Achille Befani Formis—known simply as Achille Formis—was born in Naples on September 15, 1832, and died in Milan on October 28, 1906. He is considered a significant figure in the Lombard Naturalist movement of the second half of the 19th century, distinguished by an elegant, luminous painting style deeply inspired by the direct observation of nature.

His artistic training followed an unusual path. He began his career as an opera singer but, in the early 1860s, decided to abandon music to devote himself entirely to painting. After moving to Milan, he attended the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, where he met artists such as Eugenio Gignous; the friendship and mutual esteem that developed between them contributed to his artistic growth.

 Throughout his career, he developed a distinctive style characterized by a keen focus on atmospheric effects, the rendering of light, and balanced landscape composition. His works primarily depict the Lombard countryside, the pre-Alpine lakes, Alpine valleys, and scenes of rural life, all approached with poetic sensitivity and free from the excesses of Divisionism. Alongside his Italian landscapes, Formis also produced numerous Orientalist works inspired by his travels to Egypt, Turkey, and the Near East, where he was captivated by the architecture, local customs, and the intense light of the Eastern Mediterranean.

In his later years, Formis’s painting style became more concise and vibrant, featuring rapid brushstrokes and greater compositional freedom; this anticipated certain sensibilities of 20th-century art while remaining faithful to the principles of Naturalism.

Today, Achille Befani Formis is recognized as a leading figure in 19th-century Italian landscape painting. His works are held in major museums and private collections and continue to be highly prized by both the antiques market and scholars of Italian naturalist painting for their technical quality, compositional balance, and extraordinary ability to capture the poetry of nature on canvas.