Luigi Serra, “Ritratto di anziano”, Venezia, 1877.
Hammer price: € 4.000,00
Auction 88 – 13th of November 2025 – A Tuscan Residence
This watercolor portrait by Luigi Serra (watercolor on paper, signed and dated lower right, 38.5 × 29 cm; framed: 56.5 × 46 × 3 cm) is a significant example of the artist’s ability to capture character and physiognomy with great precision. Serra, active in the second half of the nineteenth century, was known for his interest in the attentive and direct representation of human figures, often observed from life. Moreover, his use of watercolor allowed him to achieve soft transitions and finely controlled tonal effects, clearly visible in the sitter’s face.
The man portrayed wears a wide-brimmed dark hat and has strongly defined features, highlighted by an essential yet effective modeling. The artist constructs the face through subtle overlapping layers of color, which not only suggest volume but also define details such as the beard, mustache, and direct gaze. As a result, the image is expressive without relying on any superfluous decorative effects.
The lower part of the figure, by contrast, is rendered more rapidly and schematically—an approach Serra often adopted in order to focus the viewer’s attention on the facial features. At the same time, the light paper serves as a neutral background, allowing the warm skin tones and the subdued colors of the clothing to stand out clearly.
In conclusion, this signed watercolor demonstrates Luigi Serra’s technical skill and his direct, life-based approach to portraiture, offering a concrete example of late-nineteenth-century Italian portrait painting.
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