From 19 January to 28 May 2013, the Zabarella Palace in Padua will host an extraordinary exhibition dedicated to one of the absolute protagonists of XNUMXth century European painting: Giuseppe De Nittis.
The works will come from the major French institutions, including the Petit Palais in Paris, the Musée Carnavalet in Paris, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Reims, and from the most important Italian museums and public galleries: in addition to the De Nittis Pinacoteca in Barletta, which owns the extraordinary collection of paintings that remained in the artist's atelier after his early death, the list of lenders can count on the contribution of the Provincial Art Gallery “C. Giaquinto” in Bari, the Modern Art Gallery of Palazzo Pitti in Florence, the Frugone Collections in Genoa, the Modern Art Gallery in Milan, the Capodimonte Museum in Naples, the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery in Piacenza, of the Revoltella Civic Museum – Gallery of Modern Art in Trieste, of the International Gallery of Modern Art of Ca' Pesaro in Venice. The contribution of prestigious private collections was incisive, of historic collectors of De Nittis, from which the lesser known paintings come, absolute masterpieces re-proposed to the public on this occasion.
The painter par excellence of atmospheres, the one who transcribed in his Notebook of memories,"Sometimes, happy, I stayed under the sudden showers. Because, believe me, I know the atmosphere well; and I have painted it many times. I know all the colours, all the secrets of the air and the sky in their intimate nature".
For Federico Bano, president of the Foundation, the exhibition "it is a new opportunity to communicate, once again, to the general public the most up-to-date results of the historical and critical survey of the Italian XNUMXth century inserted in an international context”.
De Nittis (1846-1884) was together with Giovanni Boldini, the most recognized artists of the Italians of Paris, as they shared with the Impressionists the concept of revolutionizing the very idea of paintingmaking it more modern. In fact, he was able to keep up the comparison with the aristocratic painting of Manet and many other French painters, painting not only landscapes and portraits but also the fascinating streets of the capitals of art and modernity of the time, such as London and Paris.
Trained in Naples and after having frequented the Macchiaioli group in Florence, he subsequently preferred to follow his instinct by moving permanently to Paris in 1867, where he became a friend of Manet and Degas. Thanks to the merchant Goupil, who followed him almost immediately, De Nittis soon had a great esteem from the Parisian bourgeoisie, which he often portrays in his vibrant canvases. He was a skilled master in the use of color and with such mastery he highlighted and exalted the light and transparency of an almost monochromatic background. His talent was immediately recognized even if his career lasted relatively little, he died at the age of only three-eight.
Much sought after by collectors precisely for the refinement of the subjects and scenes, he is often disputed when one of his works returns to the market, to signal his world record at auction European Paintings of New York by Bonhams', where the beautiful painting depicting a couple on horseback in the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Paris, started from an estimate of 200-300 thousand USD has reached the important figure of award of $1.133.000.
