Vito Perona (1872-1957) - Abstract landschap

Magnificent, early abstract-expressionist painting by Vito Perona.

Perona acted as a pioneer of matter painting; his extremely thick impasto anticipated the three-dimensional layers of paint with which Bram Bogart later broke through internationally.

- Artist: Vito Perona
- Medium: Oil on panel
- Style: Abstract expressionism
- Period: 1920-1930
- Dimensions: 60 x 33 cm (frameless); 70 x 40 cm (framed)
- Painting is sold with frame

Vito Perona (1872, Terni – 1957, Belo Horizonte) was an Italian expressionist painter best known for his Orientalist landscapes and abstract forest scenes with a notably thick texture (impasto).

Perona had a very individual style. Almost all of his paintings were made on a wooden panel, his preferred support. Perona was praised for his refined oil technique on wooden panels and his mastery of light. He worked mainly in the 1920s and 1930s with extremely thick layers of paint to emphasize the roughness of nature and landscapes.

He traveled and lived until 1934 in North Africa, where he drew inspiration for his characteristic Orientalist scenes and landscapes. Although he stayed for shorter periods in major colonial cultural cities like Algiers and Tunis, he consciously chose not to settle permanently in those metropolises, but instead selected Rabat in Morocco as his main home base. From Rabat he traveled to European capitals in Paris and London to exhibit his Africa-made paintings. One of his well-known recurring themes is, among others, Marché Tara in Morocco.

In May 1933 he gained international recognition with a prestigious solo exhibition at the Royal Gallery of Art in Kleykamp, The Hague.

A year later, Vito Perona emigrated to Brazil where he continued his productive artistic career. He moved in with his brother Peppino Perona, secretary of the Italian consulate in Belo Horizonte, and remained there until his death on 26 May 1957 in Belo Horizonte, where he lived and worked. His presence was quickly noted in the South American art circuit. For instance, the Sociedade Brasileira dos Amigos da Italia organized large-scale exhibitions in the country where Perona’s works were shown.

His paintings are in private collections, but also in museum collections. His painting “La Fête du Meyboom”, a large work from 1932, is part of the collection of the City Museum of Brussels. Works by Perona can also be seen in Italy, including the Biblioteca Comunale in Terni.

In Brazil, Perona created important mural paintings in the presbytery of the Cathedral of Uruguaiana in Rio Grande do Sul. The wall paintings and frescoes in the chancel around the altar were completed by Vito Perona in 1948. It is one of his most extensive religious projects that can still be viewed on site.

His paintings were exhibited in Belo Horizonte and at the prestigious Museu Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro.

The painting for sale will be well packed and shipped.