US sloop of war Macedonian, I 860 [ setting unknown], oil on canvasl3 1/2" by 19" , by Tommaso De Simone. Held by the US Na val Academy Museum, Annapolis, Maryland.
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true, with a few exceptions the appreciation of the De Simones' paintings does not appear to have exceeded that of the marketplace in general. E. H. H. Archibald's 1980 Dictionary of Sea Painters correctly identifies two De Simones, but indexes th e m as " Simones," and chronologically flipflops the careers ofTommaso and Antonio by leading off with "Simone, A. de, the best known of a family of Neapolitan ship portraitists working in the second half of the 19th century. He also painted some battle pieces, such as the Bombardment of Alexandria." With that remark Archibald incorrectly attributes Tommaso' s battle scenes of Lissa ( 1867) and Alexandria (1882) to Antonio. He then reiterates and reinforces BrookHart's mistake by stating that "he [Antonio] worked in oils and watercolours." To Tommaso, whose work is arguably more importantthan his son's, Archibald devotes the rather niggardly paragraph: "Simone, Tommaso de, one of the family of Neapolitan ship portraitists and marine painters working in the second half of the 19th century." When Mystic Seaport Mu seum 's Dottie Brewington of beloved memory, publi shed her dictionary of marine artists in 1982, she querulously dealt with the possibility of two De Simones by citing: "Simone, A. or Tomaso de," leaving the possibility that there may only have been one. She inadvertently indexed them under 'S' rather than ' D ', probably led down that erroneous course by either Archibald 's or Brook-Hart's dictionary. In all fairness to Brook-Ha rt , Archibald, and Brewington, it must be recognized that the compilation of their dictionaries required them to sift through a uni verse of hundreds of artists. Among their lesser-known subjects, sparse data leads to short and many times incorrect entries. The value of these reference works, however, is in the information, right or wrong, they do contain, and their readers should consider such data as a research starting point rather than a ne plus ultra of biographical fact. Again, being gifted with the opportunity of viewing a body of their works, on all the paintings I have examined to date by the De Simones, where their family name apSEAHISTORY68, WINTER 1993-1994
pears, it is presented as "De Simone," not DeSimone, deSimone, diSimone, di Simone, nor a bare "Simone." Among the 19th- and early 20th-century ship portraitists who practiced in Italian seaport cities, the De Simones of Naples rate at the top level with perhaps Rafaelle Corsini (Smyrna, c. 1830-80, watercolor, gouache, and oil); Gaetano D 'Esposito (Malta & Bologna, c.18811895, watercolor); Giovanni Luzzo (Venice , c.1850-1877, watercolor); Luigi Renault (Livorno, c.1858-1880, watercolor); and Luigi Roberto (Naples, c. 1874-1891, oil and watercolor) . A. J. Peluso, writing in 1982 and driven by a most justifiable ltalianAmerican ethnic agenda, suggests a possible provenance for the 19th-century De Simones' creativity: "In an earlier time, the Neapolitan family of De Simone boasted sculptors, a battle painter, a miniaturist, and a painter of religious subjects.By the 19th century there would be a painter of porcelain and majolica, a painter of faience, and more than one s hip portrait painter." James W . Cheevers, Curator of the US Naval Academy Museum , adds an interesting genealogical possibility by identifying a Vincenzo de Simone, an artist born in Naples in 1845, who may have been another son of Tommaso De Simone. Regarding thi s poss ibility, some paintings have been found by other researchers bearing the signature "De Simone Figlio." The only example that has come to hand at the time of writing appears on the 1873 painting of Prinds Oscar held by the Bergens Sj0farts-muse um , Norsk Sj0farthi stori sk Forskningsfond, Bergen, Norway. In this case
circumstantial evidence points to Antonio. The use of 'figli s' or 'figlio ' suggests a recognition of his novitiate. Believed to be in his first year of professional painting (I have found no paintings by Antonio predating 1873), he signs himself as the son of his renowned father. Another interesting anomaly that tends to support the concept of a second De Simone son occurred as the result of viewing four 1895 gouache paintings of the American steam yacht Margarita owned by the Drexel family. There are two renditions of her in the collection of Mystic Seaport Museum, and Peter Sherwin of New York 's Hanover Square Gallery has sold two others. All four have "S.Y. Margarita" in the lower left panel and are signed "De Simone" in the lower right. And there the similarity ends. The Mystic paintings are so much richer in arti stic style and finer in naval architectural detail that it is difficult to imagine them coming from the same brush, yet Tommaso had passed away by the time they were painted. A possible solution to this puzzle is another, lesser-talented De Simone, with the most like ly ca ndidate being Cheever's "Vincenzo De Simone." Given the vast array of De Simone works executed for American clients, and the plethora of others that have found their way into American homes and institutions, Tommaso and Antonio De Simone of Naples should be recognized for their contributions to Americana. .:t Maritime historian Bill Dunne teaches at Long Island University at Southampton, New York, and has written extensively for many maritime periodicals.
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