Enrico Benassi (1902-1978) - Le bagnanti

Wonderful work by painter Enrico Benassi (Mezzani, May 14, 1902 – Parma, February 13, 1978) oil on canvas in good condition. The painting measures 33 x 46 cm. The frame is very beautiful and is original from the period. An artist of international relevance who established himself as naïve, which contemporary criticism tends to recognize as having great originality. Son of peasants, a man of a thousand trades: in addition to being an emigrant, he was a farmer, poultry seller and nurse, operator of a trattoria on the Po at Sacchetta, a dealer at the Ghiaia market. A lover of music, he played the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. With his twelve children, he formed a small orchestra that in the fifties wandered from fairs to ballrooms to circuses. Only at a certain age, at the end of the fifties, did he begin to devote himself to painting. Tempted by exoticism, by Ravenna mosaics and by Egyptian artifacts, at first he copied and then quickly developed his own fantastic world, increasingly personal and rich in colors and irony. From the early sixties he has a worldwide presence at all naïf art events, with an exceptional bibliography. In 1988 Parma hosted an anthological exhibition of the artist with the publication of a complete monograph. Provenance: Italian antique market. Fast shipping with secure packaging.