
This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in
Filippo de Pisis(Italian, 1896-1956)Il vecchio naviglio a Milano
Sold for £27,500 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Impressionist and Modern Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot


Client Services (UK)
Shipping (UK)
Filippo de Pisis (Italian, 1896-1956)
signed 'Pisis' (lower right)
oil on canvas
95 x 75cm (37 3/8 x 29 1/2in).
Painted in 1942
Footnotes
PROVENANCE
Pasqualino Reschino collection, Salerno.
The authenticity of this work has kindly been confirmed by l'Associazione per il patrocinio e lo studio della figura e dell'opera di Filippo de Pisis and is registered in their achives under the no.03935.
Filippo de Pisis began painting as a child but only dedicated himself to an artistic career after 1923. Success arrived immediately; he moved to Paris and was included in the Salon d'Automne that year, later exhibiting in all the following Salons.
The present work, offered on the market for the first time, depicts the River Naviglio which runs through Milan, a city of which the artist was extremely fond. When Milan was bombed the following year he was forced to leave, but he returned after the war and lived there until his death in 1956.
De Pisis' work is influenced by several major pictorial trends: the eighteenth century Venetian style is apparent in his skies; French Impressionism and Fauvist chromatic brushstrokes are recognisable in his choice of colours; and the Romanticists influenced his lyrical point of view.
His depictions of cities - and this is one of the best examples - were painted with very light strokes. De Pisis' works exhibit nervous staccato brushwork and his backgrounds are typically bright and airy. The perspective in the present work is so precise that it reminds the viewer of Maurice Utrillo's paintings, which de Pisis would copy from postcards.
The artist's first love was poetry, which translated naturally into painting. Looking at this impressive canvas, the viewer feels as if de Pisis is leaning out of his window overlooking the River Naviglio, allowing us to view the scene through his nostalgic and poetic eyes.
Saleroom notices
Please note the following additional provenance; Galleria del Cavallino , Venice.
