental life. The scenes from Constantinople also have documentary value, as Zonaro was not only interested in the romanticising idealism and stereotypes of previous Orientalists, but also in the direct reproduction of reality.