46 - 19th-century Neapolitan painter

19th-century Neapolitan painter (Active in Naples in the second half of the 19th century) River Landscape with City View Oil on canvas, 37 x 64 cm Unsigned work Fair condition with patina This previously unpublished painting, from an important Sicilian collection, depicts a panoramic view of a village with Baroque influences, characterized by imposing mountains with buildings in the background, a body of water in the foreground, and a mountainous backdrop that stands out clearly on the horizon. In the composition, a river with several rocks and human figures on the bank is visible in the foreground, while the town extends across the central valley, dominated by hills and mountain peaks that frame the scene, with a low-angled light suggesting the moment of dawn or sunset. The work is attributed by collectors to the late 19th-century Central Italian school and is attributed to the Neapolitan master Alessandro La Volpe (Lucera, 1820 – Rome, 1887). Painted on canvas, in this work the artist offers us—in a close-up view—one of many depictions of everyday life in a village. The scene is rendered as an interplay of colors: brown-gold earth tones for the ground and rocks; the figures, the sea, and the sky stand out lyrically against a backdrop of vivid, vibrant hues. Furthermore, this work is characterized by a rich, impasto-like painting style, executed in “patches,” capable of capturing the beauty and contradictions of the landscape with a lyrical vision. The depiction of this River Landscape with a City View and the celebration of light and color are distinctive elements of this work.