{My Favourites Painters Reviews: Part I, C. Perugini}

For many people, Perugini was a most interesting artist. His paintings were fastidiously painted, highly finished, with subtle integrated colouring, and at their best quite simply wonderful aesthetic pictures. Despite the Italian name, and his birth in Naples, the artist spent the great part of his life in England. His wife, Kate, was the widow of Charles Allston Collins, and the daughter of Charles Dickens.

"Summer Morning" - 1882

     Later Charles Perugini would study under academic painter Guiseppe Mancinelli in Naples and Ary Scheffer in France. It was in France that he was to meet his future wife, painter Kate Dickens who was the youngest daughter of Charles Dickens. After two years with Scheffer Perugini returned to England in 1863 and settled in London.

"Unknowed work" c. 1875

     Many of Perugini's subjects are romantic girls, posed reading or simply looking contemplatively though he also painted portraits. The women in his paintings often wear highly decorative accessories and displaying influences from the Aesthetic movement. His paintings usually have a high degree of finish giving them a polished look which is attributed to the teachings he received from Leighton.

"In the Orangery" - 1875

"Portrait of Mrs. Perugini" also daughter of writer Charles Dieckens. c. 1881.

"Portrait of Miss Helen Lindsay" -1885

"Dressing Up" - 1884

"Peonies" - Unknown date.

{More information at The Getty Trust}