(Prestinone 1871–1968)
Ultimi pascoli, signed C. Fornara, on the reverse signed and dedicated ”alla genma Signora Lia Borghi-Carlo-Fornara”, oil on canvas, 70.5 x 102 cm, framed, (GG)

Provenance:
Acquired in 1950 in the Galleria d’Arte Internazionale Borghi e Sperati, Milan;
Thence by descent to the current owner;
European private collection

Carlo Fornara was born in the alpine village of Prestinone near the Swiss border. He learned to draw from an early age, the tradition of landscape painting being well established in his local region. He trained at the art school in nearby Santa Maria Maggiore under Enrico Cavalli, a friend of the French artist Adolphe Monticelli (1824-1886).
The 1892 exhibition of Antonio Fontanesi’s (1818-1882) atmospheric landscapes influenced Fornara greatly.
He spent several months in Paris between 1894 and 1896 where he studied the works of the Impressionists. He then returned to Prestinone where he painted his first Divisionist work, En Plein Air, which was refused by the jury of the third Milan Triennale. The painting was then displayed in a shop in Milan where it was seen by Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899). Much impressed by the young Fornara, in 1898 he invited him to work on his project for the panorama of the Engandine, to be presented at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1900. This was to prove the most lasting influence on Fornara’s mountain landscapes.
In 1898, he joined Alberto Grubicy’s group of artists which gave him financial stability.
Several works by Fornara were included in the exhibition of Italian Divisionism organized by Alberto Grubicy in Paris in 1907.
He travelled around South America between 1910 and 1912, and participated in several exhibitions in Italy and abroad until 1922.
He continued to paint until his death in 1968 and always remained faithful to Divisionism. The use of contrasting colours allowed him to depict the clear and cold mountain daylight.

In the present lot Fornara depicts the broad expanse of a breathtaking Alpine panorama. The painting shows an unspoilt landscape, alive with vibrant and intense colour. The figure in the middle of the composition is watering her flock of sheep under a blue sky.
The work is typical of Fornara’s structured landscape compositions, with their intense luminosity. By creating this luminous effect, Divisionist artists such as Fornara and Segantini attempted to create an emotional response in the observer.