Publisher's Synopsis
The illustration Art Gallery presents 96 glorious pages of original Matania art and prints with over 250 Images (including 125 illustrations not featured in our art book Drawing from History: The Forgotten Art of Fortunio Matania). Born in Naples in 1881, Fortunino Matania trained at his fathers studio and illustrated his first book at the age of 14. He studied in Paris, Milan and London, where he worked on The Graphic. He returned to Italy at the age of 22 for military service in the Bersaglieri. He returned to London where he joined the staff of The Sphere. At the end of World War I Matania illustrated numerous ceremonies in London, including the coronation of Edward VII. During the first half of the 20th century he literally illustrated history as it happened. He was made a Chevalier of the Crown of Italy, and exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy and The Royal Institute of Art. In his studio he maintained an enormous collection of artefacts to aid him in his work. He rarely made preliminary sketches, preferring to begin an elaborate illustration without previous preparation. It was as if he had an exact mental photograph of the art of before he began to paint or draw. His reputation was such that he was visited in his studio in London by Annigoni, Russell Flint and John Singer Sargent and his work is collected and admired by many of todays greatest artists and illustrators.
