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Lot 38
Pietro Fragiacomo(Italian, 1856-1922)On the Venetian lagoon
30 – 31 March 2022, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£30,000 - £50,000
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Pietro Fragiacomo (Italian, 1856-1922)
On the Venetian lagoon
signed 'P Fragiacomo' (lower left)
oil on canvas
47.5 x 87cm (18 3/4 x 34 1/4in).
signed 'P Fragiacomo' (lower left)
oil on canvas
47.5 x 87cm (18 3/4 x 34 1/4in).
Footnotes
Provenance
With Arthur Tooth & Sons, London.
Anon. sale, James Adam & Sons, Dublin, 22 May 2016, lot 205.
Pietro Fragiacomo was born near Trieste in 1856, but at an early age, around ten years old, he moved with his family to Venice. In 1877 he enrolled at The Academy of Fine Arts under the tutelage of Domenico Bresolin (1813-1899) but remained there for only a year before leaving and working more closely with his contemporaries, Giacomo Favretto (1849-1887) and Ettore Tito (1859-1941). By 1880 Fragiacomo had begun to exhibit his work successfully, initially at The National Exhibition in Turin and subsequently in Rome and Milan. Further success followed at The International Exhibition in Munich in 1888 and in Paris the following year.
Like many of the other artists working in Venice at the time, Fragiacomo drew his inspiration from everyday scenes, but what typified his work was combining this record of normal life with an interest in the colour and shimmering light of the water on the lagoon often captured from the banks of the Guidecca where he set up his studio.
In 1895 he was involved in the organization of The International Exhibition of the City of Venice, which later became The Biennale and was a regular contributor for many years. In 1910 he showed over 70 works, but critically this close involvement with the burgeoning Biennale brought him into close contact with other artists and movements, in particularly Art Nouveau which was to have an impact on his later work.
An exhibition of 133 works took place at the Pesaro Gallery in Milan in 1918 just four years before his death in 1922.