THE CUNEO BROTHERS

Rinaldo Cuneo,

1877-1939.

Born in San Francisco on July 2, 1877. Rinaldo was the second of Giovanni (John) Cuneo and his wife Annie's seven children. Rinaldo and his brothers Cyrus and Egisto all became artists. The family lived on

Telegraph Hill in San Francisco's Italian American neighbourhood of North Beach. As an adult, Rinaldo's home and studio, on a cliff with unobstructed views of the bay, was just a block from his childhood home.

Perhaps best known for his oil paintings depicting landscapes of the San Francisco Bay Area and for his murals, Rinaldo also painted cityscapes, marine scenes and still lifes. His first exhibition, in 1913, was in San Francisco at the Helgesen Gallery, his work was also shown at the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition and in virtually every subsequent major Bay Area art exhibit until his death. A reviewer wrote that

Cuneo's paintings "leave a mellow glow in one's heart. They portray not merely places, but mood and atmosphere."

From 1916 to 1917 Rinaldo worked for a tugboat service while living in San Anselmo, painting maritime scenes in his spare time. He taught at the California School of Fine Arts during the summer sessions of 1920, 1925, 1935, and 1936.

Untitled by Rinaldo Cuneo

For his many exceptional paintings of the Bay Area, Rinaldo was known as The Painter of San Francisco. Arthur Millier of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Cuneo's landscapes "breathe the essential strength and poetry of his region." Another critic noted that "they are the very soul and essence of California materialised in line and colour." In addition to his California landscapes, in 1928 he also painted scenes of the Arizona desert. Rinaldo said that "a landscape should embrace volume, simplicity, unity, a good sense of colour values, rhythm of line, and above all, light."

Egisto Cuneo, 1890-1972.

Egisto the youngest brother, worked hard at various mediums under the shadows of his two brothers. From 1910 to 1916, Egisto studied art in Europe. After World War 1, he continued his formal studies of etching and oil painting in Greenwich Village, New York under the well known artist, John Sloan.

In New York Egisto became an officer of the artists' group, the Kit Kat Club and his artistic work focused on nudes and illustrations. He lived in a tiny studio with his wife and two daughters, but with the birth of third child, Egisto left his urban lifestyle and moved his family to Pearl River, New York.

His paintings from the 1920's depict scenes of his family and neighbours around his family home, as well as dramatic seasonal changes, these expressive portraits offer a unique and intimate look at domestic life.

In1931, the Great Depression prompted a return to San Francisco for Egisto and his family to his childhood home in North Beach.

'California Hills with White Boat' by Rinaldo Cuneo

In 1934 Cuneo received a commission from the Public Works of Art Project to paint two lunette murals of Bay Area Hills in the foyer of

Coit Tower. A number of Rinaldo's paintings were featured in the 1935 inaugural exhibition of the San Francisco Museum of Art. One of them, California Hills, was honored with the Museum's Purchase Prize award.

Although he had been a popular artist with many well-received exhibits throughout his life, Rinaldo had found himself unable to successfully market his paintings due to the economic conditions created by the Great Depression. This led to feelings that he had failed. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote that the artist's wife found" more than one hundred hitherto unseen Rinaldo Cuneo paintings, hidden in his two studios – in corners,

in trunks, under books (some even hanging turned to the wall by the artist)." Many of these paintings were subsequently displayed in solo exhibitions, in 1940 at the San Francisco Museum of Art, in 1949 at the de Young Museum, and in 1961 at San Francisco's Gallery of Fine Arts.

A critic wrote in 1991 that Cuneo "was a Cezannesque purist

worth remembering".

'Barbara & Doris' by Egisto Cuneo

Struggling financially to support a family during this time, Egisto had to abandon his professional artistic career for one in real estate. He continued to paint for pleasure and also taught himself photography.

The lives of the three brothers took them

in different directions, but they shared

a commitment to fulfilling their personal creative vision. Rinaldo and Egisto along

with the Cuneo sisters, Erminia, Clorinda, Clelia and Evelina, remained in the United States, whilst Cyrus, moved across the sea settling in England.

Untitled, Kit Kat Club by Egisto Cuneo

The wealth of artwork created by the three brothers has contributed to the artistic heritage of Italian–Americans

in the San Francisco Bay Area.