La Lettura. 1912-1919
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Il Mercato dei Gigli di Porta Garibaldi a Milano (Meisterdrucke Kunstreproduktioonen).
Achille Beltrame (1871-1945) was an Italian artist, painter, portraitist, landscape painter, muralist, poster artist, and illustrator. He was born on March 18, 1871, in Arzignano, in the province of Vicenza, the seventh child of tanner Giovanni Battista Beltrame and Teresa Beltrame (née Brusarosco). His mother, a passionate admirer of classical literature, named all eight of her children after heroes of Greek mythology: Achille, Orestes, Ulisse, Antenore, Pylades, Ettore, Argia, and Antigone. Already at an early age, Achille showed an inclination for drawing; he was later able to get an art education: first at the Royal Technical School Andrea Palladio in Vicenza (1883-1886), then, thanks to the help of his brother Oreste, at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera (1889-1892) in Milan. In 1892, Achille Beltrame was awarded the title of Honorary Member of the Brera Academy, and in 1895, he was elected a member of its council.
G. Ricordi Editori, Strenne Musicali. 1900 (Halloween HJB, flickr.com)
Mele, Mode confezioni. 1900 (MutualArt Services, Inc.)
In 1896, the artist met Eduardo Ximenes, an illustrator and co-founder of the weekly magazine L'Illustrazione Italiana, who invited him to work for his newspaper. Their collaboration with the newspaper continued until 1898. At the same time, Achille Beltrame worked as a poster artist for the Milan music publishing house Ricordi, for which he created posters and designed musical scores; he also worked in advertising and playbills.
V congresso dei pompieri Italiani. La Domenica del Corriere. 24 settembre, 1899
In 1898, Luigi Albertini, publisher of the influential Milanese newspaper Corriere della Sera, approached him with an offer to contribute to the weekly Domenica del Corriere. Thus, Beltrame began a career as a magazine artist, which brought him fame and well-deserved renown.
La distribuzione dei doni mandati dall'italia alle trupppe nazionali in Cina. La Domenica del Corriere. 1901
Spaventoso incendio in una Scuola elementare a Collingwood. La Domenica del Corriere. 1908
From 1912 to 1919, the artist illustrated the monthly supplement to Corriere della Sera, the magazine La Lettura, for which he created 96 paintings. In his autobiography, published in the monthly, Achille Beltrame reports that during the war he visited the trenches only once, to witness the situation firsthand. Nevertheless, the artist depicted the setting, people, and objects on the magazine covers with documentary persuasiveness and a rigorous sense of realism.
La Lettura N9. Settembre 1913
La Lettura N10. Ottobre 1913
La Lettura N4. Aprile 1915
La Lettura N1. Gennaio 1916
Until the late 1930s, Beltrame's work was divided between his work as a graphic artist and his passion for painting. As a painter, he created hundreds of oil, watercolor, and tempera paintings, some of which were reproduced on postcards, almanacs, and calendars. In 1911, with a group of artists, Achille Beltrame founded the Lombardy Watercolor Association in Milan. In 1941, Achille Beltrame held his first retrospective exhibition.
In gondola a Venezia. Acquarello su cartoncino (CASA D’ASTE CAPITOLIUM ART)
In 1938, the master's wife died — an event that marked the beginning of a series of misfortunes and upheavals that would befall Beltrame: financial ruin brought on by the outbreak of war and the loss of his studio in the bombing of Milan. While out for a walk on February 7, 1945, the artist felt ill, lost consciousness, and fell into a coma. On February 19, 1945, Achille Beltrame died at his nephew's home in Milan.
Marina ligure. Olio su faesite (CASA D’ASTE CAPITOLIUM ART)
Sources: Civico Museo Parisi Valle | The Portrait Painter of Italy: ACHILLE BELTRAME; Galleria Faraci Arte: Achille Beltrame; CASA D’ASTE CAPITOLIUM ART: Alcune opere di Achille Beltrame già presentate in asta; Internet Archive: Digital Library
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