Painting Of A Lively Venice Scene, Fishing Boat Returning In Summer, Signed 1930

Dockside Scene in Venice/Chioggia, Ochre Sails on Bragozzi, circa 1940, oil on panel. A beautiful early 20th-century post-impressionist painting depicting a bustling market scene on a lagoon quay, large fishing boats (bragozzi) with ochre sails billowing in the sun, a crowd under awnings on the left, and Venetian architecture and a pinkish facade on the right. The palette is bright and vibrant, the brushstrokes free and energetic, and the paint applied generously. Oil on panel, monogram/initials in red lower right, undeciphered. The painting's rapid and luminous style is reminiscent of Venetian post-impressionism. The planes interlock with broad brushstrokes; the lemon-ochre sails catch the light and organize the composition. The treatment of the crowd with patches of color and the bluish-grey facades recalls the lagoon views painted between the 1930s and 1950s for a holiday audience: subjects captured from life, vibrant chromatism, a search for atmosphere rather than anecdotal detail. This can be compared to the painters active around Venice/Chioggia in the first half of the 20th century: Ettore Tito (quay scenes), Beppe Ciardi, Pio Semeghini (Chioggia and its sails), Umberto Moggioli, Virgilio Guidi, Pietro Fragiacomo (late 19th century), Guglielmo and Emma Ciardi, Fioravante Seibezzi (highly coloured sails), Carlo Dalla Zorza, Eugenio Benvenuti. The same scene is found in many vintage postcards of Venice/Chioggia (tall ochre sails, lively waterfront), an iconography widely circulated between 1900 and 1950. Italy, Venice/Chioggia region, circa 1930–1955. Oil on panel. Dimensions: 50 cm x 40 cm overall (panel). Frame: approximately 62 cm x 55 cm. The painting is in good condition, with sound impasto; minor soiling and wear consistent with age. Period frame and glass, with visible patina and wear, some losses to the moldings (see photos).