In 1835, Naples-born painter Nicolino Calyo arrived in New York, and over the next 20 years, he produced a body of work that captured both the grandeur and minutia of city life. An experienced landscape painter, one of his first works was also one of the grandest—a series of paintings of the great fire of December 16–17, 1835, which would build his fame in America and lead to a number of touring exhibitions, including large-scale panoramas, a popular entertainment of the era. He also produced over 100 paintings of street vendors, and invaluable catalogue of the sidewalk economy of 1840s New York. In this virtual program, we will discuss Calyo’s life and career, and examine some of his most notable works, large and small.
- Calyo’s “Cries of New York” paintings (Yale University Art Gallery)
- Calyo’s “Views of New York During the Great Fire” (Museum of the City of New York)
- Calyo’s “Servants at the Pump” (Smithsonian)
- The Cries of New-York, 1808 (Smithsonian)
- A Spectacle in Motion: The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World (Mystic Seaport)
- Margaret Sloane Patterson, “Nicolino Calyo and His Paintings of the Great Fire of New York” (JSTOR)
- Steven H. Jaffe, “Cries of New York” (Museum of the City of New York)
