The Washington herald., 1921-10-09
HUGHES PORTRAIT
IS COMPLETED BY
GIUSEPPE TROTTA
Will Be Made a Gift to
Government of
Italy.
By GERTRUDE RICHARDSON
BRIGHAM, Ph. D.

Giuseppe Trotta, an American
artist of italian birth, has just
completed life-slze portrait Of
the Secretary Of State. painted for
the italian government. Prominent
Italians In this country. through
their chairman. DR.. Pasquale Badia,
of New York. desire to present this
painting TO Italy in recognition OF
Mr.. Hughes distinguished services
in the cause of peace, and especial
Iy, Nalso, In connection with the
disarmament conference, at which,
Secretary Hughes will preside, con-
vening November II.
Nearly every morning for q cou-
pie of weeks Mr.. Hughes has been
kindly posing for, Mr.. Trotta, whose
portrait now completed, is< to be
sent to New York for exhibition.
after which II will be shown at
the Corcoran Gallery in Washing
ton, travelling then to Chicago. st.
Louis, Philadelphia and Boston for
exhibition, before being shipped to
Italy, probably in December. In
this large canvas, almost a full
length Of Mr.. Hughes standing. the
artist has not presented the con-
ventional and aggressive diplomat.
Rather he has sought to portray
the sweet and simple qualities Of
the great American.
shows American Diplomat.
Il have tried to keep that Amer
lean atmosphere" says Mr.. Trotta.
Not to show the foreign states
man, but the difference In the
American diplomatic, the great
sweetness and sympathy of Mr..
Hughes character. I have CEN
tered on the eyes. The Secretary
of State gave me nine sittings. He
has been good to me. he has made
me feel at home. He did not dis
time" The sittings were held in
the ofices Of the Corcoran Gallery.
He gave me more time than I
expected" continued Mr. Trotta- 'T
wish you would say that 75 per
cent of the portraits success is due
to the Secretary"
Mr.. Trotta IL not sure yet where
his portrait is to be hung IN Italy.
but the Pitt Palace in Florence
has been discussed. II Il goes to
this world-famous gallery, II will
be in the distinguished company of
many Old Masters. Though Italian
by birth, Mr.. Trotta is very proud
Of his American citizenship. hav-
ing come to America when very
young. Asked II he had later re-
turned to Italy for study, he re-
piled: mo, I wanted to be made in
America. New York Is the only
city where have studied"
Although decidedly modern. .Giu-
seppe Trotta Is not one of the in
dependent artists, who exhibited
such freakish pictures in their dis
play on the roof Of the Waldorf
Astoria last spring. No, he decries
such tendencies, such methods of
gaining notoriety. II believe in
sincerity" says Trotta, as he ex-
presses doubts about the serious
ness Of much OF the work recently
shown In New York, including some
of the modern French extremism.
Good Points In Both schools.
II have tried to combine the old
school and the modern school," he
explains. DO that, and you must
get some beauty out of II. Take
Michelangelo. He did just what /
am trying to do. He went back to
the Greeks, but inside his work It
was Michelangelo. How about Ro-
din? Why, he went back to the
colossal visions of Michelangelo."
Giuseppe Trotta, who Is of an
exceedingly original personality,
has his studio at Flushing, Long
Island, along with twenty-five or
thirty. other artists who make up
the art colony OF this picturesque
and beautiful New York suburb.
"The trees there are so wonderful"
sighs Trotta. "They interlace over
the roadway, so that you can hard.
ly see the sky. Then we have even
one of the cedars of Lebanon.
brought from the Holy Land-very
few of them in America" e..
This young Italian is q land
scape painter as we'll as a portrait
ist. He follows velasquez and the
Italian school in his coloring.
Whistler, so Mr.. Trotta says, is
our greatest American artist,
though we have many painters"
The following comment on Trotta's
work, by the Brooklyn Eagle,
pleased him: His coloring is old
fashioned yet its fidelity to the
theme stirs appreciation. You are
overwhelmed by the magic of his
brush in concentrating the center
OF interest about the eyes of his
sitter-he has created a certain
pallid light in the face that by
contrast makes the eyes burn"
This observation is characteristic
of the new Hughes portrait.
"Trotta never fiatters," says an
other critic. yet he Is no realist.
He paints Realistically, yet his
work never lies"
Among the neighbors at Flush
ing, where Trotta has his studio,
are Bryson Burroughs, who is both
an artist was curator of paintings
at the Metropolitan Gallery In New
York, and Herman A. MacNeH, the
sculptor. Ellis Parker Butler, au-
thor of Pigs Is Pigs" who also
lives here, Is a very special friend