Spicuzza
c. early 20th century
Francesco J. Spicuzza, born in Sicily on July 23, 1883, came to America at the age of 8. He attended classes at the Milwaukee Art Students League, where he studied under Alexander Mueller. There he learned to paint in the then-fashionable “Munich School” technique, with detailed realism in heavy browns and grayed-out hues.Spicuzza then studied in New York under artist and teacher John Carlson. It was during this time that Spicuzza changed his style of painting, developing an impressionistic use of color, form and atmospheric renditions.
He became a fashionable painter, winning over 60 awards in New York and Paris. Spicuzza’s typical works were beach scenes, still life, landscapes and portraits done in pastels, oils, ink, charcoal and watercolors. Much of his work traced the history of Milwaukee in the early 1900s. He was probably best known for his scenes of women and children splashing in the waves at Bradford and McKinley beaches.
