Giuseppe De Nittis Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Giuseppe Denitis was born in Barletta in 1846.

After studying the fundamentals of art from his compatriot Giambattista Carlo, he moved to Naples with his older brother Vincenzo, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Here he took lessons with Giuseppe Mancinelli and Gabriele Smargiassi and began to dedicate himself to some research in life.

Two years later, the studio was released from any academic commitment after being expelled from the Academy for disciplinary reasons, strengthened by the adventurous direct contact with Marco De Gregorio, Federico Rossano and Adriano Cecioni, in a new landscape painting with a decidedly anti-academic character.

Paintings such as Casale and L'Ofantino near Naples are from the mid-1960s.

These works are characterized by a clear, almost photographic rendering of reality, but sometimes not exempt, such as the surprisingly mature dating in the woods of Portici, derived from an intuition similar to the contemporary study of Tuscan painters.

In 1967, when his brother Vincenzo reached the age of majority and his custody ceased, he went to Rome.

He then went to Paris for a few months, where he visited Messonnier's studio and met the art dealer Goupier.

On his way back he stopped in Florence.

Although he stayed there for a short period, presenting the promoters with two life studies and three paintings, not included in the catalogue, he left a profound impression on the artists, who welcomed him warmly.

At the end of the year he exhibited at the Promoter of Naples.

Here, in '64, he made his first appearance in two editions of his paintings "The advance of the storm", "Impressions of the Apulian plain" and "The crossing in memory of the Apennines".

The latter was purchased by King Vittorio Emanuele II for the Royal Palace of Capodimonte.

After a few months in Puglia, in '68 he returned to Paris, as well as returning regularly to Italy.

Here, after a favorable contract with the Maison Goupil and the German entrepreneur Reitlinger, he married the young Léontine Lucile Gruvelle.

He then began to associate with some of the most important cultural figures of the time, including Edmund de Goncourt, son of Dumas, Dodt, Zola, Degas and Manet.

His debut at the Salon dates back to 1969, when he was Bosco di Puglia and some paintings were dressed in the manner of Meissonier and Fortuny.

In the spring of 1970, before moving to rue Lepic, he met Ceccioni, a long-time guest. But it is in this close coexistence that some conflicts have brought their friendship into a deep crisis.

Forced by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, he returned to Italy, and after confirming the well-known agreement with Goupier, he was probably first in Puglia and then in Campania for market needs, with Signorini, Rosano and de Gregorio painted together, the series of Vesuvian landscapes, simplified according to new colors and shapes, in full harmony with the taste of the time.

Returning to Paris in mid-February 1973, he dedicated himself entirely to the direct symbolic painting of clothes, focusing on the symbols of modernity, rendering works such as Driving to the Bois, Return from Racing and Che COLD (where he was at the Salon of '74) vividly A glance at life in the capital.

At Degas's invitation, he also brought five paintings to the first Impressionist exhibition at photographer Nadal's studio on Cappuccines Avenue.

In the spring and summer of 1974, it was as successful in London as it was in France.

Since then he has dispersed between Paris, London and Italy and, as a careful observer of reality, has been able to continuously improve his skills.

Firstly it focuses on some aspects of urban life, which are linked to the worldly, elegant and cultural figures who swarm in groups in their free time or moments of leisure, of which Pyramid Square exemplifies well.

However, one of his favorite subjects remained equestrian races and rides, loved by the Impressionists, especially Degas.

This is demonstrated by the Flirtation paintings, the Auteuil racial triptych and the Longchamps racial painting.

In the meantime, his friend Edmond de Goncourt introduced him, with whom he shared a passion for Japanese art, remembered in a large painting from 1983 in the living room of Princess Mathilde Bonaparte (Barletta, Civic Museum).

Giuseppe De Nittis died in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France) in 1884. Read the full biography

Giuseppe Denitis was born in Barletta in 1846.

After studying the fundamentals of art from his compatriot Giambattista Carlo, he moved to Naples with his older brother Vincenzo, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Here he took lessons with Giuseppe Mancinelli and Gabriele Smargiassi and began to dedicate himself to some research in life.

Two years later, the studio was released from any academic commitment after being expelled from the Academy for disciplinary reasons, strengthened by the adventurous direct contact with Marco De Gregorio, Federico Rossano and Adriano Cecioni, in a new landscape painting with a decidedly anti-academic character.

Paintings such as Casale and L'Ofantino near Naples are from the mid-1960s.

These works are characterized by a clear, almost photographic rendering of reality, but sometimes not exempt, such as the surprisingly mature dating in the woods of Portici, derived from an intuition similar to the contemporary study of Tuscan painters.

In 1967, when his brother Vincenzo reached the age of majority and his custody ceased, he went to Rome.

He then went to Paris for a few months, where he visited Messonnier's studio and met the art dealer Goupier.

On his way back he stopped in Florence.

Although he stayed there for a short period, presenting the promoters with two life studies and three paintings, not included in the catalogue, he left a profound impression on the artists, who welcomed him warmly.

At the end of the year he exhibited at the Promoter of Naples.

Here, in '64, he made his first appearance in two editions of his paintings "The advance of the storm", "Impressions of the Apulian plain" and "The crossing in memory of the Apennines".

The latter was purchased by King Vittorio Emanuele II for the Royal Palace of Capodimonte.

After a few months in Puglia, in '68 he returned to Paris, as well as returning regularly to Italy.

Here, after a favorable contract with the Maison Goupil and the German entrepreneur Reitlinger, he married the young Léontine Lucile Gruvelle.

He then began to associate with some of the most important cultural figures of the time, including Edmund de Goncourt, son of Dumas, Dodt, Zola, Degas and Manet.

His debut at the Salon dates back to 1969, when he was Bosco di Puglia and some paintings were dressed in the manner of Meissonier and Fortuny.

In the spring of 1970, before moving to rue Lepic, he met Ceccioni, a long-time guest. But it is in this close coexistence that some conflicts have brought their friendship into a deep crisis.

Forced by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, he returned to Italy, and after confirming the well-known agreement with Goupier, he was probably first in Puglia and then in Campania for market needs, with Signorini, Rosano and de Gregorio painted together, the series of Vesuvian landscapes, simplified according to new colors and shapes, in full harmony with the taste of the time.

Returning to Paris in mid-February 1973, he dedicated himself entirely to the direct symbolic painting of clothes, focusing on the symbols of modernity, rendering works such as Driving to the Bois, Return from Racing and Che COLD (where he was at the Salon of '74) vividly A glance at life in the capital.

At Degas's invitation, he also brought five paintings to the first Impressionist exhibition at photographer Nadal's studio on Cappuccines Avenue.

In the spring and summer of 1974, it was as successful in London as it was in France.

Since then he has dispersed between Paris, London and Italy and, as a careful observer of reality, has been able to continuously improve his skills.

Firstly it focuses on some aspects of urban life, which are linked to the worldly, elegant and cultural figures who swarm in groups in their free time or moments of leisure, of which Pyramid Square exemplifies well.

However, one of his favorite subjects remained equestrian races and rides, loved by the Impressionists, especially Degas.

This is demonstrated by the Flirtation paintings, the Auteuil racial triptych and the Longchamps racial painting.

In the meantime, his friend Edmond de Goncourt introduced him, with whom he shared a passion for Japanese art, remembered in a large painting from 1983 in the living room of Princess Mathilde Bonaparte (Barletta, Civic Museum).

Giuseppe De Nittis died in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France) in 1884.