Francesco Cangiullo, View Of Naples: Pallonetto In Santa Lucia, 1900

Cangiullo, Francesco. View of Naples: Pallonetto in Santa Lucia, 1900, an oil painting on wood by the multifaceted Neapolitan Futurist artist Francesco Cangiullo (Naples 1884–Livorno 1977) depicting a picturesque and lively working-class view, a dynamic everyday scene in the Neapolitan alley Pallonetto, characterized by laundry hanging between the narrow buildings and figures populating the steep staircase and the street scene.

This lively urban scene in the historic district of Naples is rendered with a deep perspective; the central axis of the staircase in fact leads vertically toward the background of the alley, animated by a multitude of people in motion. The arrangement of the female figures in white in the foreground as they descend the steps, as well as the fluttering sheets hung between the buildings, accentuate the movement and lively dynamism of this Neapolitan scene.  The work on plywood is skillfully painted in oil with broad, swift brushstrokes; it is signed F. Cangiullo in the lower left corner, dates to the first half of the 20th century, comes from a private collection, and is in good condition, unframed.