Eugenio Amus

Eugenio Amus was born in Brescia in 1834 and acquired his first rudiments of drawing and painting in his city, from the masters Faustino Joli and Gabriele Rottini. It was only later that he moved to Milan, where he enrolled at the Brera Academy and where he was taught by Francesco Hayez. Already during his years at the Academy, he turned to the landscape genre, clearly marked by a romantic spirit.

A romantic artist

A restless artist and tireless traveller, he decided first to follow Garibaldi’s experiences and then to make a series of journeys which led him to move abroad for good, specifically to Bordeaux. Before this decision, Eugenio Amus fully embodied the romantic ideal of the tormented artist on the move: he worked in a comic theatre company, travelled extensively throughout Europe, stayed for a while in Paris (where he exhibited at the 1869 Salon) and even took part in the Franco-Prussian conflict in 1870.

Once he had settled in Bordeaux, his spirit calmed down and his painting took on a decidedly French air. He exhibited numerous landscapes and portraits, including perhaps the most evocative: A Point in the Valtellina with Garibaldi and his volunteers moving to the Stelvio. His travels in the past, in any case, enriched his repertoire of moving images: stormy seascapes and mountain landscapes, sublime in their romantic treatment, bring back images from Spain, England, France and America.

The influence of French landscape painting: the lyrical meaning and light effects

The landscapes painted in Bordeaux are very much in tune with the language of French realism, rich in lyricism and attentive to the light and colour of reality. Most of Eugenio Amus’ works are kept in private collections in Brescia.

Indeed, the artist never ceased to maintain relations with his home town: he always received a long series of commissions from the Brescian bourgeoisie and aristocracy. The landscape remained his main pictorial expression, modulated for most of his career on numerous stormy seascapes. His works include: Tidal wave, Shallow boats, Gale in the ocean with fishing boat, Fishermen’s houses in Normandy. Not to be forgotten are his evocative alpine views, such as View of Monte Pizzo, Valcamonica, Alpine View in Summer, Mountain Landscape.

Elena Lago