Achille Beltrame

ACHILLE BELTRAME (Itlaia, 1871 - 1945).
"Female portrait".
Mixed media on canvas.
Signed in the lower corner.
Measurements: 73 x 58 cm; 101 x 85 cm (frame).

Achille Beltrame was a renowned Italian illustrator and painter, famous for having been the author of the covers of the weekly magazine "La Domenica del Corriere" for almost half a century. Beltrame forged his talent at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera, in Milan, where he had as teachers figures of the stature of Francesco Hayez and Giuseppe Bertini. His professional beginnings saw him work as a poster artist for the Ricordi Graphic Office, where his advertising pamphlets soon earned him recognition. At the age of 28, his contemporary Luigi Albertini invited him to join the staff of La Domenica del Corriere. The first issue of the magazine, with its distinctive cover, saw the light of day on June 8, 1899. During his 40 years of uninterrupted dedication, Beltrame went on to create 4,662 illustrations for the Milanese weekly, working steadily without taking a vacation until February 1, 1945. Beltrame's color covers became the magazine's hallmark, masterfully capturing the evolution of Italian dress and society during the first half of the 20th century. With exceptional journalistic rigor, it summarized the current events, sports and customs of the time, making information accessible even to the illiterate population. Although he never left Milan to design his covers, his innate curiosity, vast imagination and rigorous sense of realism allowed him to depict places, events, people and objects that he had never seen in person. His illustrations of the wartime events of the Great War and the events in the Alps were particularly famous. In addition to his prolific work as an illustrator, Beltrame was a talented painter, producing hundreds of works in oil, watercolor, tempera and pencil.