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Translation : Daniel Serrano
Don Troiani is a soul lost in time;
a twentieth century artist to whom
the life of the common soldier of
the Civil War through the mid
Eighteenth Century is as familiar
and vivid as the surroundings of his
Connecticut studio. While there are
many other painters who have turned
their attention to historical art,
none have done so with the
enthusiasm, insight and dedication
of this accomplished recorder of
drama and detail.
Troiani was Born in New York City on
June 16,1949, Don Troiani was not
drawn to the subjet of the Civil
War through any direc ancestral
conection.His grandfather, a native
of Lecquila in the Abruzzi region of
Italy,came to America in the 1890s
as a tourist and decided to stay.
Troiani´s mother´s Family , of
Polish and Rumanian origin ,
arrived about the same time;his
maternal grandfather helped to
design the Central Park Zoo. Since
Don Troiani´s Father was a
commercial artist and his mother an
antique dealer,art and history were
early parts of his life.
When troiani was two years old his
family moved to Pound Ridge in
Winchester Country,New York.He
attened elementary school there
and graduated from Fox Lane High
School in 1967,Troiani Recalls.”I
drew stick figure battles and Davy
Crockett at the Alamo , and was very
interested in anything to do with
the Roman Empire.I always wanted to
draw soldiers and would not be
swayed from it.
When Troiani was in Sixth Grade,a
familiy vacation to Paris provided a
significant stimulus to his artistic
and historical aspirations.Excited
by the vast collection of military
uniforms and memorabilia in the
Musée de l´Armée,he convinced his
mother to leave him there for an
entire day.
As
the Twelve-yera-old roamed the vast
hallways,with their displays of
colorfully uniformed mannequins and
regimental banners so evocative of
past glories,Troiani was
particularly taken with the
paintings of Napoleonic battles
scenes,many of them by an artist
named Edouard Detaille.
In
1967 he entered the Pennsylvania
Academy of art in Philadelphia.He
augmented his four years at the
Academy with summer courses at the
Art Students League in New York
City.
Over the decade following his
graduation in 1971,his work focussed
primarily on episodes of the
American Revolution,he also executed
a number of paintings dealing with
the history of the American
frontier,including several cavalry
subjects set in the Civil War
uniforms,weapons,and accoutrements,
which were far more plentiful than
Revolutionary War items.
His First Venture into the field of
limited –edition prints came in
1980,with the issue of “Come On You
Wolverines”, a scene of General
Custer at Gettysburg,two years later
,with the succesfull release of
“Confederate Standard Beares”the
artist became firmly established in
the lucrative vocation in 1984 led
him to establish his own company
,Historical Art Prints .Freed from
the restrictions and demands of
commercial publishers and
galleries,troiani was now able to
choose his own subject
matter,ensure historical
accuracy,and maintain quality
control of the finished products.His
succes fueled a popularity of Civil
Wart Art print that continues
unabated.Today at the least a dozen
artists work in that highly
competitive field,while nearly twice
as many more have tried their hand
Civil War Themes.
In
the spirit of presenting historical
truth through art, Don Troiani has
personally set uncompromising
standards of excellence and
authenticity in his field that few
others can equal. Models are chosen
with the greatest care to achieve
the proper look of the men in
mid-Victorian America. The garb and
gear of each figure are
painstakingly researched.
Appropriate backgrounds are found
and studied, sometimes sending the
artist hundreds of miles from home
to examine battlefields and
structures firsthand. Because of the
great amount of research that goes
into one of his works, it is often
years between a painting's
conception and the actual moment the
brush is put to canvas.
"If an historical painting is not
reasonably accurate, then it's
worthless both as art and as a
historical document," Troiani
declares. "If you are going to
become involved in this field then
there is little excuse for a pattern
of inaccuracies."
Indeed, Troiani's lifelong focus on
America's military heritage enables
him to present that subject with a
credibility that surpasses his
contemporaries. For a quarter
century he has methodically built
one of the great private reference
collections of Civil War, 1812 and
Revolutionary War uniforms,
equipage, insignia and weapons which
he calls on to add the unique
dimension of realism he is so well
known for. An expert researcher with
a personal Civil War library of over
2,000 volumes, he is assisted in his
search for the truth by a select
network of advanced collectors,
curators and historians whom he
corresponds with regularly and who
open their own collections to him.
The motion picture industry has
recently enlisted him as consultant
on Civil War uniforms and equipage
for the forthcoming feature film
"Cold Mountain" starring Nicole
Kidman, Rene Zellweger and Jude
Law.Troiani has also been
advisor(and made appearances) on the
A&E and History Channel's "Civil
Journal" and the miniseries "The
American Revolution". Televison
appearances on "Missing
Reward","Incurable Collector", and
"Hunt for Amazing Treasures" are
among his credits.
Because of his extensive knowledge
of military artifacts, Troiani is
regularly contacted by major museums
and collectors from across the
country who greatly value his
firsthand experience. Numerous items
from his collection have appeared in
the acclaimed Time-Life "Echoes Of
Glory" series on the Civil War and
Salamander's "Fighting Men Of The
Civil War" Series and countless
other publications. Other of his
artifacts have been loaned for the
exhibition at the Smithsonian
Institution, Delaware Historical
Society, Connecticut Museum of
History,The West Point Museum,
Virginia Historical Society and the
National Park Service Visitors
Center in Gettysburg, PA.
Troiani's artwork has appeared on
television productions on
NBC,CPTV,CNN, the A&E and Discovery
channels and in uncounted
prestigious publications
including:"The Washington Post", "US
News and World Reports","American
Heritage", "American Rifleman",
"Civil War Times", "America's Civil
War", "USA Today", "The Hartford
Courant", "Southwest Art", "Southern
Accents", "The Boston Globe",
"Connecticut Magazine","The New York
Times", "America Online",
"Smithsonian","Antiques and Arts
Weekly","Litchfield County
Times","Coin World","Waterbury
Republican American","Civil War
News","Danbury News Times","The
Courier News","The Gettysburg
Times","America's Civil War", "The
Bridgeport Post","Military
History","Man at
Arms","Numismatist","The Quarterly
Journal of Military History",Art
Business News",and "The Times
Picayune".
Troiani has also authored or
co-authored "Don Troiani's Civil
War", "Soldiers in
America","Military Buttons of the
American Revolution", and "Don
Troiani's Regiments and Uniforms of
the Civil War",in addition to
numerous articles on military
artifacts.
"You can look at a picture of an
artifact for days and still not know
it. But examining it in your own
hands reveals its texture, its
substance and how it works,"
explains Troiani. Many times he has
had costly reproductions of rare or
delicate original items hand-crafted
so they can be used actively by his
models.
Since launching his professional
career before the Bicentennial and
demonstrating his gift for combining
art and historical integrity, there
has been a strong, increasing demand
for Troiani's work by both
distinguished private collectors and
important institutions. His work is
represented in the collections of
American Heritage Magazine,
Time-Life Books, The Booth Museum of
Western Art in Cartersville,
Ga.,Smithsonian Magazine and the
Smithsonian's Museum of History and
Technology, McGraw-Hill, the
National Park Service, Gettysburg
NHP, Ft. Necessity NHP, Ft. Scott
NHP, Guilford Court House NHP,
Saratoga NHP, Boston NHP, Cowpens
NHP, Petersburg NHP, Morristown NHP,
U.S. Army War College, U.S. Marine
Corps Museum, Pejebscot Historical
Society, Brunswick, ME, Command
General Staff College, Ft.
Leavenworth, KS, North Carolina
Museum of History, Parks of Canada,
the Pentagon, U.S. Army National
Guard Bureau, the Pennsylvania
National Guard, The Pennsylvania
Historical and Museum Commission,
West Point Museum, U.S. Cavalry
Museum at Fort Riley Kansas,The
Greensboro Historical Museum, War
Library and Museum of the Military
Order of the Loyal Legion of the
U.S., Heritage Plantation in
Sandwich, Mass., and the National
Civil War Museum, Harrisburg. PA.
In
1995 he designed three Civil War
battlefield commemorative coins for
the United States Mint.His work has
also appeared on a U.S. postal card
commemorating the 350th anniversary
of the U.S. National Guard. Troiani
is also a recipient of the
Meritorious Service Award of the
United States National Guard.
He
has served on the advisory board to
the Anne Brown Library, Providence,
RI and Civil War Trust.
"America's history is filled with
action, color and excitement. It is
certainly a valid subject for an
artist to pursue as long as it is
approached in a thoughtful and
thorough way," Troiani said. "There
has been too much distortion over
the years. I believe the more
accurate the presentation is, the
clearer our image will be of our
heritage. It is a far better way to
honor our ancestors."
With this sense of "mission," Don
Troiani will no doubt continue to
capture a crucial period in our
nation's past with style, emotion
and unrivaled accuracy.
Thank you very much, Mr. Troiani,
for taking care of our readers at
www.galeriadeautor.com.
We know your time is priceless and
we want to thank you for letting us
know more about you.
- [GDA]:Did
you choose to paint military art for
a special reason?
[Mr.
Troiani]:
I
always was interested in military
subjects and started to collect
items as a child.
-
[GDA]:Which
is your source of inspiration when
you paint your paintings?
[Mr.
Troiani]:
It is
different for each painting .
- [GDA]:
Are you conscious
that your paintings are truly
inspiration for modellers in the
scale figures world?
[Mr.
Troiani]:
To a
point, I don't know too many
modelers so it's a world in which I
don't travel.
- [GDA]:
What’s your opinion
about those of us who paint
miniature figures? Do you think it
is another kind of Art?
[Mr.
Troiani]:
It is
definitely another form of artwork,
requiring great skill, practice and
artistry.
- [GDA]:
have
you ever tried to paint a miniature
figure?
[Mr.
Troiani]:
I
have painted a few but am not very
good at it.
- [GDA]:Did
you like the experience?
[Mr.
Troiani]:
It
was too hard.
- [GDA]:
Would you like to
repeat? Any picture of them?
[Mr.
Troiani]:
No,
they were the models for some of the
Troiani Historical Minitaure figures
- [GDA]:
Do you know
anyone in our hobby? Who?
[Mr.
Troiani]:
Ken
Osen, whose work and knowledge I
admire
- [GDA]:
Lately we’ve seen
some new books for sale, do you have
any other project in mind? What is
your next project?
[Mr.
Troiani]:
The
newest book is "Don Troiani's
Soldiers of the American Revolution"
which hopefully has a lot of new
information which will be a value to
modelers
- [GDA]:
Can you give us
any advice to paint miniature
figures?
[Mr.
Troiani]: Not
really since they are mostly all
better at then I. Personally I
don't care for too much shading in
the folds and on the faces. It
seems to me the figure itself
should create those, but that's
just my opinion.
Thank you very much Mr. Troiani, for
your time. We hope to continue
enjoying your works for a long time.
Don Troiani´s Gallery
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