Filippo De Pisis (Ferrara 1896 – Milano 1956), “Natura morta”, 1949.
Hammer price: € 4.375,00
Auction 89 – 16th of December 2025 – Modern and Contemporary Art
The Natura Morta painted by Filippo De Pisis in 1949 represents a significant example of the artist’s mature production, belonging to a phase marked by intense formal and poetic synthesis. Executed in oil on canvas-mounted board, the work is of small dimensions (8 × 21.2 cm) and is signed and dated lower centre, elements that confirm both its authenticity and chronological placement.
The composition unfolds horizontally and depicts a few everyday objects—fruit and a goblet—arranged on a surface set against a faintly suggested seascape. Rather than an objective description, however, the work reveals a desire to convey an atmospheric sensation, achieved through rapid brushwork composed of short, overlapping strokes. Moreover, the light and vibrant palette, dominated by blues, greys, and warm accents, contributes to the creation of an unstable yet carefully balanced equilibrium.
Filippo De Pisis—poet as well as painter—was a central figure of twentieth-century Italian art, initially close to Metaphysical painting in his early years and later progressively oriented toward a lyrical and intimate mode of expression. In the postwar period in particular, his research focused on still lifes and views, characterized by a free brushstroke and a deliberately fragmentary construction. As a result, forms appear suspended, as if captured in a moment of transition.
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