Vincenzo Volpe - Young Lady

Portraiture is one of the most widespread artistic expressions, especially in painting, but also in sculpture, throughout the ages. Portraiture is, first and foremost, a description of the subject depicted, an attempt to capture their physiognomy and individual characteristics truthfully and naturally. With the progressive evolution of artistic research, the physiognomic description of the subject has also been accompanied by a psychological one. Therefore, over the centuries, portraiture has also become a means of introspective investigation of the subject, their character, and their state of mind. The processes of abstraction brought about by contemporary art have contributed to this type of investigation.

Vincenzo Volpe's pictorial language relies primarily on the expressive qualities of color. The drawing structure and perspective grid are completely dismantled to make way for the power of the brushstrokes. However, the artist remains firmly anchored to phenomenal reality, because even with his colorful, extremely dense brushstrokes, he manages to delineate the essence of the subject, imbuing it with expressive vigor. Indeed, in this beautiful portrait, we can see how the painter has faithfully adhered to a thoroughly realist/verist poetics. This is true both in the definition of the subject, depicted as she is, unfiltered by idealization, in an almost casual pose and with a real face. It is also true in terms of form, adopting a highly constructed brushstroke that reflects the visual complexity of the human gaze.

Vincenzo Volpe (Grottaminarda, 1855 – Naples, 1929). His painting first attracted attention in 1877 with portraits and landscapes, during the conflict between the new Verist school (Palizzi and Morelli), which Vincenzo Volpe embraced, albeit expressing his inner world in his paintings and academic conventionalism. In 1880, some of his works were exhibited in Turin and in 1881 at the National Exhibition in Milan, receiving considerable acclaim. In 1900, King Umberto I invited him to the Royal Palace, where he provided him with a studio. The monarch himself requested that Volpe paint his portrait. In 1902, he won the competition to teach painting at the Institute of Fine Arts, replacing his teacher Domenico Morelli.

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