Monumental painting with the scene in a Venezian canal was executed in the impressionistic manner by Cosimo Privato (1899-Venice-1971), one of the most valid and original painters of the “old guard” of the lagoon: the one that rose to prominence in the late 1920s. He always lived in Venice: he rarely moved from his city. He was the first among his friends and contemporaries (Novati, Mori, Seibezzi, Ravenna, Dalla Zorza, Bergamini, etc.) to be successful.
In 1926 he was welcomed to the Biennale, where he subsequently exhibited at every edition until 1938.
In 1930 he was the youngest exhibitor at the Biennale; in 1934 a large wall with seven works was dedicated to him. He exhibited at the Opera Bevilacqua La Masa every year from 1920 to 1940.
Between the twenties and thirties he was a regular at exhibitions: it will suffice to mention the Quadrennial in Rome in 1935, the famous Pittsburgh Exhibition (USA) in 1932, the exhibitions in Prague, Vienna, Warsaw, Athens and Sofia organized by the Biennale, the first International Exhibition in Fiume in 1925; and also the International of Decorative Arts in Monza, the Permanente in Milan, the Biennials of Milan, the Regional Exhibitions of Padua and Vicenza. He set up his first solo exhibition at the Celentano gallery in Milan in 1930; others followed in Padua, Trieste, Bergamo, Verona and Venice (Sandri gallery, 1941).
The one in Milan (Mediolanum gallery, 1946) was his last important solo exhibition. Others followed, but few, in the post-war period, especially in Trieste.
He increasingly lived in seclusion, participating in sporadic group exhibitions. After his death, some posthumous “tributes” were organized, the first of which was in October 1971 in Venice at the San Vidal gallery.
Many of the works were commissioned by Privato, starting with the cartoons for the mosaic decoration in the reception room at the Royal Palace in Cairo. He had frequent contacts, always in the 1920s and 1930s, but also later, with national and foreign dealers, who purchased his works. His paintings were awarded several times in official exhibitions and purchased.
Among the purchases are those of the King at the 1932 Biennale, of the Municipality of Venice and other bodies at the Bevilacqua La Masa exhibitions in 1927-29-31-32, of the Ministry of Public Education for the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Rome, of the Municipality of Bari, of the Bank of Italy and the Cassa di Risparmio di Venezia, of the Prefecture of Venice. Many critics have written about him, from Ojetti to Damerini, from Nebbia to Pozzi, from Celentano to Passarella, from Perocco to Rizzi. This in Mestre is the first retrospective of an anthological nature, as well as the occasion for the first real publication, beyond the few brochures and catalogues that remain.
Sources: full biography is in on-line : https://www.cosimoprivato.it.
Inscription: signed lower right.
Technique: oil on canvas, original period frame.
Measurements: unframed w 39 1/2" x h 27 1/3" (100,5 x 69,5 cm), framed 49 5/8" x 37" (126 x 94 cm).
Condition: very good. |