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Gabriele SMARGIASSI
(Vasto 1798 - Naples 1882)
Caulking boats
Oil on paper mounted on canvas
H. 26 cm; L. 38 cm
circa 1840
Born in Vasto, Abruzzo, Smargiassi initially trained under the protection of his uncle, before continuing his apprenticeship in Naples, then a flourishing artistic capital. Under the aegis of Giuseppe Cammarano and later Wilhelm Jakob Huber, he developed an aesthetic imbued with classicism, while remaining sensitive to emerging Romantic accents.
In 1824, Smargiassi moved to Rome, where contact with landscape painting circles, particularly those centered around Joseph Anton Koch and the neo-classical movement, sharpened his sensitivity to the natural sublime. However, it was in Naples that he reached his apogee, succeeding Anton Sminck Pitloo as chair of landscape at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1841. His teaching and his work contributed to the establishment of a Neapolitan school of landscape painting, marked by a quest for harmony between fidelity to reality and lyrical idealization.
His canvases, with their balanced compositions and nuanced lighting, exalt the serene grandeur of southern landscapes, in a tradition that prefigures Italian realism. Sought after by Italian and foreign patrons alike, Smargiassi remained faithful throughout his life to a contemplative vision of nature, reflecting the meditative soul of his time. His legacy endures as one of the most eloquent testimonies to the Italian Romantic landscape.
Our composition on paper shows workers on the beach, caulking two ships. In the background, numerous masts and sails of boats moored in the harbor stand out.
