Lot 63: Eduardo Monteforte (Italian, 1849-1933) Il gregge in un paesaggio autunnale

Il gregge in un paesaggio autunnale
signed 'E Monteforte' (lower left)
oil on canvas
101 x 170cm (39 3/4 x 66 15/16in).

EXHIBITED:
Munich, Kunst Ausstellung, 1888 no. 1457

Eduardo Monteforte studied at the Academy of Naples under Gabriele Smargiassi (1798-1882) and Achille Carrillo (1818-1880). After his sudies he travelled to Egypt where he painted extensively. On his return to Naples, he exhibited from 1870 to 1911, where his main subject was the Vesuvio and the surrounding Neapolitan landscape.

Monteforte belongs to a group of modern landscape painters from the Posillipo School created by Anton Pitloo (1791-1837). It was named after the bay to the north of the city of Naples. Monteforte's contemporaries included Eduardo Dalbono (1841-1915), Gaetano Esposito (1858-1911) and Achille Vertunni (1826-1897) who all painted from nature, en plein air. They modernized the concept of rendering nature and adopted Pitloo's sense of synthesizing the values of light and colour.