Gregorio Sciltian was an Italian and Russian painter of Armenian origin. The artist created portraits, trompe-l'oeil compositions in such styles as cubo-futurism and realism.
Background
Gregorio Sciltian was born on August, 20, 1900 in a city Nakhichevan-on-Don, Russian Empire (now the city is a part of Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation) to an Armenian family. His father was a lawyer, his mother came from the Armenian family of middle class manufacturers.
Education
Gregorio Sciltian started his secondary education at the local lycee, then, he moved to Moscow where he finished the gymnasium. Then, with an intention to become a painter, Sciltian entered the Saint-Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. Sciltian pursued his artistic training in Austria, at the Academy and the Museum of Fine Arts of Vienna.
Gregorio Sciltian made his debut as a painter at the age of fifteen in his native Rostov-on-Don where he presented his early cubo-futurist paintings at the group exhibitions. However, at the beginning of 1920s, the artist returned to the classical painting style.
At the end of 1922, Sciltian came to Berlin where he opened a studio on Motzstraße street along with painters Léon Zack, Philippe Hosiasson and Roman Kramštič. The next year, the artist moved to Italy, where he opened a studio as well and took part at the Biennale in Rome. A famous Italian art historian by the time, Roberto Longhi marked the spectacular realism of these artworks and recommended them to the art gallery Bragaglia Art House. At the middle 1920s, Sciltian had a commission from Russian Prince Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky to copy cell paintings of the Stroganovs’ Palace of XVII century in Rome.
The next significant exhibition in the Sciltian’s career was the participation at the Venice Biennale in 1926. He also exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants where one of his paintings was bought by the Musée du Luxembourg. In two years, Sciltian presented his drawings at the Exposition de l'Art Russe organized at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, some of which were sold to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium. This time, the artist’s icon became trompe-l'oeil compositions.
The year of 1933 was rich on events for Gregorio Sciltian. The artist sent his portraits of notable Italian art and political figures to different shows in Liège, Berlin and London. The personal artists’ shows of the year took place at the Galleria Scopinich in Milan, Italy and in Paris. These were followed by the solo exhibitions in Bologna (1937) and at Ettore Jan Ferrari Gallery in Milan (1939). In 1936, Sciltian participated at his next Venice Biennale with his painting Bacchus tavern. Four years later, Venice Biennale organized the whole room for Sciltians’ artworks.
After the World War II, Gregorio Sciltian established the studio in Milan Palazzo Trivulzio. Among the most significant shows of the post war period were the exhibitions at the Gallery Del Illustrazione (1947) in Milan, La Margherita Gallery in Rome (1948) along with Xavier and Antonio Bueno, Carlo Guarenti and Pietro Annigoni, at the portrait gallery Ritratto alla Galleria Cherubini (1949) in Florence, XXV Venice Biennale and the International Exhibition of Realist Painters at the Galérie Martoren, two latter in 1950.
Since 1950s, Gregorio Sciltian designed the costumes for the annual Italian opera festival Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and for the theatre La Scala. During the next ten years, the artist illustrated some writings, such as the Milan edition (1967) of the novel Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy for which he made 118 illustrations.