Giuseppe De Nittis

Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, LLC., New York;
From whom purchased by the present collector in Maastricht, 2002.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This beautiful and rare painting is in good condition and has been recently restored. The panel is unbroken and the paint layer is stable, clean and varnished. There are a few retouches in the mountains and also a few dots of retouch in the sky. All the smallest details in the architecture and landscape are in beautiful condition and the painting looks well as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The present work, a beautiful view of Pompei, dates from the most important and prolific period of de Nittis' career, his second Parisian period from 1872-74. During this productive time he painted views from various locations, among them was Pompei and its surrounding ruins. One such work depicting the Forum of Pompei (see E. Piceni, De Nittis: L'uomo e l'opera, Milan 1979, cat. no 38), displays the artists interest in the ruined city in a more formal approach.

The present work, while very much rooted in a plein air approach to painting, also begins to incorporate brighter impressionist light. That De Nittis embraced the style of the impressionists is not surprising. He was especially close to Edgar Degas who invited him to exhibit at the first Impressionist group show at the Nadar Gallery in 1874. Even though he frequently exhibited with the Impressionists, this painting owes as much to the technical refinement of Gérôme and Meissonier as it does to the more broken brush-stroke and luminosity of the Impressionists.