Nino Costa Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

The Italian painter Nino Costa, whose real name was Giovanni, was born in Rome in 1826. He helped spread naturalistic ideas among members of the Macchiaioli painting movement. Read the full biography

The Italian painter Nino Costa, whose real name was Giovanni, was born in Rome in 1826. He helped spread naturalistic ideas among members of the Macchiaioli painting movement. Son of a well-known representative of the Roman industrial bourgeoisie, Nino received a classical education and dedicated himself to painting, attending the studio of Vincenzo Cammuccini and Francesco Coghetti in Rome around 1848. His art was inspired above all by nature and life painting which distanced him from artists linked to neoclassical and romantic experiences. A convinced advocate of national unity, Nino Costa participated in the first war of independence. After the restoration, between 1850 and 1851, Nino Costa went to Naples where he met the Posillipo school, close to his natural propensity for the realistic representation of landscapes. He settled in Ariccia and in 1852 met George Mason, with whom he painted en plein air in the Roman countryside. In 1852, he participated in the First National Exhibition in Florence and in 1862 in the Paris Salon. During his life, Nino Costa traveled a lot, meeting other colleagues and well-known personalities in the artistic world.
Nino Costa died on 31 January 1903 in Marina di Pisa.