Umberto Giunti (1886 – 1970) was an art restorer and copyist who taught at the Institute of Fine Arts, Siena. A skilled painter, Giunti (a protégé of the art forger, Icilio Frederico Joni) was responsible for the execution of a number of paintings that eventually made their way into the collections of various museums.
Employing stylistic effects, subjects and compositions that were popular during the Mediaeval and Renaissance periods, Giunti’s pastiches have become collectable items in their own right.
References: Jehane Ragai, The Scientist and the Forger: Probing a Turbulent Art World, New Jersey, World Scientific Publishing, 2017.
Peter Campbell, “At The National Gallery.” In London Review of Books, vol. 32, no. 14, 22 Jul7, 2010, p,33.
Images: Photograph of Umberto Giunti. © Cultor.org.
Umberto Giunti, Forgery in the manner of Sandro Botticelli, c.1920 – 1929, tempera on panel, The Courtauld Gallery, London. © The Samuel Courtauld Trust.
Portrait Group, early 20th century, oil and tempera on wood, The National Gallery, London. © The National Gallery.
Posted by Samantha Hughes-Johnson.
Giunti and Joni are a class of their own, they would laugh at our so called artists of out time.
This is funny “Giunti’s pastiches”
He was better than many of the ‘masters’ he copied and that’s what pisses off the dealers the most and that’s why artists are not taught anything about making art when they go through art schools.
They are terrified that new masters might be recognized & overwhelm the value of their investments.