Natale Attanasio Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Natale Attanasio (Catania, 24 December 1845 – Rome, 1923) was an Italian painter, set designer and illustrator. He studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Naples, where he was a pupil of Domenico Morelli. Read the full biography

Natale Attanasio (Catania, 24 December 1845 – Rome, 1923) was an Italian painter, set designer and illustrator. He studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Naples, where he was a pupil of Domenico Morelli. He became famous as a subject of historical and genre works, also as a portraitist. He participated in various Neapolitan exhibitions organized by the Promoter and among the paintings are: Pensiero dominant (1876); Wealth and misery, Gulnava and Tears and crimes (1877; National Exhibition of Naples). In 1882 he moved to Rome. In 1884 he presented at the Turin exhibition what is considered his most famous work, Sunt lacrimae rerum (also called The Crazy Ones), with which he won first prize. The work was later purchased by the Gallery of Modern Art. Brought to the National Exhibition in Palermo (1891), it is today in the collections of the Civic Museum of Catania at the Ursino Castle. Another work Bernardo Palissy (Bernard Palissy) became known after its acquisition by King Umberto for the Palermo Art Gallery. In his hometown he worked under commission for the decorations of the foyer of the Teatro Massimo Bellini and the apse of the Carmine church. In Palermo he decorated the palace of Prince Montevago and in Rome the reading room of the Senate. From 1886 to 1889 he taught at the School of Arts and Crafts in Catania.