Vincenzo Irolli (1860–1949), attribuito a - La lavandaia

Vincenzo Irolli (Naples, 1860 – 1949) attributed to

“The washerwoman”

Oil on the table

of 1940

Work by one of the main masters of Neapolitan painting. Present in national and foreign museums

The circumstance that Vincenzo Irolli trained artistically at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples (where he enrolled on the advice of his older brother Gennaro, employed in the studio of a painter of sacred images) between 1877 and 1880 has something of a fate to it. that is, the years of the two great national exhibitions held in Naples which in some way determined the spotlight for all the local schools, among which the first realist tendencies to make their appearance on the Italian art scene must absolutely be mentioned for chronological primacy. Moreover, Irolli will base the very first phase of his very prolific production on these newer interests, never abandoned in practice until the end of his days, with which he can perhaps be considered definitively closed (is there still destiny involved?) even the long and rich parable of the great Neapolitan painting of the second half of the nineteenth century.
Irolli's artistic life has been incessantly marked by a sort of dualism, by two poles which in some way have always exercised (even after the author's death) their own strength on the reception and therefore on the success he had with the public and criticism in his contemporary and subsequent ages.
First of all, there were two inspiring models, first Domenico Morelli, innovator of Neapolitan art in the mid-nineteenth century, and then Antonio Mancini, so admired as to trigger a long historical-critical controversy which over time led to accusations of true imitation in comparisons of him by Irolli, in a harsh trial which was put to an end in some way only by Siviero and Manzi a few years after the artist's death.
Luigi Manzi actually had to deal in his extensive monograph on Irolli with the second and perhaps more serious bipolarism to which the artist's production was subjected, namely that very different treatment that it received in Italy and abroad; in fact, it is no coincidence that Manzi wrote: “His art is liked anyway, it educates. And I believe that you can't ask more than this from an artist; indeed we should not ask for anything other than this. If the public is not attracted, not even the curtain rises, and then art and its criticism speak in vain, without spectators! In fact, since the 1980s Irolli busily exhibited outside the peninsula (Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, London and above all Paris) , reaping successes with the public and critics and, to be practical, selling very well even to major collectors; in Italy, however, the author struggled to establish himself for a long time, thanks to a mostly adverse criticism which, in light of the most innovative trends, branded his art as staid and banally pleasant, in short, attentive more than anything else to an abundant, safe and quick. Indeed, in this regard, the maintenance of a large family that weighed on Irolli's shoulders economically for several decades should not be overlooked, forcing him at least to combine his more involved works with a smaller production that ensured bread for him and his loved ones. Ultimately, only in the fascist era did the artist achieve unanimous consecration within the Italian borders: in 1930 he held his first solo show at the "Fiamma" in Rome, two years later he exhibited (with excellent sales) in Bari and in 1935 a large success was found at the “Dedalo” in Milan. Giovanni Bovio was right then, fifty years earlier, when writing about his friend Irolli he stated: "the years will restore him completely to himself".

If the crowning moment of Vincenzo Irolli's sacred art was in all probability the 1936 exhibition at the Sala della Minerva in Naples (where another, and certainly more famous, "Miraculous Fishing" was also exhibited) , the biblical and Christological theme permeated at various times his entire production.
It is then impossible not to make a connection with the art of his first, illustrious model, Domenico Morelli, who about fifty years earlier focused various masterpieces on the figure of Christ under the influence of Joseph-Ernest Renan's "Vie de Jésus" ; This mystical phase also corresponded in Morelli to a change in style, with an increasingly greater dissolution of the forms into synthetic splashes of colour, and so it is perhaps no coincidence that Irolli adopted similar brushstrokes in this large watercolour. It is also proven that Morelli used the Christological theme even in his first years of teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples (for example, determining the thematic choices of the young Gaetano Esposito) , in short, in the period in which Irolli was forming himself artistically .

Measurements: 58 x 59 cm in frame / (44 x 45 cm)

It is in good condition, with normal signs of aging. Placed within a twentieth century wooden and gold frame.

With certificate of authenticity in accordance with the law

Coming from a private collection

The frame shown in the photos is provided at no additional cost so that the work can be displayed as soon as it arrives. It 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 constitute valid reason to file a complaint or request cancellation of the order.