Alessandro La Volpe (1820-1887) - Veduta di Capri, Golfo di Napoli

Alessandro La Volpe (circa 1820-1887)
"Veduta di Capri, Golfo di Napoli"
Oil on canvas
Signed at the bottom right and dated
29.5 x 62.5 cm
Restorations

A variant of this painting from 1889 is held at the Museo di Belle Arti O'Higginiano di Talca (inventory no. 1148)

Alessandro La Volpe was an Italian landscape painter of the 19th century, mainly specializing in landscapes and Italian monuments. He was a master at capturing the bright light and the dry climate of his native Italy. Born in Lucera in 1819, he was the son of an official at the Regio Collegio. After completing his studies, La Volpe moved to Naples and enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied with Salvatore Fergola (1799-1874), ceremonial official painter of the French monarchy in Naples. La Volpe began to exhibit in Naples in 1848. In 1850 he was sent to Sicily and Egypt on an official mission with the Prince of Lichtenberg to document important monuments; the commission of that mission reveals the appreciation for La Volpe's meticulous attention to detail, as well as his ability as a skilled painter. Upon returning to Italy, he settled in Florence, where he helped found the Scuola di Staggia, a school of Romantic landscape painters. Painting en plein air in the 1850s and 1860s, his work was characterized by a tendency to depict recognizable, usually picturesque, locations of the Tuscan countryside, focusing on specific elements and aspects of daily life. The Scuola di Staggia is significant for being one of the first instances in Tuscany of a group of artists painting together from nature, a practice that greatly influenced the circle of the Macchiaioli and brought Tuscan artists into harmony with their mid-century Paris and American contemporaries.