Renato Natali
(Livorno 1883 - 1979)
Oil painting on canvas signed in the lower right corner. Stamped and signed on the back by Lelio Tomei.
Canvas dimensions: 50x70cm frame dimensions 70x90cm
He was born in Livorno to a modest family. Here he studied in the workshop of Lorenzo Cecchi, his teacher also at the School of Arts and Crafts, but is essentially self-taught.
In 1905 he exhibited for the first time at the Venice Biennale, in which he will participate 6 more times until 1930. In Livorno he frequented Caffè Bardi in Piazza Cavour, a meeting place for artists since 1909, and collaborated on its decoration with 3 paintings. He also exhibited in 1912 at the important I Livornese Art Exhibition at the Bagni Pancaldi where he obtained the Gold Medal of the Ministry of Public Education. A year later he was in Paris, where he drew a lot of inspiration.
In his very long career he never adhered to precise movements; his painting is rapid, with full-bodied colors, acidic and dissonant timbres, strong chromatic contrasts, which he uses to represent Livorno, the main protagonist of his paintings. He paints views of the city day and night, immortalizing its life, also made up of brawls and prostitutes, so much so that critics call him "peintre de la rue" and the Livorno people "Natali delle notti", as evidenced in this museum by the 3 canvases Views of Old Livorno (circa 1935).
In 1920, in Livorno, he was among the founders of the Gruppo Labronico, an association of painters born in honor of Mario Puccini, who had just died, to collect his and Giovanni Fattori's legacy. Natali has been its President since 1977 for the last 3 years of his life.
His paintings are in numerous Livorno homes and in some symbolic places in the city, such as the Bar Civili.
He died in Livorno in 1979, at the age of 95.