Port view in the moonlight

Oil on canvas

70 x 132 cm.

Framed 86 x 146 cm.

Critical apparatus: Expertise of Emilio Negro.

We are pleased to present this pleasing nighttime coastal view illuminated by the cold moonlight, and set in a fantastic harbor with an almost surreal atmosphere, made fascinating by the use of almost monochrome hues with characteristic prevailing brown tones softened by golden highlights.

The marina is organized on the skillful juxtaposition of realistic data with others of pure fantasy, and thus is characterized by steep rises, imaginary buildings, numerous boats, and the presence of many characters engaged in their own activities. This compositional choice echoes the works of the many northern European artists active in Italy during the 17th century - from Pieter Mulier (the Cavalier Tempesta) to Adriaen van der Cabel just to name a couple - who spread an alternative to classicist vedutism, juxtaposing the realist vision with details from their imagination.

All these elements - combined with the unmistakable clouds with typical atmospheric, chromatic and luministic values - allow us to link our painting to the pictorial corpus of Giovanni Grevenbroeck (Netherlands, c. 1650 - Milan, post 1699), the progenitor of the family of painters originally from the Netherlands.

The painting expresses all the stylistic and pictorial characteristics of his works, in one of the favorite subjects of his famous workshop: the scene set in a fantastic harbor is the most typical of his repertoire always somewhere between figurative description and whimsy.

After his apprenticeship in Flanders, Giovanni Grevenbroeck came to Italy, specifically to Rome, receiving numerous commissions from the great noble families, such as the Colonna. The Roman sojourn, however, was a brief interlude in his career, which was to take place largely in Milan, from 1672, where he spent much of his life painting highly successful landscapes and seascapes at sunrise and sunset, reported in the inventories of the most important local picture galleries of the time.

His many compositions also evoke, as is also the case in the canvas under review, the qualities of seventeenth-century Roman landscape painting, enlivened as much by Claude Lorrain's northern European exemplars as by central Italian ones à la Salvator Rosa, with the peculiarity of rendering his harbor views as flamboyant vistas that entrust the luministic component with the task of highlighting naturalistic details with its typical atmospheric intonations.

To convince oneself of the attribution, therefore, it will suffice to compare the canvas with the bulk of his painterly corpus, particularly the Seascapes at Dawn and Sunset of Chateauroux (Musée Bertrand) or, even more so, the Seaports of Alençon (Musée des Beaux-arts et de la Dentelle), works sometimes attributed to one or the other of his sons, but traceable to Giovanni thanks to more recent insights into the prolific industriousness of this active family of seventeenth-century vedutists.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The work is complemented by an antique frame and is sold with a certificate of authenticity and guarantee.

We take care of and arrange transportation of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers.

You can also see the painting in the gallery in Riva del Garda, we will be glad to welcome you to show you our collection of works.

Please contact us, without obligation, for any additional information.

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