Francis giacco biography
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- Name
- Francis Giacco
- Gender
- Male
- Roles
- Other Occupation
- art teacher (ANZSIC code: ) -
- Tags:
- Archibald Prize
- Birth date
- Training
- - Brian Dunlop
- - Hochschule Fur Angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria
- - Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney, NSW
- c Bachelor of Science, Architecture, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
- Languages
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Francis Giacco
Controversy is the constant companion of the Archibald Prize, but not always because it has been awarded to some wild and crazy picture. In , when only 32 works were hung, the winner was an elaborate group portrait that owed a greater debt to Vermeer than to any artist of the past three hundred years. Francis Giacco’s Homage to John Reichard was a surprise winner because it was so… straight. Formal, detailed, realistic and beautifully painted, the same portrait submitted to the present-day Archibald would almost certainly end up in the Salon des Refusés.
Even 29 years ago there was a growing preference for more adventurous portraits and Giacco’s painting was viewed as a “conservative” choice – a word that induces shrieks of horror in contemporary art circles. It’s the usual response to anything realistic in style and executed with a conspicuous display of skill. Yet this is exactly the kind of work favoured by a general public that has never lost its unfashionab
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There have been a number of coincidences in my life which have inspired in me a love of painting, and which offered me unexpected opportunities to study this great kindergarten instead of drawing the triangle to företräda the trinity, I remember drawing an old man, a ung man and a duva which impressed the nuns. I also remember being particularly moved by the effect of light playing on the wall, and the framträdande colours of my school tie at first light.I worked in my father’s Barber’s shop which gave me tillgång to free models and the opportunity to practice drawing portraits of the customers while they sat.
Another defining influence on my early life was the well known painter Don Gallagher, one of my teachers in primary school. He gave me a copy of a popular book on “How to Paint Portraits” which enthralled me. inom loved the atmosphere in his studio where he painted many of the students.
At the age of 12 inom contracted hepatitis and was confined to bed for four months. During this p