Sketch of the holm oak
The present lot is a sketch for the finished oil on panel Ulivi argentati, from the Mario Galli collection (Giovanni Malesci, Illustrated catalog of oil paintings by Giovanni Fattori, Novara, 1961, no. 501, p. 220). Dated by Malesci to circa 1890-1900, the finished oil painting was included in a 1925 exhibition in Florence on the occasion of the centenary of the painter's birth.
A perfect correspondence emerges when the present artwork and the finished painting are compared. The oil closely follows the sketched composition, with the same position of the trunks and gnarled branches of the olive trees, as well as the identical light that hits the trees and makes the shadows stretch toward the right. The scene is executed "dal vero," or en plein air, and is charged with a suggestive atmosphere through the play of light that filters through the foliage of the forest.
This sketch reveals the artist’s typical use of counterpoint of light and dark tones and the skillful use of the different drafting and density of the chromatic mixture. The characters of synthesis and simplicity were sought by the artist in a systemic way in order to arouse emotions not by the content but for the chosen quality of the form. Here, the calm and diffused brightness enhances the silent stillness of the scene and accentuates the evocative qualities of the landscape.
(From the auction site)
