Background
Born in Savona and after losing his father at the age of ten, Cesare Tallone moved with his mother and sisters to Alessandria, where he became a pupil of the decorative artist Pietro Sassi.
Born in Savona and after losing his father at the age of ten, Cesare Tallone moved with his mother and sisters to Alessandria, where he became a pupil of the decorative artist Pietro Sassi.
Brera Academy.
Thanks to this financial aid, Tallone was able to enrol in the Brera Academy in 1872, studying under Raffaele Casnedi, Luigi Riccardi and Giuseppe Bertini until 1880. His talent was obvious from his very first works and was recognised by Francesco Hayez, who allowed him the use of his own studio near the Academy. He reprised this subject for the canvas shown together with the Portrait of Luigi Bernasconi (Rome, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna) at the "Esposizione di Belle Arti" di Roma in 1883.
Tallone often spent time in Rome with Antonio Mancini and Francesco Paolo Michetti.
His success with public and critics alike was confirmed the following year at the Esposizione Generale Italiana in Turin. He died in Milan. In 1921, on the initiative of his friend Bignami, the Brera Academy commemorated him with a posthumous retrospective.
Some members of the local bourgeoisie commissioned the first portraits from him and persuaded the City Council to finance his studies. An active participant in the lively cultural milieu in Milan and member of the Famiglia Artistica since its foundation in 1873 by Vespasiano Bignami.