Gaetano Fasanotti, The Return from Fishing

Gaetano Fasanotti (Milan, 1831 – 1882)

The return from fishing

Oil on canvas, 32 x 52 cm – With frame, 43 x 63 cm

Signed and dated lower right: “G. Fasanotti 1874”

"The directness of his touch, the infinite variety of reflections, the richness of his palette are his outstanding qualities. He knows how to render at first glance the most characteristic aspect of a country, the most artistic form of an object...it is nature, it is nature itself!" These are the words with which critics described the painting of Gaetano Fasanotti (Milan, 1831–1882) on the occasion of the Second National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Milan in 1873.

Born in Milan in 1831, Fasanotti distinguished himself in the 19th-century art scene for his dedication to landscape and genre painting. Self-taught, far from academic circles, in 1848 he decided to volunteer for the First War of Independence (1848–1849), a circumstance that initially influenced his focus on history painting (see Berengario's Descent into Italy, now housed at the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo). It was from 1856, under the guidance of his private teacher Giovanni Renica, that Fasanotti began to shift his artistic focus toward the depiction of nature, a shift that marked the beginning of a highly successful career. His passion for landscapes and natural environments, especially those of Brianza, the Lombard Prealps, and Valsassina, led him to develop a style that expertly combined a genuine and luminous rendering of his subjects with an extremely attentive approach to realism. Considered one of the pioneers of plein air painting in Italy, after the moderate success achieved with View from Life in the Oberland, purchased in 1858 by the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Fasanotti became professor of landscape painting at the same Academy in 1860, exerting a decisive influence on the education of new generations of artists such as Filippo Carcano, Eugenio Gignous, Guido Ricci, Federico Ashton, and the brothers Ernesto and Leonardo Bazzaro, among his principal students, to whom he taught the importance of painting outdoors, directly from nature. This innovation, opposed by the academic council and by critics still strongly tied to Romanticism, who forced him to resign, effectively led to the revival of the Lombard school of landscape painting, contributing to a renewed interest in Italy's natural beauty. He participated in major international events, such as the 1867 Paris World's Fair, the 1869 Munich World's Fair, and the 1873 Vienna World's Fair, achieving international fame and recognition. Today, his works, identifiable for his unique ability to capture the atmosphere of places with vivid color and light, are held in major institutions in Northern Italy, including the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, Villa Necchi Campiglio, the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Milan, the Pinacoteca di Brera, the Civic Museums of Pavia, the Museo Civico Ala Ponzone in Cremona, and many others. Masanotti died in 1882 in Milan.

In the present work, an oil on canvas from 1874, signed lower right, depicting a return from a fishing trip by the river, the artist illuminates the scene with a clear, diffused light, typical of plein air painting. The composition of the rural scene appears perfectly balanced, with the large boat at the center surrounded by a crowd of figures that enliven the shoreline, while the earthy tones and clear sky contribute to a peaceful yet lively atmosphere.

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