painter and art teacher, exhibited at the 1875 Melbourne Intercolonial Exhibition: 'Antivitte [sic], T. [sic], Academy of Art, Sydney, no.2920. David and Goliath, by exhibitor’. He exhibited oil paintings at the fourth annual exhibition of NSW Academy of Art in 1875 – 1. 'Portrait of Dr Badham – Original; 2. Portrait of the Honorable John Sutherland, Esq. – Original; 15. Three Studies of Heads – Original’ – as well as crayon works in the 'Miscellaneous’ section (163. 'Three Groups of Studies from Life’). He won the Academy’s gold medal for no.1 and a certificate of merit for no.15 (Sydney Mail, 29 May 1875):
Oil paintings – Society’s gold medal (open to artists and amateurs) Nos 1 and 2, portrait of Professor Badham and the Hon. John Sutherland, by Signor Anivitti, New South Wales … The portrait of Dr Badham (No.1) is an admirable likeness, the features and expression are rendered with startling fidelity, and the general pose of the figure is good. There is, however, some little stiffness about the drapery, which might have been avoided with advantage to the general effect of the work. Nevertheless, the picture, as a likeness and as a work of art, is highly to be commended, and it will be a worthy addition to the series of likenesses which grace the hall of Alma Mater. The portrait of the late Minister for Works (No.2) is also good; the features faithfully reproduced, but the artist has scarcely been so successful in catching the expression as in the portrait of Dr Badham (Sydney Mail, 3 April 1875).
The portrait of Rev. Charles Badham DD, Professor of Classics 1867-1884, signed l.l. 'J. Anivitti’ hangs in the Great Hall, University of Sydney, along with his portrait of Rev. Canon Robert Allwood BA, Fellow 1855-1886, Vice-Chancellor 1869-1883. Badham and Allwood were original members of the NSW Academy of Art, founded in 1871, while Anivitti was the first teacher of painting and curator of the picture collection at the Academy.
He exhibited more oil paintings at the NSW Academy of Art’s fifth annual exhibition in 1876 as 'Signor Anivitti’: ’1. Portrait of the late Captain W. Hilton Hovell – original – painted for the University of Sydney [still in SU collection according to Pam Bell; it was commissioned after Mrs Hovell gave a bequest for a Chair of Geology]; 2. Portrait of the Rev. W.B. Clarke MA, FRGS – Original – Painted for the Royal Society of NSW; 4. David’s Youthful Triumph – Original – £35.0.0; 5. A First Meeting – Original – £126. See Captain Cook’s First Voyage, vol.2, p.79:
We departed immediately to the huts, in one of which we found the children, who had hidden themselves behind a shield and some bark, without their knowing that they had been discovered: and we threw into the house when we went away, some beads, ribbons, pieces of cloth, &c., &c.
His oil paintings shown at the NSW Academy of Art’s sixth annual exhibition in 1877 were: ’10. Outside Engineer’s Waterfalls, Mount Victoria – £8.8.0.; 11. Engineer’s Falls, Mount Victoria – £8.8.0; 12. View from Mount Victoria – £8.8.0; 55. Portrait of a Young Lady.’
For the Garden Palace in 1879: 'Allegorical representations of Europe, Asia, Africa and America Painted by Messrs Anivitti, Montague [sic] Scott, McLeod and Habbe (Notes on the Sydney International Exhibition of 1879, Government Printing Office, Sydney 1880). Also exhibited in NSW Court of Sydney International Exhibition 1879-80: 'no.47. L’Arc-en-ciel’.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1999
- Last updated:
- 2011
