Odoardo Borrani (1833-1905), Attributed to - Il saluto dei soldati

ODOARDO BORRANI (Pisa, 1833 – Florence, 1905)
Watercolor on paper, 19th century
Work signed and attributed to Odoardo Borrani

Interesting watercolor depicting a scene of daily life in the Tuscan countryside: a group of figures, including two soldiers and a man holding a child, gathered along a path under a large red umbrella.

The work presents an extremely concise and luminous painting, with quick swathes of color and deliberately simplified contours. The landscape and the figures are built through color patches, in a language particularly close to the culture of the Tuscan Macchiaioli.

In terms of stylistic characteristics, technique and above all subject matter, the work can hypothetically be placed in the 1868–1872 phase of Odoardo Borrani’s production, with particular compatibility with 1869.

The dating is interesting because in 1869 Borrani produced the famous Il richiamo del contingente, in which he represents the farewell of a soldier from his family in the Tuscan countryside.

The theme of the encounter between soldier, family and daily life present in the small watercolor thus appears especially close to the artist’s research in those years.

Small watercolors attributed to Borrani from the same period are also documented, including a Tabernacle in the garden from 1869, of similar dimensions.

Dimensions of 16 × 12 cm, frame excluded.
The work is sold with the frame shown in the photo.