Oil Painting Italian Cityscape Rome Architecture Tonino Antonio Caputo

Dimensions: H: 18.0, W: 18.0 IN

Antonio Caputo

(Italian, 1933-2021)

Architectural oil paintings on canvas boards titled Testaccio. The composition captures a distinct stark Italian cityscape, blending classical and industrial elements through Caputo's signature textural brushwork and earthy palette. The scene explore the interplay of light, shadow, and architectural form, evoking a sense of nostalgia and place. The work is hand signed verso and presented in coordinating wooden frame with blue and cream-toned mat. Dimensions: 18 X 18 with frame. image is 12 X 12

Born in Lecce, 1933, Antonio Caputo studied in Rome at the Faculty of Architecture and held his first exhibition in 1956. He first engaged with art as a teenager. In 1952 he embarked on a trip around the world. He was a friend of Piero Manzoni, who consecrated him "living sculpture number 3", he worked in the graphic design of posters, book covers and screenplays. His architectural views of Venice and Rome as well as New York City are well known in particular graffiti scenes and urban architecture. In 1956 he participated in his first collective exhibition in Rome, where he exhibited figurative drawings. During the same year, he met Gastone Novelli and began to explore the field of informal art, an artistic journey that lasted five years. In 1958, he participated in a collective painting exhibition in Rome together with renowned artists such as Mimmo Rotella, Carla Accardi, Cy Twombly, Corrado Cagli, Giandomenico Gnoli and Gastone Novelli. From 1963-1965, he painted and studied in Paris, France and, in 1965, exhibited at Rome's IX Quadrennial. In 1966, Caputo started working as a set designer with the theater and cinema of the Italian director, Carmelo Bene, with whom he became close friends and collaborated with for many years. He designed the sets for Nostra Signora dei Turchi and Capricci and all the posters for Bene's theatrical shows of this period.

In 1972, he participated in the Venice Biennale (Theatre section) with the sets for the drama "Ecloga" by Franco Cuomo and Marica Boggio. Between 1983 and 1984, he executed two altarpieces for the church of Quercia di Aulla (Massa-Carrara).

Since 1982, Tonino has opened a studio in New York and has lived in Manhattan for part of the year. During the 1980s, he participated in several traveling graphics exhibitions organized by the Rome Art Quadrennial in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1992, the English magazine "Art & Design" recognized Tonino Caputo as one of the 50 most important Italian artists of the second half of the twentieth century. Towards the end of the 1990s, he created two lithographs commissioned by the mayor of Helsingborg and a mosaic installed in Bracciano station.Caputo traveled widely including to Eastern Europe (1970-1973), Australia (1977-1979), Sweden (1983) and, from 1984, between New York and Rome. Over the course of a long career, Caputo exhibited widely and successfully and was the recipient of numerous prizes, medals and juried awards. In 1992, Caputo was listed among the fifty most significant Italian artists of the second half of the 20th century by the English magazine Art and Design. The artist's works are held in prominent private and public collections including the permanent collections of works appear in private and public collections including the permanent collections of the Avellino Art Museum and the Iowa State Museum at Des Moines, among others.

The Great Synagogue of Rome (Italian: Tempio Maggiore di Roma) is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located at Lungotevere de' Cenci, in Rome, in Lazio, Italy. Designed by Vincenzo Costa and Osvaldo Armanni in an eclectic mix of Historicism and Art Nouveau styles, the synagogue was completed in 1904. It is the largest synagogue in Rome. The present synagogue was constructed shortly after the unification of Italy in 1870, The Roman Ghetto was demolished and the Jews were granted citizenship. In addition to serving as a house of judaic worship, it is also serves a cultural and organizational centre for la Comunità Ebraica di Roma (the Hebrew community of Rome). It houses the offices of the Chief Rabbi of Rome, as well as the Jewish Museum of Rome. Designed by Vincenzo Costa and Osvaldo Armanni, the synagogue was built from 1901 to 1904 on the banks of the Tiber, overlooking the former ghetto. It contains elements of Assyrian-Babylonian, Egyptian and Greco-Roman architecture. The eclectic style of the building makes it stand out, even in a city known for notable buildings and structures. The aluminium dome is the only square dome in the city and makes the building easily identifiable, even from a distance. The interior of the synagogue is lavishly decorated in the Art Nouveau style.