Vincenzo Caprile (1856–1936) - Scorcio veneziano

VINCENZO CAPRILE
(Naples, 1856 – 1936)
Venetian View
Oil on panel, 49 x 35 cm
Signed and dated “V. CAPRILE ‘85” at the bottom right
Frame size: 67 x 45 x 5 cm approx.

NOTE: Publication catalog of works from the Intermidiart collection (Pdf). Work signed and dated. Guarantee Certificate and Legitimate Provenance. Work with gilded and ornate frame (flaws):

This artwork, titled Venetian View, is attributed to the painter Vincenzo Caprile (Naples, 1856–1936), Neapolitan artist known for landscapes, genre scenes, and popular subjects, characterized by a fresh and luminous brushwork.
The artist, linked to the culture of the School of Resìna and close to a painting of verismo and luminism imprint, alternated Neapolitan views with lagoon landscapes during his stays in Venice. The canvas depicts a close view of an internal Venetian canal, dominated by imposing architectures and the portals of historic palaces that overlook the canals. In the foreground, the choppy water is rendered with strong material texture, through tones of green and brown reflections. In the background a gondola with a few figures is barely visible.
The style of the work highlights the meeting between the verismo of the Neapolitan school and the luministic sensibility developed by the artist during his stays in the lagoon. The Venetian view is built through calm tones and a balanced and orderly compositional arrangement, in which colors are distributed without exaggerated contrasts. It yields an atmosphere of quiet, typical of those more secluded Venetian scenes far from the places most frequented by tourism, a subject Caprile tackled several times.
In his painting, color assumes a truly constructive function: brushwork and chromatic matter contribute to defining space, reproducing on the canvas the natural alternation of light and shadow and contributing to the rendering of atmospheric depth. His Venetian views are distinguished by the sobriety of the palette and the skillful use of light, elements that allow the creation of a suspended atmosphere and a particularly evocative perception of space, as is evident in this canvas as well.
Vincenzo Caprile was born in Naples in 1856 to a well-to-do family, a condition that allowed him to devote himself to the study of painting from a young age. He was a pupil of Gabriele Smargiassi and Achille Carrillo at the Naples Institute of Fine Arts and completed his training under Domenico Morelli. Through the connections with Alceste Campriani and Federico Rossano, he came into contact with the environment of the School of Resìna, approaching a plein-air painting attentive to atmospheric rendering of the landscape and natural representation of light.
From 1873 until the late twenties he regularly participated in the Promotrice napoletana exhibitions, also holding important positions: he was a member of the artistic jury and the permanent committee between 1890 and 1894, and vice-president in 1911. He debuted at the Promotrice in 1873 with the painting A Posillipo; in 1874 he exhibited Strada alle paludi, in 1875 Il crepuscolo d’autunno and, the following year, A Torre Annunziata and Ricordo di Torre del Greco.
Caprile took part in numerous national and international exhibitions, including Milan, Melbourne, Venice, Rome and Berlin. In 1888 he was named honorary professor of the Naples Institute of Fine Arts; in the same year he stayed in Buenos Aires, where he received numerous commissions for portraits from important figures in local politics.
Returning to Naples in 1890, he devoted himself mainly to landscape painting and also engaged in portraiture, coming to be considered a painter of the House of Savoy. In the last years of his life, major solo exhibitions were dedicated to him at the Permanente in Naples in 1924, in Milan in 1933, and in Livorno in 1934. In 1927 he exhibited together with Vincenzo Genito and Vincenzo Migliaro at the Galleria Pesaro. Vincenzo Caprile died in Naples on June 23, 1936.
Regarding the state of conservation, the painted surface shows a varnish with patina. It should be noted also, under oblique sunlight, the characteristics of the laid color and the brushwork. The dimensions of the work are 49 x 35 cm. The painting is embellished by a beautiful gilded and worked frame, of strong decorative effect (size 67 x 45 x 5 cm, presence of flaws). "The frame shown in the above photos has been added to the artwork by the seller or a third party. The frame is provided to you at no additional cost so that it is ready to display as soon as it arrives. The frame is included as a courtesy and is not considered an integral part of the artwork. Therefore, any potential damage to the frame that does not affect the artwork itself will not be accepted as a valid reason to open a claim or request order cancellation."

PROVENANCE: Private Collection

PUBLICATION:
- INEDITA QUADRERIA, General catalog of the paintings of the Intermidiart Gallery collection by Andrea Maggio, 2026 (pdf).

In case of sale outside Italian territory, the purchaser must await the processing times for export procedures.