FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Salmagundian Antonio Cirino: The Unexpected Author of a Textbook in Print for a Century

Dazzle: Jewelry Drawings from the Antonio Cirino Collection explores a lesser-known side of a well-known artist

NEW YORK, NY, December 17, 2021 – Salmagundi non-resident artist-member Antonio Cirino (1889-1983) was an important part of Salmagundi from 1926 to 1983, spanning 57 years. The gifted Rhode Island School of Design graduate (1904-1909) was a prolific painter, jewelry designer, writer, and teacher.

Cirino is most remembered today as a painter of impressionistic landscape and coastal scenes. But the artist’s early career focused on teaching jewelry design. Cirino wrote a seminal book on the topic titled Jewelry Making and Design: an illustrated textbook for teachers, students of design, and craft workers in jewelry with Augustus Foster Rose (1873-1946) in 1917. The book guides students through the techniques of jewelry construction using a series of progressively challenging exercises. Cirino asked students, friends, and colleagues to create illustrations for his book and may have collected others. These works, in the artist’s private collection, are likely from former students during his 35 years of teaching in Rhode Island.

According to curator Bill Indursky, “Dazzle is a technically stunning look at a little-known side of a well-known artist. Cirino was prolific in multiple disciplines over his long life.” Dazzle: Jewelry Drawings from the Antonio Cirino Collection runs from November 15, 2021, through January 31, 2022, in the Print Gallery at Salmagundi.

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Salmagundi is a non-profit 501(c)(3) professional and social club, created in 1871 by artists and patrons to support one another. It is one of America’s oldest arts organizations with more than 1,100 current members throughout the United States and abroad. The club is open to the public Monday – Friday 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM EST, and Saturday/ Sunday 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST.

The Club has continuously championed representational art from its founding with iconic members, including Thomas Moran (1837-1926), William Merritt Chase (1849-1916), Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), Emil Carlsen (1848-1932), N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), Childe Hassam (1859-1935) and Winston Churchill (1874-1965).

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PRESS CONTACT
Joseph Ralph Fraia, Chair – Charity Henderson, Vice-Chair
Salmagundi Public Relations Committee
(917) 930-1494 or (315) 506-8108
pr@salmagundi.org