on Donatus Buongiorno’s easel paintings
Fronts
Near his signature, Buongiorno added dates to some paintings, and they are not always the date of creation. I believe this indicates that they were commissioned paintings, and the dates are relevant to the subject matter, or sitter when they are on portraits. On paintings that were gifts, he wrote inscriptions. Below are some examples of inscriptions on the fronts of paintings.
Woman with Gold Earrings, 1902, Donatus Buongiorno
Woman Drinking Wine, 1907, Donatus Buongiorno
Backs
Buongiorno wrote notes on the backs of some paintings in black crayon. Besides his initials, “D.B.”, there are often numbers. I think they were dates, prices, dimensions (for stretcher purchases, for paintings that had been shipped as flat, unmounted canvases), and/or the numbers of paintings in an inventory for a show or sale.
Sometimes he wrote inscriptions on paintings which he gave as gifts (on the fronts or backs).
Occasionally, an easel painting has notes written on its stretchers, but these may or may not have been written by the artist. Unless they are in Buongiorno’s hand, or use his notation systems, I assume they were added by various owners over the years.
Below are notes on the backs of paintings.
Do you know what these notes mean? If so, I would love to hear from you. Contact me here.
Hi! Giovanni Gioscio is my great grandfather. Are you selling this painting? Also can I see a pic of the front of this painting?
Thanks!
Meagan: I’m thrilled to hear from a Gioscio family member! The front of this painting is the one I titled “Old Couple with Brown Pot” which you can see by scrolling down here: https://donatusbuongiorno.com/paintings/easel-paintings/couples/ I bought it from a dealer near Indianapolis and can tell you more about it. Would you like to talk? I would love to hear anything you know about your great-grandfather’s career, especially church mural commissions, as I would love to see/find pictures of the murals Buongiorno worked on for him. My phone number is on the “Contact” page which you can click to at the bottom of every page on this site. Or e-mail me privately from the e-mail link which is on each page. Thanks for writing! Janice
So happy to have found this website! Giovanni Gioscio is my maternal 2nd great-grandfather.
Thrilled to hear from you, tell me more, Robb!
Hello! Giovanni Gioscio is also my great-great grandfather, through his oldest daughter Marie Isabella’s son John Kafader (my grandfather). I would love to connect with some of you! I know a little about him. One of my favorite stories is that when he was young, he was commissioned to paint the episcopal residence in Mantua for Bishop Guisepie Sorto- who later became Pope Pius X. They became friends, and I hear there is a telegram somewhere from the Pope soon after he had been elected. Could you get me the contact info for the library where his records were found? The telegram may be in his records!
Kristen,
I want to meet you! Shoot me an email (use Contact in the footer, it will be private) and let’s trade phone numbers, ok?
Did you see that other distant cousins of yours also replied to this post? Do you know any of them?
And did you see this post about Giovanni Gioscio’s business? https://donatusbuongiorno.com/people/artists/gioscio-family/
James J Divita, a retired college professor (Marion University) who has studied and written many books on Indianapolis Italian Americans (https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AJames+J.+Divita&s=relevancerank&text=James+J.+Divita&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_4), got the business books of some of the families, including Gioscio, accepted into the archives of The Indiana Historical Society (https://indianahistorylibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/869841142). Contact them to search the materials.
Ciao!
Janice
Hi. I came across this thread and all of these photos. I also have paintings from the Gioscio family that were recently passed down to me. One painting I have is a an oil self portrait done by Giovanni Gioscio in 1910. It is a rather large on sizing at 40″ in hight and 30″ wide. I also have an oil he did on his father Marcello Gioscio who was also an artist. I do not have any of his paintings. I have these documented on my website if anyone is curious to take a peak. I am not selling these as I am a bit of an art historian and artist so these mean alot to me. I would still love to at least share images of them.
I have additionally have a blueprint by Ferdinand Gioscio (my great grandfather) and a portraint of Ferdinand done by Florene Gioscio (who raised my grandfather when he died in 1949).
Please feel free to click on the attached link to see some other works.
Annmarie, I’m thrilled that you posted! Look at all your cousins who are also in the game. Do you know them all? I would love to see your paintings. Let’s get in touch directly. Use the email link at the bottom of this page, which will be private.
Link to see other works done by Gioscio ancestors https://annmariegioscio.myportfolio.com/art-history