Antonio Vallone (active in Naples in the 20th century), Portrait of a young man with a red scarf

Antonio Vallone (active in Naples in the 20th century)

Portrait of a young man with a red scarf

Oil on canvas, 40,5 x 30,3 cm

With frame, 52 x 42 cm

Signed lower left: A. Vallone

The cultural environment of Naples at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century was particularly lively: internationally renowned artists such as Domenico Morelli and Filippo Palizzi – known for portraits, works of religious subjects and genre scenes with a romantic vein – contrasted with the young members of the Resina school, which also included the famous Cecioni, De Gregorio and De Nittis, who aimed to break away from the dictates of academism, perceived as obsolete, to get closer to the rough realism and the indefinite and evanescent brushstrokes of the Macchiaioli.

It is in this interesting socio-cultural context that Antonio Vallone's pictorial training took place: the artist, who took his first steps in the Morelli school, specialized in genre portraits, especially of smiling young men and girls, street urchins or peasants from his homeland. The representative methods of the chosen subjects are generally academic; the choice to favor characters of humble social extraction could instead refer to the solutions adopted by the members of the Resina school, who aimed to create an art accessible to the masses and not only dedicated to the wealthier fringes of society.

Young women of the people were a recurring subject in Neapolitan painting at the end of the twentieth century. In addition to the works of Vallone, this iconographic theme is treated in the paintings of the Neapolitans Vincenzo Caprile (Naples, 1856-1936) and Attilio Toro (Naples, 1892 – Portici 1982). The vivacity of the colors and the brightness are typical of the Neapolitan school of origin.