Cafiero Filippelli (1889–1973) – “bad Advice,” Oil On Panel, 1930s

A striking and rare interior scene by the Livorno-born painter Cafiero Filippelli, titled "Bad Advice," created in the 1930s using the oil-on-wood panel technique.The work belongs to one of the most acclaimed strands of Filippelli’s oeuvre: domestic interiors illuminated by artificial light, a subject that earned him the reputation as a true “master of interiors” in 20th-century Italian painting. The composition depicts two female figures gathered in an intimate and quiet setting, illuminated by the warm light of an oil lamp. The dialogue between the protagonists, suggested by the title, lends the scene a strong narrative and psychological dimension, while the refined play of light and shadow reveals the artist’s sensitivity to the lighting effects and intimate atmospheres that characterize his most refined works. A student of the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence and closely associated with the post-Macchiaioli tradition, Filippelli was one of the most important exponents of the Livorno school of the 20th century, participating in the Venice Biennales and the Rome Quadriennales. The work is signed in the lower left corner and presented in an elegant gilded wooden frame.Painting dimensions: 35 x 45.5 cmFrame dimensions: 54.5 x 65.5 cmA work particularly representative of Cafiero Filippelli’s intimate style of painting, capable of combining narrative, atmosphere, and light in a scene of intense evocative power.