Michele Falanga (1867-1942) Italian/American, Oil on Canvas. Depicts an older gentleman wistfully examining a bottle of wine while sitting at a table. Signed bottom right. 

Overall Size: 20 1/2 x 24 1/2 in. 

Sight Size: 15 5/8 x 19 5/8 in. 

#5387 

Michele Falanga was born in Torre del Greco, Naples, Italy on July 5th, 1867. He studied first with artist Michele Tedesco, then at the Naples Istituto di Belle Arti with Stanislao Lista, Domenico Morelli, and Filippo Palizzi. In 1895 he traveled to Rome to continue his studies, where he met Virginia Ciavolino, marrying her three years later. In 1901 Falanga traveled to New York, bringing his family over the following year, and he spent the next decade working odd jobs while painting, frequently selling or exchanging his works for services or to cover needed expenses. He worked primarily in a Realist style, with male figures and portraits his preferred forms. In 1917 he established a studio in Brooklyn, and sold many of his works through the Abraham and Strauss department store. In 1923 Falanga joined the faculty of the newly opened Leonardo da Vinci Art School in Manhattan, teaching drawing and painting. Within the same year he opened a branch of the school in his Brooklyn neighborhood, where in addition to classes he was responsible for compiling their annual magazine. He and his family weathered the Great Depression as best they could, and in 1936 he was included in the Italian-American Who’s Who Volume 2. Later that year he was offered a position at the Brooklyn Academy of Fine Arts, where he continued to work until his death on February 1st, 1942. Today most of his works are in private collections, particularly in New York and throughout New England.