My idea of a master's work . . . Fortunino Matania

[ShaneTurgeon]

Great piece, Terry. Congrats on acquiring it and thanks for starting the thread. I'd never heard of the artist before but have enjoyed reading about him and seeing even more examples of his work. It's absolutely stunning.

[Terry Doyle]

Great piece, Terry. Congrats on acquiring it and thanks for starting the thread. I'd never heard of the artist before but have enjoyed reading about him and seeing even more examples of his work. It's absolutely stunning.

 

Thanks!

[comix4fun]

Great! Now I am going to spend the next 10 years trying to find one those WW I originals.

[Terry Doyle]

Great! Now I am going to spend the next 10 years trying to find one those WW I originals.

 

Well, there are signed limited edition prints out there . . .

 

Interestingly, the Imperial War Museum in London houses a selection of Matanias.

 

Any interest in pirates?

 

Pirates are sooo cool!

 

I know the whereabouts of a nice Matania pirates original . . .

 

[comix4fun]

Great! Now I am going to spend the next 10 years trying to find one those WW I originals.

 

Well, there are signed limited edition prints out there . . .

 

Interestingly, the Impreial War Museum in London houses a selection of Matanias.

 

Any interest in pirates?

 

Pirates are sooo cool!

 

I know the whereabouts of a nice Matania pirates original . . .

 

 

 

Yeah I saw that one...it's neat. I wish it had a bigger scan.

[detective35]

Great Artwork!!!!!

 

Dwight

[Terry Doyle]

A search of eBay resulted in a copy of a 1930s mag, Brittania and Eva, that Matania was a regular contributor to.

 

Funnily enough, the seller resides in the USA.

 

Note how Matania's name appears on the front cover (not bad for an 'unknown', eh? ):

 

Some great interior illustrations by Matania . . . and he writes his own material!

 

 

 

[Terry Doyle]

An expanded potted biography . . .

 

"Fortunino Matania was born in Naples, Italy on 16 April 1881. He was the son of artist Eduoardo Matania. Fortunino studied in his father’s studio, designing a soap advertisement at the age of nine and exhibiting his first work at Naples Academy at eleven.

 

By the age of 14, he was helping his father produce illustrations for books and magazines. His talent was recognised by the editor of the Italian periodical L’Illustrazione Italiania and Matania produced weekly illustrations for the magazine between 1895 and 1902.

 

At the age of 20, he commenced working in Paris for Illustration Francaise and, in 1902, was invited to London to cover the coronation of Edward VII for The Graphic. Matania would subsequently cover every major event – marriage, christening, funeral and coronation of British royalty up to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

 

In 1904, he joined the staff of The Sphere where some of his most famous work would appear, including his illustrations of the sinking of the RMS TITANIC in 1912.

 

Matania exhibited regularly at the RA and Royal Institute from 1908, his work appearing in most of the principal magazines in Britain and America, including the Illustrated London News, London Magazine, Nash’s, Printer’s Pie and others.

 

When Britannia and Eve was launched in 1929, Matania became one of its first contributors. For 19 years, he wrote and illustrated historical stories for the magazine.

 

One of the most accomplished realistic illustrators and artists of his time, his work during the Great War was immensely popular and appeared in nearly every major news magazine, Allied, neutral and Central Powers alike.

 

Working mainly for The Sphere as their star illustrator, his work was sold to other magazines and publications worldwide. Literally tens of millions of readers saw war time events through the medium of his weekly illustrations and he played an important role in defining people’s mental image of what Great War battlefield scenes and soldiers looked like. He was also employed by the British government and commissioned by individual regiments. He visited the front line to view wartime conditions at first-hand and talked to soldiers about their experiences. From sketches and memory, he would then finish a painting, often in a few days. Drawing on personal experience and technique, as well as on information from archive photographs or prints, he would then set to work composing and finishing the required illustration. Rich in detail and carefully composed, his paintings often depicted heroic or romantic scenes. To our sensibilities, they appear at times to be overly sentimental, if not somewhat theatrical. On a practical level, he had to tell or illustrate a story in a single scene. That meant using stock poses and physical stances, often borrowed from the performing arts, so that viewers could readily grasp the underlying emotions and assumptions. For that reason, Matania has been described as ‘a photographer who used paint and brush’. Indeed, his illustrations are so realistically executed that at first sight they can be mistaken for photographs.

 

Quite often Matania’s illustrations were published as two page spreads in news magazines. Publication of his work in The Sphere was always of the best quality, but due to the limitations of technology, and because of the cost, colour printing was not always feasible, so most of Matania’s Great War work is now known to us in grey tone or sepia, sometimes even rendered into highly contrasting black and white engravings in other less expensive magazines.

 

Matania also illustrated a number of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels in the 1920s and 1930s and much like Lawrence Alma-Tadema, he became renowned for his realistic paintings of the ancient world. His talents also made him a popular illustrator for advertising, posters and catalogues, working for Ovaltine, Burberry’s and many others. His reputation was such, that he was visited in his studio in London by Pietro Annigoni, William Russell Flint, and John Singer Sargent.

 

During the Second World War, many of his paintings and drawings were destroyed when his studio was obliterated during the Blitz. However, many examples of his art still survive.

 

Matania was also recommended to Hollywood director Cecil B De Mille and produced a number of paintings of Rome and Egypt, from which authentic designs could be made for the biblical epic The Ten Commandments.

 

Towards the end of his life, Matania illustrated features for the popular educational weekly magazine Look and Learn. He died on 8 February 1963."

[comix4fun]

Can't find that ebay listing.

[Terry Doyle]

Can't find that ebay listing.

 

Damn! Now I can't find it, either . . .

[Terry Doyle]

Drawing is a technical skill that has been mastered by far more people, many/most of whom never become famous, than people here seem to realize.

 

While it can be impressive, generally speaking, it doesn't have the lasting impact that a great concept or idea has.

 

I suppose the same can be said about great musicians . . . if that analogy works for you?

 

It's one thing that an 'accomplished musician' can play his chosen instrument/s to near perfection.

 

Not every 'acomplished musician' earned a (shall we say?) recording contract . . ?

 

Matania was a recognized 'name' to the audiences for his work.

 

He 'played' to an audience of millions.

 

In effect, a 'recording contract' (which set him aside from the 'wannabe' published artists)'.

 

In light of WWI censorship (that curtailed the user of photography and newsreels) Joe Public's impressions of the frontline were conveyed via the illustrations of artists of Matania's calibre.

 

Joe Public had to wait a while for the invention of television to appear . . . and had to rely on visits to the cinema for any news footage to pass stringent censorship tests before being passed for public consumption.

 

Newspaper illustrations were supplemented by (censored) 'official' or bootleg photos . . .

 

To continue with the 'music 'analogy' . . . Matania never fell short of paying gigs.

 

The more I research this artist's works, the more I appreciate his impact on his audiences of the time.

 

Not quite the 'forgotten artist' that one or two skeptics would like to suggest?

 

As an aside, I realise that an artist who primarily worked in the UK might (nowadays) go unrecognized to a contemporary (American) comic-book collecting audience . . . I wonder if many of my (UK) contemporaries would recognize the name of Norman Rockwell?

 

No bitterness intended here . . . just fascinated by the unfolding history I'm discovering by my latest acquisition.

 

[delekkerste]

Not quite the 'forgotten artist' that one or two skeptics would like to suggest?

 

And yet, the name of his upcoming retrospective is "The Forgotten Art of Fortunino Matania". :yeahok:

[comix4fun]

Not quite the 'forgotten artist' that one or two skeptics would like to suggest?

 

And yet, the name of his upcoming retrospective is "The Forgotten Art of Fortunino Matania". :yeahok:

 

 

They are doing Patrick Nagel the next month.

[Terry Doyle]

Not quite the 'forgotten artist' that one or two skeptics would like to suggest?

 

And yet, the name of his upcoming retrospective is "The Forgotten Art of Fortunino Matania". :yeahok:

 

Dumb name for a book anyway.

 

 

[comix4fun]

Not quite the 'forgotten artist' that one or two skeptics would like to suggest?

 

And yet, the name of his upcoming retrospective is "The Forgotten Art of Fortunino Matania". :yeahok:

 

Dumb name for a book anyway.

 

 

Great Idea Time!!!!

 

They could print a book called "The Forgotten Art of Roy Lichtentstein"

 

It would be filled cover to cover with comics pages and strips.

 

Then you'd have ALL the source material in one place, and no one could "forget" again.

[pinupcartoonguy]

Not quite the 'forgotten artist' that one or two skeptics would like to suggest?

 

And yet, the name of his upcoming retrospective is "The Forgotten Art of Fortunino Matania". :yeahok:

 

 

They are doing Patrick Nagel the next month.

 

??

 

 

[Terry Doyle]

I post what I consider to be a great piece of artwork that most people here, regardless of any familiarity with the artist’s work, recognize as a high standard of illustration.

 

You enter this thread, not just to rain on my parade . . . but to well and truly p*ss on it.

 

Is it any wonder, then, that I’ve become increasingly irritated by your own brand of pomposity?

 

A lot of the time I find your posts well written and thoughtful . . . even though I detect more than an underlying impression of someone who is bloated with his own self-importance. It's as though you periodically descend from the heavens to impart your words of wisdom on us mere mortals.

 

I've gone to great lengths to provide background information to Matania's career. Information you seem highly dismissive of.

 

So, in a similar way, I disregarded the background to your TMNT painting and focused on the end-result.

 

My bad, and I accept that, but what's done is done.

 

You've gone out of your way to upset me - and I've reacted in kind.

 

No, it's not very nice . . . is it?

 

If I've displayed great insensitivity here, it might be worth remembering from whom I took my cue . . .

 

Bring on the public stoning. I really don't care.

[Terry Doyle]

There you go, but it changes nothing about how I feel about you.

[Aman619]

If I may spray perhaps some lighter fluid here. Two names: Salieri and. Mozart. One had the favor of the king and lived a rich life... Now he is nearly totally forgotten or reviled. Mozart excelled but dies penniless... And is revered probably forever.

 

Matania,, Salieri...

( fill in the blank artist who inspired, didn't just "draw real nicely") ,, Mozart.

 

I think that was Delisandwiches point above that pisssed you off so much. And by extension, the crux of the argument over Lichtenstein last month.

[Terry Doyle]

If I may spray perhaps some lighter fluid here. Two names: Salieri and. Mozart. One had the favor of the king and lived a rich life... Now he is nearly totally forgotten or reviled. Mozart excelled but dies penniless... And is revered probably forever.

 

Matania,, Salieri...

( fill in the blank artist who inspired, didn't just "draw real nicely") ,, Mozart.

 

I think that was Delisandwiches point above that pisssed you off so much. And by extension, the crux of the argument over Lichtenstein last month.

 

Sorry, the past week has been hectic for me and I've not had much of a chance to look in on these boards.

 

Actually, this is more about tit-for-tat.

 

Gene (going by what I remembered of his deleted post), objected to my anti-Lichtenstein posts (and the way I worded the title of this thread). That seems to have triggered-off his posts on this particular (Matania) thread.

 

I can understand that, to a certain extent, but this was - after all - an 'art day' thread for me. I bought a Matania original, was absolutely thrilled to bits with the quality of the draftsmanship, and wanted to share my excitement with others (and as I've been collecting OA since 1982, it takes a lot, nowadays, to excite me).

 

If Gene posted a 'Lichtenstein Art Day' type of post, I doubt that I would want to p*ss on his parade (and bring in to play our different tastes in art).

 

I've never shirked from expressing my admiration for those works of OA in Gene's collection that I have deep admiration for. I've affixed a comment to his Johnny Craig Vault of Horror # 30, acknowledging it as one of the very best of its kind. Similarly, I've stated on these forums that I believe his Elvgren paintings to be exquisite.

 

Believe me, I don't shy away from acknowledging quality when I see it - regardless of who the owner might be. Personal differences never come into play.

 

The Lichtenstein thread was controversial. It wasn't initiated by Gene, and the majority of posts I read seemed to be against the artist's plagiaristic ways.

 

For what it's worth (as stated in my posts on the RL thread), I actually admired the artist's works when I first experienced them during the 1960s. It was only years later, when I discovered that the artist relied on copying published panels of strip-cartoons, that my appreciation for him waned.

 

And for the record, I've absolutely nothing against types of artwork that buck the norm . . . as long as I notice an inherent talent in the end-result.

 

As mentioned in the RL thread, from a young age I was a regular visitor to the art galleries of my home city (Liverpool, in the UK, boasts two major public art galleries). I'm open to anything, artistic, that oozes talent.

 

Interestingly . . . although Matania may be largely unknown to a modern-day audience, a number of professional American artists (that include Al Williamson, Roy Krenkel and Doug Beekman) were/are Matania admirers/collectors. The Frazetta- expert Doc Dave W. has handled Matania originals . . . and a recent Heritage auction of Jerry Weist's personal collection yielded a nice Matania original illustration.