Varaldo Guiseppe (V. J.) Cariani, Indiana/Italy (1891

Varaldo Guiseppe (V. J.) Cariani Indiana/Italy (1891 - 1969) Lick Creek oil on board Signed lower right. From AskArt: A landscape and still-life painter whose name is much associated with Brown County, Indiana, V.J. Cariani was born in Renazo, Italy and settled in Nashville, Indiana. He studied at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League with Frank DuMond, and was a member of the Hoosier Salon, the Indiana Artists Club, and the Springfield Art League. While studying at the Art Students League, he met painter Marie Goth and eventually returned to Indiana with her, building a studio on her Brown County property. However he left the Art Students League in 1917 to enlist in the Army during World War I. A very religious person, his experiences caused him much post-war depression. He returned to his home town of Springfield, Massachusetts, and Marie Goth, trying to find a way to lift his spirits, hatched a plan with her father to hire Cariani as a stone carver for the Goth family Crown Monument Company. 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" (image), 13" x 15" (frame)