(Alessandria 1854–1919 Milan)
View of Burano, signed, dated Morbelli 1910, oil on canvas, 40 x 50 cm, framed, (GG)

Provenance:
Acquired by the father of the current owner in the 1960s;
His heirs – Private Collection, Italy.

We are grateful to Prof. Giovanni Anzani for confirming the authenticity on the basis of the original. This work will be included in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné.

Angelo Morbelli´s initial studies were completed in Alessandria and in 1867 he was awarded a scholarship to continue his training at the Accademia di Brera under Giuseppe Bertini (1825-1898) and Raffaele Casnedi (1822-1892). There, he exhibited for the first time in 1874 at the annual exhibition. He executed with excellent results a number of paintings with the assistance of photographs, a technique he was among the first to use.

He turned to Divisionism before 1888 after meeting Vittore Grubicy de Dragon. He then remained attached to a rigorous Divisionist technique, recording his theories in a diary, the via Crucis del Divisionismo, from 1912-1919. He can be considered one of the leading figures of Italian Divisionism together with Segantini, Longoni, Previati and Pellizza da Volpedo.

The present lot belongs to a group of paintings dedicated to the island of Burano in the Venetian lagoon.
It was painted in 1910 as “la prima messa a Burano”, which is considered to be one of Morbelli’s most important Divisionist works. Touches of paint were applied side-by-side to the canvases to give greater luminosity and colour. This laborious method produced works of remarkable precision and exceptional use of light, such as the present lot.

The picture is one of Morbelli’s beautiful scenes of the everyday life of the people of Burano, which was based on the artist’s direct observations.