Oil Painting On Cardboard Signed By Michele De Simone (1893–1955)

Oil painting on cardboard signed by Michele De Simone (1893–1955), depicting a “little farmer with a donkey.”

Born in Barletta on August 13, 1893, he died in Milan on May 15, 1955. He completed his studies in Naples, where he began painting; after moving to Milan, he developed his own style based on the purest Neapolitan tradition. His works were exhibited in numerous shows at the “Promotrice di Belle Arti” and at the first Neapolitan Biennale in 1921. Later, he painted landscapes of the Canton of Ticino and the Lombard countryside; he also traveled to Venice, where he depicted the lagoon. In February 1943, he held his first solo exhibition in Milan, presenting about eighty paintings. He later settled on the shores of Lake Como, where he lived for several years: in June 1946, he exhibited thirty studies there, painted from life. After the war, he returned to Milan, resuming a quiet life marked by work and walks. In February 1957, the Galleria Cordusio hosted a posthumous exhibition, curated by Giorgio Nicodemi, which featured 57 oil paintings selected to illustrate his entire body of work. His painting titled “Il cocchiere e via Caracciolo” is housed at the Museo Irpino, located in the former Bourbon prison in Avellino, within the Provincial Art Gallery.