Auguste Anastasi

Auguste Anastasi (15 November 182015 March 1889) was a French landscape painter and lithographer who became a notable figure in French art for his Barbizon-style landscapes and lithographic work, which earned him medals at the Paris Salon, despite his later battle with blindness.

Early life and education Auguste-Paul-Charles Anastasi was born on 15 November 1820 in Paris, France. His father, Paul Joseph Anastasi, an Italian artist born in Rome with Greek roots, came to Paris from Italy in 1806. He later became completely blind in 1813 at 32 years old and was admitted to the hospice at Quinze-Vingts National Ophthalmology Hospital. His mother was the daughter of Nicolas Leblanc, making Auguste his grandson.

Anastasi was a pupil of French painters Eugène Delacroix, Paul Delaroche, and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot.

Career He began to enter his work at the Paris Salon and was awarded with many medals. Anastasi earned a second-class medal for painting in 1848. He won a third-class medal for lithography in 1852.

Working in the Paris area, Anastasi's artistic endeavors took him to Normandy, Italy, Holland, and Brittany. He fully embraced the techniques of the great masters of the Netherlands. He produced a lithograph titled Bank of the Meuse at Zwindrecht (Holland) which was exhibited at the Salon of 1857.

His travels to Rome, Naples, and rural Italy resulted in Terrace of the Villa Pamphili, among other paintings. First exhibited at the Salon of 1864, the painting is now held at the Musée du Luxembourg.

At the Salon of 1865, he showcased The Roman Forum, Setting Sun, The Banks of the Tiber, and two Roman views.

He was credited with the illustrations for Casimir Chevalier's book titled Naples, Vesuvius, and Pompeii: Travel Sketches published in 1871 in Naples.

Like his father, he had struggled with failing eyesight for ten years, hindering his ability to paint. His vision problems caused him to paint irregularly, though his output was greater in his early years. Théophile Gautier described it as "He saw black butterflies dancing before his eyes, like pieces of burnt paper carried away by the wind". The auction catalog included works by Corot, N. Diaz, Jules Dupré, E. Isabey, E. Fromentin, Daubigny, Rosa Bonheur, Cabanel, Bida, Gérôme, Lami, de Curzon, Eugène Lavieille, Stevens, Bonnat, and many more. With 200 artworks gathered by 1870, the war and Siege of Paris postponed progress for a few years.

Many of the landscape painter's works are in provincial museums throughout France, notably Nantes, Rennes, and Quimper. His death was announced in The Art Journal that year. After his passing, Anastasi left 100,000 francs in State annuities to the Académie des Beaux-Arts to establish yearly assistance for artists in financial difficulty. Terrace at the Villa Pamfili, at Rome (1864) The Roman Forum (1865) Setting Sun (1865) The Banks of the Tiber (1865) Two Roman views in water colors (1865) Terrace of a Convent at Rome A View at Tivoli (1866) A watercolor of an Italian villa (1866) The Coliseum (1867) Brook in Autumn (1867) A Wash House near Naples (1868) A Bit of the Village of Leidschendam in Holland (1868) A watercolor of the Winter Garden of the Princess Mathilde (1868)

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