Ugo Catani was born in Florence, Tuscany, Italy, on 4 April 1860. He trained at the Academy of Art in Florence and then spent almost a decade in Melbourne, Australia, from 1885, where he established himself as a portrait painter. He immigrated to England in 1895 and subsequently became known as a miniature painter. In 1923 he returned to his native Florence. Ugo Catani died in Florence, Italy, during the Second World War, in either 1943 or 1944.
Painter Ugo Catani was born in Florence, Tuscany, Italy, on 4 April 1860. His father was a lawyer, and he initially studied law until a holiday in the Austrian Tyrol prompted a change of direction. Encountering an English friend who painted, he found himself drawn to art and, upon his return to Florence, enrolled at the Academy of Art, where he studied alongside fellow student Girolamo Nerli. He subsequently served as a soldier for approximately two and a half years, reaching the rank of officer, before resuming his artistic work in Italy. In 1885, having concluded that there were too many painters in Florence, he and Nerli embarked on an extended journey via Madagascar, Mauritius, and the island of Bourbon, before arriving in Melbourne, Australia, in November 1885.
In Melbourne, Catani and Nerli established a joint studio. Catani quickly became a significant figure in the city's art world and, together with Tom Roberts and other progressive painters, worked to challenge the conservative Victorian Academy of Arts, serving as a founding committee member of the Australian Artists' Association from 1887. He was subsequently elected a Council Member of the Victorian Artists' Society.
Primarily a portrait painter, Catani also painted landscape and genre scenes. At the Melbourne Centennial International Exhibition (1888-89) he was awarded an Honourable Mention for his paintings St Kilda Pier and Stormy Weather and a third order of merit for Studies at Queenscliff. In June 1891, a studio exhibition at Provident Buildings, Collins Street, attracted notable visitors, including the Earl of Hopetoun, then Governor of Victoria, who warmly praised the event. Key works from the Australian period include A Summer Shower in Collins Street (1889); Lost Your Ribbon, Sir (1889), shown at the Victorian Artists' Society Winter Exhibition, alongside works by Streeton and McCubbin; and Lovers' Walk, Mount Macedon(1890), now held in the National Gallery of Victoria. Alongside his painting, Catani also earned income from teaching. In December 1893, he left Melbourne for Hobart, Tasmania, and then made his way via New Zealand to England.
Catani immigrated to England in 1895, where he continued to work principally in oil and watercolour, across portraiture, genre scenes, still life, and landscape. His early years in England were devoted to oil portraiture and figure studies, but from around 1898 he devoted himself increasingly to painting miniatures, drawing strongly on the work of Cosway and Isabey, whose paintings he had closely studied and admired. Catani was subsequently described as 'an Italian miniature painter of distinction, fast becoming known in England' in an article in The Studio, illustrating his portrait of the American author Mark Twain (The Studio, pp. 265-291). He was praised for his colour sense and his ability to 'paint flesh as few modern miniature painters can: warm, velvety, pulsating with life, delicate as the ivory it is painted on'. His position as a Florentine-trained artist who had worked across Australia and England gave his practice a distinctive transnational and cross-medium character.
Catani held his first London exhibition in 1895 at St George's Gallery, under the title Under the Southern Cross. The Pall Mall Gazette noted it as the first showing of his work in England, consisting predominantly of paintings made during his Australian years. In June 1905 he held a solo exhibition of miniatures at Bruton Galleries and, in the same year, two of his works were accepted at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition.
Catani remained closely connected with the Italian cultural community in London, appearing in reports of Italian theatrical and cultural events, including the Ristori Matinee in November 1908 and Italian theatre productions in 1913 and 1918. From at least 1911, Catani served as a permanent official of the Italian Embassy and during this period he married and became the father of a daughter. Around 1923, he returned to Florence, where he spent the remainder of his life. Ugo Catani died in Florence, Italy during the Second World War, around 1943 or 1944.
His work does not appear to be held in UK public collections but is represented in public collections in Australia, principally at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. The Ben Uri Research Unit welcomes contributions from researchers or family members who may have further biographical information.
Michal Mel