Antonio Alice (23 February 1886 - 24 August 1943) was an Argentine portrait painter. He was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1904.
Alice, of Italian descent, was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His father, an Italian immigrant, was barely literate. His two sisters, Matilde and Santina, posed for several of his paintings.
Expelled from school and considered incorrigible for drawing in his textbooks, Alice went to work as a shoeblack. At the age of 11, while sketching Gaucho portraits between shoe shines, he was discovered by Cupertino del Campo, who went on to become the Director of the National Museum of Fine Arts of Buenos Aires. Del Campo referred Alice to the painter, Decoroso Bonifanti who gave the boy his first painting lesson in 1897.
In 1904, he was awarded the Prix de Rome (Premio Roma)and entered the Royal Academy of Painting in Turin, studying under Giacomo Grosso, Francisco Gilardi, and Andrea Tavernier. During his four years at the Academy, he was awarded three Gold Medals.
Portrait of Benjamin Lavaisse circa 1920(1920)
cjr
