Gaetano Bellei (Modena 1857 - 1922)

Gaetano Bellei, "A Joyful Moment", late 19th century. Oil on canvas, 50 x 74 cm within a contemporary gilded frame. Signed "G. Bellei/Modena" on the right. A joyful moment, an elegant canvas by Gaetano Bellei, depicts an interior scene in a precious noble palace. The protagonist is a tender little girl, dressed in luminous silk and fine lace, portrayed while playing with a colorful little parrot. The young girl is lying on a chaise longue; as can be seen from the slight twist of her body, she has just put down a small light blue fan to allow the parrot to land on her hand. In the foreground there is a small stool, also lined like the chaise longue in light blue brocade, white lacquer and gold leaves, on which fragrant roses have been placed. In the background a fabric screen with golden finishes separates the spaces, making the adorable scene that unfolds before our eyes something more intimate and private. The background, from which a curious orientalist candelabra with a helical shape rises, is almost in shadow; it is rendered by a blurred painting that unites the console, the frame and the carpet hanging on the wall in a golden material that is not excessively distinct. The focus of the artist and, irremediably, that of the observer, are the laughing girl and the green bird with which she plays, perhaps it itself a symbol of innocence and purity of the girl's adolescence, still linked to childish moods. A joyful moment is not only a very fine painting, but a reminder, a memento aimed at making us remember how beautiful and ephemeral youth is, which lasts only an instant or, as the title says, "a moment". BIOGRAPHY Gaetano Bellei was born in Modena in 1857 and trained as an artist thanks to the master Adeodato Malatesta at the Academy of Fine Arts of Modena, and then completed his training at the Academy of San Luca. In 1876, still a student, he won the competition for the Poletti Prize of Modena with the historical painting Il Francia that admires for the first time the S. Cecilia by Raffaello, now at the Civic Museum of Modena, which allowed him to obtain the artistic pension. He then went to Florence, where he met Gaetano Chierici, from whom he was inspired regarding the narrative composition; urged by the English antique dealers and clients Bredling and Strange he dedicated himself entirely to genre painting. These scenes characterize Bellei's artistic beginnings, the themes of which are repeated and replicated with few variations, such as Briscola in convento and Primi passi, as they are in great demand by collectors and patrons. The jovial subjects of his painting are combined with a commendable technical knowledge of the pictorial material, accompanied by the artist's desire to keep up with his contemporary European currents. In 1882 he brought La Benvenuta to the Exhibition of the Royal Academy of London, which guaranteed him fame in Anglo-Saxon circles. In 1885 he exhibited for the first time in Genoa Il micino fortunato, a subject with such commercial success that it was painted in several versions. From 1893 he taught at the Academy of Modena, but continued to participate in various exhibitions, including Turin in 1898, Milan in 1906, Genoa in 1910 and Rome in 1911. Bellei established himself as a painter of human affections, of the simple everyday life of man, often a peasant; the most frequently portrayed subjects are the elderly and children, often caught in joyful moments of play. The genre scenes, very popular with wealthy clients, guaranteed him artistic fortune and economic well-being throughout his life. In the first decade of the 20th century he did not fail to experiment with his contemporary currents, including divisionism, which is best expressed in portraits such as his Self-portrait; he then practiced with styles and themes typical of Art Nouveau, as in During the rain of 1919, dwelling on the torsions of bodies and clothes moved by the wind. Bellei also boasts commissions from parishes in the province of Modena, producing altarpieces for the churches of Zocca and Bomporto. He died in Modena in 1922.