Since then, I discovered another Venetian artist who, in his way, was Tito's equal. His name is Giacomo Favretto. But Favretto, 1849-1887, was born ten years before Tito and died of typhoid fever at age 38, so he couldn't claim to be the last really good painter from Venice.
English language information regarding Favretto is skimpy on the Internet. A brief Wikipedia entry is here. More details can be found here.
Favretto painted a number of 18th century costume scenes, but I prefer his paintings related to Venice. Here are some examples:
Okay, this isn't Venice, but a setting a ways farther inland. I include it because he rarely did landscapes.
A commentary on art restoration, I think.
The title can be translated as "Susanna and the Elders," but here Susanna is fully clothed and quite happy to be part of the scene.
A view of Venice's Promenade Day. Favretto was working on it just before he died. At first glance, it seems finished, but closer examination shows that some of the background figures are only sketched in. Click on the image to enlarge.
Favretto had a very nice touch that, for me, cancels any potential criticism that his subjects lacked profundity.
5 comments:
I really see what you like in Favretto, Don. He is a very strong painter and has quite a nice touch. I love that Mercato in campo San Polo and that Liston odiero in particular.
Thanks for introducing me.
Don, He is one of my fav Italian region painters. His boldness in dropping in the shapes in value/color first then fixing up edges. He was a hawk for values. Seems like his palette might of been no more than 9 or 8 colors? If you have read Richard Schmid books, there is a resemblance of his style. Not that he ever mentioned him. Perhaps, those ideas of painting get to the point right away.
Unless your into art on much deeper terms like yourself Don, artist like Favretto will always remain obscure.
I just returned from Venice having stayed in Favretto's home, which is now a small hotel. I hadn't heard about this artist, even though I was an art educator and have visited many museums in Europe & studied about multiple artists. It was a thrill to see the painting you posted about Campo S. Polo, which I just walked through a couple of days ago. He was a highly underrated painter in my opinion, but much of Venice looks now as it did in his paintings, thank goodness. Except for all the tourists which we just have to pretend not to see.
Thank you for creating this post, he is now one of my favorites from one of my favorite places.
I'll be in Venice towards mid-October and should try to check that out. Thank you for the reminder.
Do you have any reference to his palette. I love his paintings and would like to try his palette.
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