Cosimo Privato (1899 – 1971) - Scena campestre (1948)

Cosimo Privato
(Venice, 1899 – Venice, 1971)

Title: Rural Scene
Technique: Oil on cardboard
Framed measurements: 45.5 x 55.5 cm
Painting measurements: 26.5 × 36.5 cm
Dating: 1948
Signature: lower right
Inscriptions: on the back dedication to Mr. Ollic and date 1948

Description of the work
Dated 1948, Rural Scene belongs to Cosimo Privato’s first mature phase and testifies to a particularly happy facet of his painting, here directed not to Venetian views but to life in the Veneto hinterland. At the center of the composition two women advance through the fields accompanied by a child, who is busy tending a chicken in the foreground; behind them, the large straw barn, a farmhouse, and the low profile of the hills define with few elements the rural horizon.
Privato approaches the subject with quick, loose painting, of a post-impressionist sensibility, entrusting to brushwork and color the very construction of the image. The figures are defined by synthetic strokes, not lingering over detail, while the meadow, the vegetation and especially the large mass of the straw barn are resolved through lively, immediate layers. The result is a scene of notable freshness, in which the everyday episode almost takes on the character of an impression drawn from life. Particularly successful is the relationship between the figures and the landscape: the expansive green of the countryside, the yellows and oranges of the straw barn and the architecture, and the lighter tones of the clothing mark the composition with a luminous chromatic rhythm. The pastoral subject, less common than the artist’s Venetian vedute but present in his repertoire, also reveals that interest in figures, popular scenes, and everyday life episodes that constitutes one of the most recognizable aspects of Privato’s production.

Biographical notes
Cosimo Privato was born in Venice in 1899 and trained in the city’s artistic milieu, already in 1920 beginning a long participation in the exhibitions of the Bevilacqua La Masa organization. His rise occurred in the 1920s: he was admitted to the Venice Biennale in 1926 and participated in the subsequent editions until 1938. His exhibition activity also led him to the Rome Quadriennale of 1935, the fairs of Fiume and Milan, and several international exhibitions. During the 1930s his works were purchased by important public institutions. After the war, while gradually reducing his presence in major exhibitions, Privato continued to paint and exhibit in various galleries. He died in Venice in 1971.

CONDITION REPORT
Good overall condition, compatible with the period of the work. The painted surface is legible, with the color well preserved overall and the signature visible in the lower left.

Frame present.
The frame is to be understood as a courtesy

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