Help with Italian Artist, 1944
 

During WWII my dad went into Italy through Anzio. He spent some time in Rome, also. He bought several items and shipped them home, including 4 drawings. The artist signed his work R Giustiani 1944. One of them is of the Castel San Angelo in Rome.
I am trying to find out anything about this artist. I've Googled him/her with no luck. It is possible the artist was just one of many selling things to American GIs, a street artist perhaps. But the drawings are lovely and I would like to know more about them.
If anyone could suggest ways to research this artist, I would appreciate it.
Unfortunately, I speak no Italian, but I could likely get it translated if someone refers me to a source.
Thanks.

CORRECTION; NAME IS SPELLED GIUSTINIANI.

Have you tried Google in Italy? www.google.it

You need to sit down at a computer with somebody who is fluent in Italian. There are lots of promising leads as soon as you do your Google research in Italian (Advanced Search), but some of the documents are in "officialese" Italian, so you need a competent assistant, not somebody who dabbled in tourist Italian.

Is there a Dante Alighieri Society near where you live for example? They run cultural centers etc., promoting Italian culture and language. Somebody like that might be intrigued enough to help you research this.

There is an artist www.robertodaregiustiniani.it - too young and too modern to be your man, but who knows if he has a Dad or Granddad or uncle who was your man? He has a way of being contacted on his website, maybe there are some artists in his family he knows about? Scan the drawings, reduce them to thumbprints just so he can see them, and see what you get.

Then there is the whole venerable Giustiniani family, with a Roberto that keeps coming up on various sites, like www.giustiniani.info/cappellaminerva.html - born in 1901, buried in 1966.

Somebody who is educated and fluent in Italian will be able to scan the sites and suggest promising leads, also more words under which to search, like pittore for painter etc., and help you with the necessary correspondence.

Good luck!

Googling Italian Google I came across a link to a Roberto Giustiniani whose paintings were used by Dino DiLaurentus when he made his film "Anzio" in 1968. The link was from an Italian Wikipedia entry. Problem is, when I clicked on the link and scrolled through I couldn't find that information in the text - it was just in the blurb that made up the link.

But it sounds promising....

The Dino de Laurentiis lead might be a red herring, I only see a reference to a scene being filmed in a location with the name "Palace Giustiniani-Odescalchi" - "Due scene (assenti dalla sceneggiatura originale) vengono completamente "improvvisate": la festa dei nobili al castello, girata nel palazzo Giustiniani-Odescalchi di Bassano Romano"...

I will find a willing Italian/Italian speaker and see how it goes from there. I'm going to look carefully at the links now. I glanced at them but will try to find any gem or info or anything in English.
Thanks all.
If your parents are still living (my dad died in 1974, age 62, and I was too young to appreciate a lot of things) ask those questions now, even if you're not particularly interested. You might be some day.

I have organized an art exhibition in Cernobbio which has its inauguration tomorrow evening. I have three of Italy's leading art critics coming and I will ask them if they have heard of this artist.

What style of art is the piece? There was a comics illustrator named Rolando Giustiniani in the 40's in Rome.

nochblad, thank you so much. I will see if I can post the works on here via a link.
They are definitely not comics, but I have no idea what the style would be.
Thanks!

http://cgi.ebay.it/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=270559114878

Here is a sample of Giustiniani's cover art.

http://cgi.ebay.it/Maria-Grilli-Perr...item3efe94767e

This link might work

Trav, I am not clear how this link relates to the artist. Can you elaborate?

He did the cover art for that book. He did sign the piece at the bottom left. You could compare the signature with you painting.

Trav, thanks. I'll post a link to them now, hope it works, I'm new to Photobucket. Then I will check out the signature. Thank you.

http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/...lian%20artist/

OMG, YES, it is the same signature!!!!!!
Trav, can YOU see the signature on the photos I posted? I can try to enlarge one if you can't. Thank you so much.

Chall, Yes!! You have some very nice artworks there. Glad I could help.

Can you tell me how I can find out more? Googling it didn't help much. I will try to keep looking for more examples of his work. I have no idea if they are valuable in the monetary sense, but they are to me because of the sentimental value. When I was in Rome two years ago I kept finding places my dad wrote home about, imagining what it must have been like when he was there. But, I had forgotten all about these items, which have been packed away for years! My dad died in 1974 and my mom moved in with us in 1981. I think they've been packed away since then. What a shame.

dalia, thank you so much. This is like a treasure hunt!

Challimam, I just happened to know the name as associated with art illustrations. I knew I could find a cover art example on ebay.it. He was also associated with "Il Vittorioso" your could do an image search of their publications. Many excellent artists work in commercial art to make a living. I can't tell you much more about him, because I don't have the book I need with me. Their value would certainly depend on if they are originals or prints, or if they were used as cover art and such. Anyway, you have some very beautiful pieces.