Giuseppe DE NITTIS
(Barletta 1846 - Saint-Germain-en-Laye 1884)

La masseria
oil on canvas
cm 8x10
signed bottom left

Exhibitions:
1) Mostra amatori e cultori, Rome, 1925.
2) Mostra retrospettiva di G. De Nittis, Barletta, 1934.
3) Mostra del paesaggio italiano, Milan, La Permanente, 1954.
4) Giuseppe De Nittis, Milan, La Permanente, 11 April-27 May 1990; Bari, Pinacoteca Provinciale, 2 June-29 September 1990.

Bibliography:
1) E. Piceni, De Nittis, Mondadori, Milan, 1934, fig. XX.
2) R. Carrieri, Fortuna di De Nittis, "Tempo", 15-22 October 1942.
3) E. Piceni, De Nittis, Mondadori, Milan, 1955, fig. 1.
4) M. Pittaluga-E. Piceni, De Nittis, Bramante, Milan, 1963, n. 285, fig. IX.
5) E. Piceni, De Nittis, Fratelli Fabbri, Milan, 1966.
6) R. De Grada, La pittura italiana dell'Ottocento, Fratelli Fabbri, Milan, 1978, n. 122.
7) E. Piceni, De Nittis. L'uomo e l'opera, Bramante, Busto Arsizio, 1979, fig. 45.
8) M. Monteverdi, Enrico Piceni. Una vita fedele a se stessa, Bramante, Milan, 1989, fig. between pp. 88 and 89 and on cover.
9) Various authors, Giuseppe De Nittis, catalogue of the exhibition held in Milan and Bari, 1990, Artificio, Florence, n. 26.
10) P. Dini-G. L. Marini, De Nittis, Allemandi, Turin, 1990, n. 7.
11) Various authors, Dal vero…, catalogue of the exhibition held in Turin, 2002, Allemandi, Turin, n. 65.
12) Various authors, De Nittis. Impressionista…, catalogue of the exhibition held in Rome and Milan, 2004-2005, Mazzotta, Milan, n. 3, fig. p. 22.

La Masseria is a work of major importance for historic and artistic reasons. It is, in fact, thanks to this work that Enrico Piceni met the famous publisher, art enthusiast and art dealer, Angelo Sommaruga. As recounted by Mario Monteverdi in his biography of Piceni, Enrico Piceni. Una vita fedele a se stessa, in 1929 the painting was auctioned in Milan at an exorbitant price for that time. But it had so completely captured Piceni's heart and mind that he wanted it at any cost and, indeed, succeeded in taking it home with him. Sommaruga, the painting's former owner, was curious to meet its new owner. Their meeting marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration that helped rekindle interest in the works of De Nittis. The attention of the Italian public spread especially after Piceni's monograph on the life of De Nittis was published by Mondadori in 1934. "Though no larger than the palm of one's hand, [La Masseria] is, however, a bold composition that incorporates characteristics of pictures of much larger size." (G. Matteucci, Giuseppe De Nittis, catalogue of the exibition held in Milan and Bari, 1990). The clear, motionless blue of the southern Italian sky contrasts with the okra and brown colors of the dusty, isolated farm. The farmhouse scene is animated by the oxen and on the left by two large cartwheels that interrupt the unreal, abstract motionlessness of the farm, conferring a certain dynamic rhythm to the composition. In the Dini-Marini general catalogue (1990), this picture is considered the work that launched the artist's career. Matteucci, however, suggests it could also have been executed during the height of the artist's career, in which case it could have been carried out during one of the artist's many visits to Italy. Interestingly, there is another farm painted on a larger canvas (cm 9,5 x 16,5), but with an almost identical subject (P. Dini-G.L. Marini, De Nittis, Allemandi, Turin 1990, n. 6).