Pietro Fabris (documented in Naples from 1756... Lot 72

Pietro Fabris (documented in Naples from 1756 -1792) A scene of popular life Oil on canvas 119 x 96 cm The work is accompanied by a study by Professor Stefano Causa, available by email upon request. Resuming what Professor Stefano Causa writes in the study: At present, information on Pietro Fabris, a master who would finally deserve the call of a monographic exhibition, appears as numerous as it is unrelated. We know that he was active in Naples from 1754 to 1804 qualifying on several occasions as an Englishman (for example in a 1761 painting); and it was in London that he exhibited his drawings and views of Naples in 1768. England, as many of us will remember, carries great weight in turn-of-the-century Neapolitan history and, on the merits, in Fabris's story. Beginning with the fact that the turning point in his career must be indicated in the genuine intellectual and human fellowship he entertained with an ingenuity as little less than crucial as William Hamilton (Henley-on-Thames 1730-London 1803). Fabris is credited with, among other things, the sixty colored etchings accompanying Campi Phlegraei. Observations on the Volcanos of the Two Sicilies, which, published in 1776 as a collection of the letters sent to the Royal Society, remains a pinnacle of the late European Enlightenment as well as, without argument, one of the finest books of the later 1700s. Fabris, who had accompanied Hamilton on excursions to the coastal strip northwest of Naples, is referred to there in the preface as 'a most ingenious and able artist.' A sporadic sacred painter (the author of two altarpieces in the Bari church of Santa Chiara) Fabris was one of the great surprises of the exhibition curated by Raffaello Causa, Civiltà del '700 a Napoli, which opened in 1979, now forty-five years ago, in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples. Complementing, in the catalog, following the sacred painters, was the cohort of non-foreign Vedutists: the Roman or Neapolitan Carlo Bonavia: the Sicilian Antonio Dominici, the Modenese Antonio Joli, all the way to Saverio della Gatta, undisputed master of gouache at the end of the century and who seems to be giving Fabris' own hand. Their presence in the exhibition was indicative above all of the relationship with the great foreign vedutists-from Pierre Jacques Volaire to Vernet to Hackert himself, not to mention Hubert Robert. All had chosen Naples as their home of choice. Pietro Fabris (documented in Naples from 1756 -1792) A Scene of Popular Life Oil on canvas 119 x 96 cm The artwork is accompanied by a study by Professor Stefano Causa, available on request by email. Taking up what Professor Stefano Causa writes in the expertise: Currently, the information on Pietro Fabris, a master who finally deserves the appeal of a monographic exhibition, appears numerous and unrelated. We know that he was active in Naples from 1754 to 1804, qualifying himself as English on several occasions (for example, in a painting from 1761); in London, he exhibited his drawings and views of Naples in 1768. As many of us will remember, England has a great weight in the Neapolitan history of the end of the century and, in essence, in the story of Fabris. Starting from the fact that the turning point in his career must be indicated in the authentic intellectual and human association that he entertained with a little less than crucial genius like William Hamilton (Henley-on-Thames 1730-London 1803). Fabris is responsible, among other things, for the sixty colored etchings accompanying the Campi Phlegraei. Observations on the Volcanos of the Two Sicilies which, was published in 1776 as a collection of letters sent to the Royal Society, remains a pinnacle of the late European Enlightenment as well as, without discussion, one of the most beautiful books of the second half of the 18th century. Fabris, who had accompanied Hamilton on excursions to the coastal strip northwest of Naples, is indicated in the preface as 'a most ingenious and able artist'. Sporadic sacred painter (author of two altarpieces in the church of Santa Chiara in Bari) Fabris was one of the great surprises of the exhibition curated by Raffaello Causa, Civiltà del '700 a Napoli, which opened in 1979, now forty-five years ago, in the Museum of Capodimonte in Naples. Following the sacred painters, the group of non-foreign landscape painters completed the catalogue: the Roman or Neapolitan Carlo Bonavia: the Sicilian Antonio Dominici, the Modenese Antonio Joli up to Saverio della Gatta, the undisputed master of gouache at the end of the century and who seems to shake hands with Fabris himself. Their presence in the exhibition was indicative above all of the relationship with the great foreign landscape artists - from Pierre Jacques Volaire to Vernet to Hackert himself, not to mention Hubert Robert. Everyone had chosen Naples as their homeland of choice.