Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Italian, American, 1883-1962
Italian-born Francesco Spicuzza was primarily a Wisconsin painter who did portraits, still-lives and local landscapes. He spent the first part of his life in near-poverty to become a painter. An eternal optimist, in 1917, the artist reported: "I am happy and my only ambition now is to paint better and better until I shall have reached the measure of the best of which I am capable." (Spicuzza, 1917, p. 22). His predilection for beach scenes germinated early: reportedly, the five-year-old boy first drew the outlines of his father's fishing boat in the sand on the seashore near their home in Sicily. After setting himself up as a fruit peddler in Milwaukee, Spicuzza's father sent for his family when Francesco was eight years old.
In 1899 or 1900, Spicuzza began studying drawing and anatomy under Robert Schade (1861-1912), a painter of panoramas who had been trained in Munich under Carl Theodor von Piloty. Spicuzza was also taught by Alexander Mueller (1872-1935), a product of the Weimar and Munich academies.
The earliest influences in his work appear to be from Edward H. Potthast and Maurice Prendergast, though Spicuzza never mentioned either artist. Already in August 1910, Spicuzza was described in a newspaper as "one of the most talented of Milwaukee's rising workers." He undoubtedly received lasting inspiration from his one summer study period in 1911 with John F. Carlson at the Art Students League's Summer School in Woodstock, New York. Although he executed numerous still-lives and an occasional religious work, Spicuzza is best known for his Milwaukee beach scenes populated with frolicking bathers in multi-colored attire, not unlike the images of Potthast, who used a similar technique. These beach genre scenes reflect the attitude of American impressionists who depicted the more pleasant side of life.
Spicuzza manipulated a successful balance of rich pigment applied in varying degrees of impasto texture with subtle nuances of hue. Working all'aperto, he sought "the soft enticing shades of yellow, blue, green, pink and lavender . . . to get the effects of bright glistening summer air." (L.E.S., n.d.). As a painter whose color not only derived from direct observation but also from a personal theory of color symbolism, Spicuzza traded the linear approach of lithography for dynamic patches of brilliant color. Like Prendergast, he would often tilt the angle of the picture plane to bring the viewer's position above the scene.
Spicuzza spent a great deal of time painting en plein air and by 1925 he began summering at Big Cedar Lake, near West Bend, Wisconsin to gather his subject matter. During the difficult era of the Depression, patrons came to Spicuzza's aid and during the 40s, he taught housewives, businessmen and students at the Milwaukee Art Institute, the Milwaukee Art Center, and in his studio. In the following decade, although his kind of art was no longer popular in the "make-it-or-break-it" New York gallery world, Spicuzza enjoyed regular patronage and sales.
Bio by Richard H. Love and Michael Preston Worley, Ph.D.to
5
1
1
2
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
9
3
5
1
1
7
1
1
5
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
8
8
6
1
1
15
781
713
707
690
4
2
9
Artist: Francesco Spicuzza
Early 20th century colorful seaside landscape pastel figures bench trees signed
By Francesco Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Couple on Bench at the Beach" is an original pastel drawing on paperboard by Francesco Spicuzza. The artist signed the piece in the lower left. This drawing depicts two figures sitting on a bench in front of a body of water. The artist used mostly pastel colors for this piece.
6 7/8" x 9 7/8" art
18 1/2" x 21 3/8" frame
Francesco J. Spicuzza, born in Sicily on July 23, 1883, came to America at the age of 8. He supported himself as a fruit peddler until a newspaperman gave him $4 a week to go to school. He attended classes at the Milwaukee Art Students League, where he studied under Alexander Mueller. There he learned to paint in the then-fashionable "Munich School" technique, with detailed realism in heavy browns and grayed-out hues. Spicuzza completed eight grades in four years, and then in 1911, three businessmen advanced him enough money to allow him to study in New York under artist and teacher John Carlson. It was during this time that Spicuzza changed his style of painting, developing an impressionistic use of color, form and atmospheric renditions. After a period of grinding poverty, one of Spicuzza's pictures won a major New York competition. It was the first of 60 wins, both in the U.S. and Paris. He became a fashionable painter, and many of the leading collections have his work. Spicuzza's typical works were beach scenes, still life, landscapes and portraits done in pastels, oils, ink, charcoal and watercolors. Much of his work traced the history of Milwaukee in the early 1900s. He was probably best known for his scenes of women and children splashing in the waves...
Category
1910s Impressionist Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Paper, Pastel, Board
"Lake Michigan Beach Scene, " Oil on Canvas Seascape signed by Francesco Spicuzza
By Francesco Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Lake Michigan Beach Scene" is an original oil painting by Francesco Spicuzza. The artist painted this scene on canvas and then glued that canvas to a b...
Category
1930s Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
"Cabin on Lake Michigan Shore, " Oil on Board signed by Francesco Spicuzza
By Francesco Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Cabin on Lake Michigan Shore" is an original oil painting on board by Francesco Spicuzza. The artist signed the piece in the lower left. It depicts a small cabin on the lakeshore surrounded by bright vegetation.
14" x 20" art
22 3/4" x 29" frame
Francesco J. Spicuzza, born in Sicily on July 23, 1883, came to America at the age of 8. He supported himself as a fruit peddler until a newspaperman gave him $4 a week to go to school. He attended classes at the Milwaukee Art Students League, where he studied under Alexander Mueller. There he learned to paint in the then-fashionable "Munich School" technique, with detailed realism in heavy browns and grayed-out hues. Spicuzza completed eight grades in four years, and then in 1911, three businessmen advanced him enough money to allow him to study in New York under artist and teacher John Carlson. It was during this time that Spicuzza changed his style of painting, developing an impressionistic use of color, form and atmospheric renditions. After a period of grinding poverty, one of Spicuzza's pictures won a major New York competition. It was the first of 60 wins, both in the U.S. and Paris. He became a fashionable painter, and many of the leading collections have his work. Spicuzza's typical works were beach scenes, still life, landscapes and portraits done in pastels, oils, ink, charcoal and watercolors. Much of his work traced the history of Milwaukee in the early 1900s. He was probably best known for his scenes of women and children splashing in the waves...
Category
1930s Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
"Lake Michigan Shore, " Oil on Board, Signed
By Francesco Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Lake Michigan Shore" is an original oil painting on board by Francesco Spicuzza. The artist shows the impact of Impressionism in his landscapes from around 1930. "Lake Michigan Shor...
Category
1930s Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
"Rocky Shore, " Oil on Board Abstract Landscape Signed
By Francesco Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Rocky Shore" is an original oil painting on board by Francesco Spicuzza. The artist signed the piece with his signature stamp in the lower right. Land and water are clearly demarcat...
Category
1930s Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
20th century oil painting portrait realism female subject dark background signed
By Francesco Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
Signed lower right by the artist.
Francesco J. Spicuzza, born in Sicily on July 23, 1883, came to America at the age of 8. He supported himself as a fruit peddler until a newspaperman gave him $4 a week to go to school...
Category
1910s Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Oil
20th century oil painting portrait realism male subject dark background signed
By Francesco Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
Signed lower right by the artist.
Francesco J. Spicuzza, born in Sicily on July 23, 1883, came to America at the age of 8. He supported himself as a fruit peddler until a newspaperman gave him $4 a week to go to school. He attended classes at the Milwaukee Art Students League, where he studied under Alexander Mueller. There he learned to paint in the then-fashionable "Munich School" technique, with detailed realism in heavy browns and grayed-out hues. Spicuzza completed eight grades in four years, and then in 1911, three businessmen advanced him enough money to allow him to study in New York under artist and teacher John Carlson.
It was during this time that Spicuzza changed his style of painting, developing an impressionistic use of color, form and atmospheric renditions. After a period of grinding poverty, one of Spicuzza's pictures won a major New York competition. It was the first of 60 wins, both in the U.S. and Paris. He became a fashionable painter, and many of the leading collections have his work. Spicuzza's typical works were beach scenes, still life, landscapes and portraits done in pastels, oils, ink, charcoal and watercolors. Much of his work traced the history of Milwaukee in the early 1900s. He was probably best known for his scenes of women and children splashing in the waves...
Category
1910s Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Oil
20th century oil painting self portrait male subject glasses pipe signed
By Francesco Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Self Portrait" is an original oil painting on masonite board by Francesco Spicuzza. The artist signed the piece in the lower left. It depicts the artist holding a pipe in front of a...
Category
1940s Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Masonite, Oil
"Snowcapped Mountain, " Oil on Board signed by Francesco Spicuzza
By Francesco Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Snowcapped Mountain" is an original oil painting on board by Francesco Spicuzza. The artist signed it with his signature stamp in the lower left. This painting depicts a mountain pe...
Category
1930s Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Related Items
"View of the Empire State NYC in Snow" Impressionistic Ashcan School Style
By Cindy Shaoul
Located in New York, NY
An impressionistic depiction of a figure in the snow with cars and buildings in the busy City Streets. The Empire State Building is portrayed in the background as the snow filled str...
Category
2010s American Impressionist Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
$1,200
H 17 in W 13 in D 1.25 in
Early 20th Century American Impressionism -- Old Lyme Connecticut Red House
By George M. Bruestle
Located in Soquel, CA
Gorgeous early 20th Century American Impressionist landscape of Connecticut red house by George M. Bruestle (American, 1871 - 1939), November 1914. Signed lower left and on verso. Dated on verso. Presented in gilt-toned wood frame. Image size: 8"H x 10"W.
George Matthew Bruestle is an American Realist/Impressionist painter known for his intimate landscapes. Born and raised in New York City, Bruestle studied at the Art Students' League of New York in 1886 at the young age of fifteen and later in Paris. That same year, Bruestle visited Essex, CT and eventually purchased a second home in Hadlyme, Old Lyme as the Art Colony formed. Bruestle's main studio was in New York City.
Inspired by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot [1796-1875] and other French landscape painters, Bruestle's style was a mix of Early Realism and Early Impressionist techniques. He was an adept draftsman and his paintings favored earlier European examples but, later took on a brighter Impressionist palette and brushy quality of the Old Lyme Art...
Category
1910s American Impressionist Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
$5,000
H 14.5 in W 16.5 in D 1.5 in
19th Century English Victorian Portrait of Two Dogs in a Field Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of Two Dogs
English artist, mid 19th century
oil on canvas, unframed
Canvas: 18 x 14 inches
Provenance: Private collection, England
Condition: The painting is in good condit...
Category
Mid-19th Century Victorian Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Oil
$1,619 Sale Price
30% Off
H 18 in W 14 in
Three whippets in landscape
Located in Hillsborough, NC
Three whippet dogs in a landscape oil painting reminiscent of 19th century British style or English School, this artwork is 45” long and nearly three feet high. Painted in the 20th ...
Category
20th Century English School Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
Impressionist Painting of a Riverscape, The Bridge at Argenteuil. Oil on Canvas.
By (after) Claude Monet
Located in Cotignac, FR
Impressionist view of a river landscape, oil on canvas board.
A charming Impressionist scene of people enjoying the delights of the riverbank. Some strolling, others enjoying a picn...
Category
Late 20th Century Impressionist Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
$494 Sale Price
20% Off
H 14.97 in W 21.66 in
Portrait of a Lady
By Alexandre-François Caminade
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Alexandre François CAMINADE (1789-1862)
Portrait of a Lady
Oil on wood signed low right
Old frame gilded with leaves
Wood size : 22 X 15 cm
Frame size : 40 X 30 cm
Alexandre-Françoi...
Category
1850s Academic Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Oil
Italian Renaissance Gentleman Portrait of a Tailor Antique Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Tailor
Continental School, 19th century
after the earlier Renaissance work by Giovanni Battista Moroni (16th century).
oil on canvas laid over board, framed
Framed: 16 x 12 inch...
Category
19th Century Renaissance Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Oil
$961 Sale Price
30% Off
H 16 in W 12 in
Afternoon Stroll, American Impressionist, Figure on Forest Path, Landscape
Located in Wiscasset, ME
Juliet M. White was born in Philadelphia in 1880. She studied at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, which became the largest art school for women in the United States. Its ...
Category
20th Century American Impressionist Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
$2,300
H 16.75 in W 14.75 in
Barcelona view urbanscape oil painting Spain spanish
By Josep Marfa Guarro
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Josep Marfa Guarro (1928-2014) Barcelona Spain Oil
Oil on canvas glued to cardboard.
Oil measures 23x28 cm. Frameless.
Josep Marfa Guarro (1928-2014)
Josep Marfa Guarro was a Cata...
Category
1990s Impressionist Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
$261 Sale Price
56% Off
H 9.06 in W 11.03 in
Fine Quality 17th Century Dutch Old Master Oil on Wood Panel Trial of Christ
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Trial of Christ
Dutch Old Master, 17th century
oil on panel, unframed
panel: 11 x 7.5 inches
provenance: private collection, England,
Christies auction stencil marks verso
condi...
Category
17th Century Baroque Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
$1,619 Sale Price
30% Off
H 11 in W 7.5 in
Port of Saint-Malo
, French Modern School
Located in London, GB
'Port of Saint-Malo', oil on canvas affixed to board, French Modern School (1984). Although the artist dated this painting '84, it depicts a nostalgic view of the port of Saint-Malo in Western France's, Brittany in 1884 judging by the clothing worn by the characters depicted. The crowd on the shoreline is watching a sailboat regatta starting just inside the port's breakwater. A rather rare sunny day in Brittany brought out the parasols of the sitting ladies on the edge of the old ramparts. The walled city...
Category
1980s Modern Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
Dawn Seascape Painting with Pink Sky and Waves by 20th Century British Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Dawn Seascape Painting with Pink Sky and Waves by 20th Century British Artist, Norman Scott
Art measures 16 x 12 inches
Frame measures 18 x 14 inches
Vintage Original Oil on Boar...
Category
1980s English School Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
$607 Sale Price
25% Off
H 14 in W 18 in D 1.5 in
Previously Available Items
Little Mary Spicuzza
signed oil painting of the artist
s niece
By Francesco Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
In this haunting yet adoring portrait, Francesco Spicuzza presents to the viewer his niece Mary. Her young face, probably from when about six years old, emerges from a hazy buildup o...
Category
1910s American Impressionist Francesco Spicuzza Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Francesco Spicuzza paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Francesco Spicuzza paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Francesco Spicuzza in oil paint, paint, board and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Impressionist style. Not every interior allows for large Francesco Spicuzza paintings, so small editions measuring 18 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Paul Bernard King, Victor Gabriel Gilbert, and Louis Aston Knight. Francesco Spicuzza paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,780 and tops out at $33,000, while the average work can sell for $13,500.








