Antonio Cirino

Antonio Cirino (1888-1983) was born in Italy and came to America as a child. He lived in Providence and studied at the Rhode Island School of Design (where he later taught for four decades) and at Columbia University's Teacher College. He also studied with Arthur Wesley Dow and in Italy. Cirino was a talented craftsperson as well as a painter. He was a successful jewelry designer and the author of a book on the subject, as well as a thirteen-volume survey of American illustration. Cirino also taught at Columbia, Illinois State University and Indiana University. In 1926 Cirino began a long association with the Salmagundi Club in New York, where he exhibited regularly until his death. He bequeathed many of his finest works to the club. He was a devoted plein-air painter who enjoyed painting fishing villages and harbors of Cape Ann. He was a founding member of the Rockport Art Association, to whom he also left a sizable collection of paintings. In his will he established the Antonio Cirino Memorial Fund to provide scholarships to prospective art educators.