DANTE RICCI (Serra San Quirico 1879 - 1957 Roma)
Umbrellas and Awnings under the Dome, Naples
17 7/8 x 11 7/8" (455 x 300mm). signed and inscribed Napoli
This spontaneous and expressive watercolor of a sunny street scene in Naples is free and breezy, executed with the light touch of a confident hand. Ricci was one of a group of artists known in Rome as the Venticinque della Compagna Romana. From around 1904 these artists sought to reinvigorate painting by depicting reality around the city of Rome. The movement included poets as well as painters united in their attention to their landscape. The movement lasted until around 1930. Adherents were Enrico Coleman, Onorato Carlandi of particular influence, Giulio Aristide Sartorio, Cesare Pascarella and Filippo Anivitti. D'Anunnzio wrote about them.
Ricci's watercolors are today in the collections of the Boston Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in Rome, for instance.