Vittorio Matteo Corcos

Vittorio Matteo Corcos (4 October 1859 – 8 November 1933)[1]

was an Italian painter, known for his portraits. Many of his genre
works depict winsome and finely dressed young men and women,
in moments of repose and recreation.

Biography
He was born to Jewish parents, Isacco and Giuditta Baquis, in
Livorno. He trained at the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence under
Enrico Pollastrini. Between 1878 and 1879 he worked under
Domenico Morelli in Naples.[2]

He then traveled to Paris where he met Léon Bonnat, and signed a

contract with the Goupil & Cie, he was able to supplement his
income as a portrait painter with illustrations for magazines. He
frequented the circles of Giuseppe De Nittis. Between 1881 and Self-portrait (1913)
1886, he frequently exhibited at the Salon.[3]

He returned to Italy in 1886, putatively to join the army, and settled in Florence. He converted to
Catholicism and married a widow, Emma Ciabatti. In Florence, he made friends in the intellectual circles,
and made portraits of Silvestro Lega, Giosue Carducci, and Pietro Mascagni. After 1900, he wrote for the
Florentine Journal Il Marzocco. He also published a short story in the magazine Fanfulla della Domenica
titled Mademoiselle Leprince. In 1904, he traveled to Potsdam to paint Emperor William II and other
members of the German monarchy. During World War I, his son died in battle in 1916. In the 1920s he
joined the Gruppo Labronico along with Plinio Nomellini and Ulvi Liegi.[4]

He also painted portraits of Mussolini (1928), Countess Annina Morosini, Countess Nerina Volpi di
Misurata, Giosuè Carducci, Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, and Queen Amélie of Portugal, Princess of
Orleans;

In 1913, his self-portrait was accepted by the Uffizi museum.[1][5]

He died in Florence in 1933.

Selected paintings

Dreams, 1896 Conversation in the In The Garden Stella and Piero,

Jardin du 1889
Luxembourg

Young Woman Portrait of a Afternoon on the Terrace Portrait of Amélie of

with a little dog Young Woman Orléans, Queen of
Portugal, 1905

Collections
Sogni, 1896, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome
Portrait d'Amélie d'Orléans, 1905, National Coach Museum
Self portrait : Uffizi

Bibliography
Carlo Sisi : Vittorio Corcos : il fantasma e il fiore : [mostra, Livorno, Museo Civico "G. Fattori",
26 giugno - 7 settembre 1997, Firenze, Galleria d'arte moderna, Palazzo Pitti, 16 settembre-
12 ottobre 1997] , Firenze : EDIFIR, 1997, (ISBN 978-88797-0054-2)
Ilaria Taddei, Fernando Mazzocca, Carlo Sisi: Corcos: i sogni della Belle Époque, Marsilio,
2014 (ISBN 978-88317-1749-6).[6]

References
1. Biography from 2014 exhibition (http://www.zabarella.it/mostre/corcos/cronologia/).
 2. Benezit Dictionary of Artists (http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.
article.B00042124?rskey=uAEt8G&result=1)
3. The New York Times, article by Roderick Conway Morris A Reassessment of Corcos,
Sensuality and Subtlety Intact, Oct. 7, 2014 (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/arts/interna
tional/a-reassessment-of-corcos-sensuality-and-subtlety-intact.html?_r=0)
4. Gardens and Ghettos: The Art of Jewish Life in Italy (https://books.google.com/books?id=SW
vlnlhl_l8C) edited by Vivian B. Mann, Jewish Museum (New York, N.Y.), page 332.
5. Encyclopedia Treccani (http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/vittorio-matteo-corcos_(Dizionari
o-Biografico)/); Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 28 (1983), entry by Carlo Sisi.
6. Ggbooks (https://books.google.com/books?id=mq_SoQEACAAJ)

External links
(it) Corcos , Fondation Bano Palazzo Zabarella (http://www.zabarella.it/mostre/corcos/)
(it) BWA, Vittorio Corcos: sogno di una Belle Époque (http://www.barbarainwonderlart.com/2
014/06/14/vittorio-corcos-sogno-belle-epoque/)

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