Painting by Beppe Ciardi (Venice 1875 – Quinto di Treviso 1932) depicting "The Sea"

Beppe Ciardi (Venice 1875 – Quinto di Treviso 1932), "The Sea", 1st quarter of the 20th century. oil on canvas, 140 x 190 cm Signed "Beppe Ciardi" lower left. "The Sea" is a large painting by Beppe Ciardi, representing a maritime landscape. In this work we can identify a peculiar trait of the painter's style: thick brushstrokes, with an impressionistic flavor, characterized by a pictorial material that in this case becomes more substantial where the water is represented. The very vivid colors appear mixed directly on the canvas itself. In the foreground, on a pebble beach, the wives and children of the fishermen hurry to greet the men departing for the sea, some with a gesture of their hands, others waving a handkerchief in the air. Right on the boat, with its red sails patched here and there, six indistinguishable figures are rowing, rippling the agitated and darting waves, rendered in motion by Ciardi with shades of light blues, azure blues, and grays, to which he adds small touches of warmer colors. The sea foam is accentuated by rivulets of a pure white; in the background, the flat calm reflects, like a mirror, the sparkle of a mild winter day, almost as if the sky were the true protagonist of the painting. It is dawn: the rosy light of the rising sun reverberates on the clouds. An individual on the left observes the scene from a distance, while in the background, the distant boats are painted by the artist in an essential manner; the masts of the ships become incorporeal, and only the hull and sails remain visible of the structure. This subject is taken up multiple times by the artist with various titles, including The Departure and The Fishermen: Ciardi unrolls and rewinds the moment of farewell like the film of a movie; the same distant memory is repeated on canvas ad infinitum. The concept of departure manifests itself almost as an obsession in the painter, as does the sphere of human affections: this is demonstrated by the frequent presence of figures in his landscapes, which is not found in his father's paintings. The work The Sea is present in the General Catalogue of Beppe Ciardi's works edited by Antonio Parronchi on page 241, table no. 807. BIOGRAPHY Beppe Ciardi, registered as Giuseppe, was born in Venice in 1875. Son of art, his father is the landscape painter Guglielmo Ciardi, known mainly for his views of the Venetian lagoon. His younger sister, Emma Ciardi, also became an accomplished and internationally appreciated painter. Thanks to his father, he had his first contact with painting, as demonstrated by a composition of three alpine landscapes dated between 1888 and 1892, now preserved in a private foundation in Treviso. Despite the evident aptitude and early talent of his son, Guglielmo did not approve of a future as an artist for him, preferring a scientific career instead; Beppe was forced to enroll in the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Padua, attending it for three years. Preceded by the fame of Guglielmo, who in the meantime had been appointed professor of Landscape at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Venice, Beppe made his debut at the 2nd edition of the Milan Triennale with some natural studies. In the meantime, he neglects his university studies to dedicate more and more time to painting: in 1896 he leaves the university to enter the institution where his father teaches, choosing however not to follow his course; instead, he enrolls in Figure drawing, the chair of which is at that time is entrusted to the painter Ettore Tito. The same year he presents himself at the international exhibition of Art and Flowers in Florence with two still lifes, Rainy Day and Kitchen Interior (now unfortunately lost): a singular choice, a sign of a still very young artist, dedicated to an artistic experimentation that includes both genres and pictorial techniques. In 1897 Beppe Ciardi meets a young woman of popular extraction, who to support her family economically works as a pearl stringer: Emilia Rizzotti. The paternal resistance of Guglielmo, who, to dissuade his son from marriage, sends him first to a location in the Dolomites and then to Rome to study its landscapes. In 1899, at the III Venice Biennale, in which both father and son participate, Beppe makes his national debut with the triptych Land in Bloom and Monte Rosa, a painting of discreet dimensions. After completing his studies at the Academy, Beppe begins to dedicate himself to portraiture, both family and commissioned, and to genre scenes in the open air. The landscape continues to be present, but in a more mitigated way: it serves as a backdrop to tender moments of childhood, of which girls intent in their games are the protagonists (as in Field Flowers, around 1900) or young urchins (The Bath or Boys on the River, 1899). The studies from life of the Roman countryside and the rural life of the common people will then be used by the artist for the triptych The Parable of the Lambs, presented at the Milan Triennale of 1900, for which the painter is awarded. In 1902 the magazine "Natura e Arte" publishes the first article totally dedicated to the artist, complete with an interview in which emerges the uncertainty of a painter still green and a marked interest in the figure, not present in Guglielmo's artistic repertoire and probably a way to distinguish himself and emancipate himself from the now cumbersome shadow of the paternal figure. However, Beppe does not abandon the landscape, on the contrary: he expresses it in its analytical version, synthesizing it with an earthy palette, made of browns and olive greens, as is evident in the works executed in Canove, in the Asiago Plateau, where the Ciardi spend the spring. Also in this period Beppe faces a symbolist parenthesis, in which a reference to German painting is evident, especially that of the painter Arnold Bocklin, as in Moonlight Garden (1900); however, contemporary critics do not welcome his works with a more Nordic flavor, so much so that three of his paintings are rejected by the commission of the V Venice Biennale of 1903. An artist with a mild but reserved and introverted character, he prefers a quiet existence, continuously dedicated to painting (as his sister Emma will also do) and to the en plein air study of mountainous and lagoon landscapes, to the worldly life of his colleagues. Among the instruments used by Beppe, like other of his contemporaries, is photography, which, however, he uses for the purpose of studying the painting, not reality, unlike his sister Emma. Between 1905 and 1907 the artist returns from the beginnings to the spring setting, dedicating himself to a series of canvases where the predominant theme is once again childhood; often featured are smiling children, flowers and almond trees, as in Butterflies or Smiles, exhibited at the VII Edition of the Venice Biennale. The opinion of contemporary critics oscillates between little consideration and sincere appreciation, such as what Ugo Ojetti wrote about Beppe in 1911 for the "Corriere della Sera", defining him "[...] a master of rude sincerity, one of the very few young painters who work [...] for the love of work and for themselves. [...]". An artist with a shy and introverted personality, in his works a continuous conceptual reflection on human emotions and on the bonds that they weave between them is evident, as is clear from the presence of numerous versions of canvases concerning the themes of motherhood, departure, but also of spring as a symbol of youth and rebirth. With Italy's entry into the war in 1915, the Ciardi withdrew to their home in Quinto di Treviso; the following year Guglielmo, Beppe and Emma exhibited at the exhibition dedicated to them in the Central Art Gallery of Milan, where our painter enjoyed great success. In 1917 Guglielmo Ciardi died at the age of seventy-six. The families are forced to leave their home, which has been confiscated by the state to make it a field hospital for soldiers; Beppe takes refuge with his wife and daughter in Lugo, in the province of Ravenna. During this period he does not depict the scenarios and impressions of the war, as his sister will instead do. Shortly before the end of the conflict he is called to arms, only to be exempted for patrimonial reasons; in 1918 he becomes ill with Spanish Flu but recovers and, having settled in Venice, returns to paint. During the twenties he reaches artistic maturity: his brushstroke is snappy and fragmented, the writing becomes full of pictorial material; but the sky remains a constant as "[...] the subject itself of the painting. [...]" (U. Ojetti). In 1920 he curates a retrospective exhibition on Guglielmo Ciardi at the Biennale and in the following years donates a precious collection of his father's works to the Modern Art Gallery of Venice. Repeatedly he returns to the Asiago plateau, which bears the signs of the wartime clashes but of which Beppe wants once again to represent the naturalistic data, often recovering the very dear subject of grazing animals as in Peace on the Plateau (1922). In 1924 the artist is appointed member of the Board of Directors of the Biennale, and then inaugurates a small personal exhibition at the Corona Gallery in Naples; also in that year he paints his most famous Self-Portrait, now preserved at the Uffizi: depicted in the guise of a painter, with palette and easel, the figure of Beppe immerses himself in that rural landscape that for decades has characterized his work. During the last years of his life, the artist's style becomes immediate and synthetic, the landscapes represent an uncontaminated and impervious nature, acrid (Sunset on the Sile, 1928); the brushstroke, on the contrary, becomes dense and stratified, divided into filaments of colors, in a personal interpretation of divisionism. He paints tirelessly, as if he knew he had little time left to live: he is now an established artist, who organizes personal exhibitions at national level, in galleries throughout the territory. In 1932 he participates in his last Biennale with three large works, depicting a view on the Piave river, a marine landscape and a scene of rural life; he dies in the same year. At his death his beloved wife Emilia creates a collection at their villa in Quinto Treviso; in 1936 the art historian G. Nicodemi curates the first great posthumous exhibition on the artist at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, and then writes in 1942 Beppe Ciardi, the richest monograph of his time, accompanied by color plates. His canvases are now preserved in the most important national and international museums and are highly sought after by private collectors.