Bibliografia

Segantini 2018, pp. 46-47 (ill).

Esposizioni

Arco 2017-2019; Arco 2021-2022

Scheda opera

Although Segantini presented a number of pure landscapes at the 1880 exhibition, as the painting Redefossi’s reviews would seem to indicate, during the Brianza period works of this genre are rather rare and predominantly small format, with the exception of a few works such as Tramonto a Pusiano (Milan, Galleria d’Arte Moderna). This board, dated around 1884, can be read as a study from life of the Brianza countryside conducted during the evening hours. Segantini structures the composition of the painting along vertical and horizontal lines: the meadow occupies most of the surface and is separated from the sky by a wavy horizontal line on which three trees are grafted to form the vertical lines. The tree on the right, in the foreground, not only gives depth to the painting by linking the foreground and the background, but also fits into the sequence determined by the shrubs in the background, resulting in areas of colour of regular width between the trunks that segment the sky into five sections. The painting is predominantly done in impasto with brushstrokes laden with colour that give a very textured effect to the paint film. Observing the tree trunk in the foreground, one can see how the highlights are conducted with a loaded brushstroke that releases overlapping touches of pure colours. The sky is divided into two parts that differ in the texture of the paint and suggest two different atmospheric conditions: the section that stands out against the horizon line is rendered through a more melted brushstroke, so that the presence of clouds or fog is perceived, while the higher portion is clearer and is characterised by the same textural brushstroke that characterises the meadow.

(MARIA ELENA BERARDINELLI)