...As he incorporated realism into his own work, Lucioni's paintings became more meticulous. His crisp, somewhat flat pattern and detail have been likened to the microscopic approach of the 15th-century Flemish masters. Lucioni's attention to detail can also be traced to his early work as an etcher in 1922, when he mastered that technique which stresses sharp linear precision, a skill instrumental in developing his precise painting style. Beginning in 1929, he spent part of each year in Manchester Depot township in Vermont, where he painted still lifes and landscapes of the hills and barns. In the 1930s, while European modernism was gaining momentum in the United States, Lucioni remained committed to realism. His painting Long Island Landscape (oil on canvas, 1930) depicts a nation that has tamed its wilderness. The image shows a field that has been cultivated for decades, a deeply rutted road, and a tired fence; all depictions of a country in the midst of the Depression. He later taught at the Art Students' League in New York, and maintained a studio in that city's picturesque Washington Square. He also had a longstanding love of the opera, and corresponded with various opera singers, including Giovanni Martinelli, Gladys Swarthout, Cesara Valletti, and others. [http://www.askart.com/artist_bio/Luigi_Lucioni/24087/Luigi_Lucioni.aspx]