Giuseppe Abbati (Att.to)

Giuseppe Abbati (Attrib.) (Naples 1836 - Florence 1868) Seated Tuscan Common Woman Black chalk Measurements: mm 320 x 230 Italian painter and patriot, son of Vincenzo Abbati (Naples 1803 - Florence 1866), also a painter and his master from childhood. Following the various family moves, we find him first in Florence and then, from 1846 to 1858, in Venice, where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts, coming into contact with artists such as Telemaco Signorini (Florence 1835 - Florence 1901) and Vito D'Ancona (Pesaro 1825 - Florence 1884). After taking part in the Expedition of the Thousand, which caused him the loss of an eye, he moved to Florence. Here he frequented the Caffe Michelangiolo, and his art fully embraced the Macchiaioli style, therefore realism, the image from life, and "the patch" both in color and in the light-shadow contrast. He regularly exhibited at the Promptrici in Turin and Florence, and at Brera. His works are preserved in the galleries of Naples, Florence, and Rome. Lively and audacious, both in the choice of subjects and in political commitment, he was a close friend of the art critic Diego Martelli, the soul of the Macchiaiola meteor. In this sheet, against a very dark background obtained with the intersection of dense parallel and perpendicular lines, emerges the figure of a seated elderly woman. Her entire figure is described through light and shadow. She has a serene and resigned expression, marked by the wrinkles of time, her gathered hair hidden by a "kerchief" tied around her neck. The rustic dress is ample and heavily draped, falling softly to her feet, her gathered hands are characterized by long and tapered fingers. Skilled hands shaped by work. The light coming from the right strikes softly and envelops her figure. The viewer is captured by this intimate and familiar image. It is probably a study from life that a careful study of Abbati's pictorial production could find on the doorstep or inside a farmhouse. Fresh and well-preserved drawing except for minimal foxing, which does not disturb the reading of the drawing. Some creases in the upper area of the sheet. On the back, ink stamp of the Mario Galli collection Florence. Mario Galli was a Florentine art dealer active at the end of the 19th century who dealt with the Macchiaioli. In pen in late nineteenth-century handwriting: Beppe Abbati (attributed) / Tuscan common woman / drawing. Two handwritten labels with cataloging numbers.