Pair
of paintings, oil on canvas, measuring 80 x 100 cm without frame and
90 x 110 cm with coeval frame, depicting a stormy navy and a navy at
dawn by the painter Francesco Fidanza (Rome 1747 - Milan
119).
Further reinforcing this thesis on Fidanza's skilful
painting skills are the characteristics of the pictorial rendering of
these paintings, in the skilful use of a very luminous material, in
the peremptory break between the areas in light and those in shadow,
in the execution of the lively figures that populate the theatrical
scaffolding and in the rendering of the rosy clouds.
The main
characteristics of Fidanza's painting are the airy breadth of the
landscapes and the sense of diffuse luminosity that are reminiscent
of an almost neo-classical painting.
The motif of the
landscape, even in the most imaginative settings, always has a real
cue in Fidanza's work and therefore a real and human dimension; in
these paintings we can see the blacks and greys so bright and vivid
that they try to explain to us how the force of nature around us is
enormous with that window where the rainbow is coming and in which we
lose ourselves; in the same way we see in the second navy how
beautiful, strong, vigorous but at the same time gentle and docile
the sea and nature itself is.
In our stormy sea with a
landscape on the left we have a boat, in great difficulty, ready to
run aground, while the sailors, who have already dived into the
lifeboat, are trying to save themselves on the reef. Here we can see
Fidanza's skilful pictorial strength both in the perspective
construction of the navy in the storm with a clever interplay of
positions, and in the delicate representation of the landscape with a
very articulate depiction with a special mention for the water
crashing against the reef.
We are confronted with a
sensational storm scene in which the ships and the boat are now at
the mercy of the wind and especially the sea; the effects of light
create a visual drama in the marriage of the darkness of the sea and
in particular the majesty of its waves and lightning with the dynamic
and expressive force of the storm clouds.
The second work is
an airy “Landscape” at dawn with numerous boats ready to leave
and a few characters enjoying the sea breeze and the colours of dawn
on the cliffs.
The Arcadian interpretation of nature, with a
refined imprint and at the same time with a more instinctive and less
constructed inventiveness, close to the most genuinely rural and
pictorially full-bodied visions, approaching an almost zuccarellian
work, is one of Fidanza's main characteristics.
The
paintings and works of art published here are my exclusive property
and therefore are always available to be viewed, by appointment, in
my exhibition sites located in Sanremo and Brescia.
This
item , like all our objects, is sold accompanied by a photographic
certificate FIMA of authenticity and lawful origin; this document
identifies the object by adding more value to the article.
We
take care and personally organize the packaging and shipping of our
items with insurance all over the world.
Mr. Riccardo Moneghii
Art Historian