"The Sheepfold in the Hills"
Toussaint Ambrogiani D'Orcino (France, 1913-1986)
Oil on canvas
Signed lower right
20 x 26 (27 x 33 frame) inches
 
Toussaint Ambrogiani was a French painter born in 1913 in Ajaccio, Corsica, and died in 1986 in Marseille. Brother of Pierre Ambrogiani, he is known under the pseudonym D'Orcino, a reference to his village of origin in Corsica. Toussaint Ambrogiani studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Marseille and was influenced by Corsican painters of the time, such as Nicolas de Stael and Francis Bott. He was also a member of the Marseille artistic group "L'Estaque", which included artists such as Raoul Dufy and Georges Braque.
 
d'Orcino was a prolific painter who produced works of different kinds, such as portraits, landscapes, still lifes and genre scenes. His paintings are characterized by a colorful and dynamic style, which often reflects landscapes and scenes from the Mediterranean region. Toussaint was primarily influenced by the 1930s. The period of the 1930s is characterized by the clashing of a number of political ideologies, including Marxist Socialism, Capitalist Democracy, and the Totalitarianism of both Communism and Fascism.