Arturo Rietti (1863-1943) Italian, Oil on Canvas. Signed lower right. Still life of two freshly picked fruits wet with dew. 

Overall: 15 1/8 X 17 1/8 in. 

Sight: 7 /38 X 9 5/8 in. 

Depth: 2 in. 

#2810 . 

Arturo Rietti was born on March 3rd, 1863 in Triest, an Italian principality that was a primary bridge between South and Central Europe. His wealthy Jewish parents encouraged him to experience the cosmopolitan atmosphere, and by his early teens he was fluent in Italian, German, and French. Between 1882 and 1884 he stayed with his older brother Riccardo in San Giovanni Valdarno, where he painted peasants and workers, studied Verismo, and visited Tuscany and Florence, gradually developing a strong nationalist (“Irredentist”) mentality. His travels exposed him to numerous painters and styles, and his charcoal sketches from the time reflect his interests in Realism and “genre paintings.” He enrolled at the Academy of Munich, studying under Franz von Defregger and Nikolaus Gysis, and also practiced fencing. In 1887 he moved to Milan, refining his drawing technique and experimenting with pastels. He had his first exhibition that same year at the Permanente. In 1889 he won the silver medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, which led to further exhibitions in Munich. By 1894 he had set up a studio in the dome of Palazzo Carciotti, where he taught and continued to work in pastels, eventually branching out into tempera. Although he was firmly in favor of a unified Italy, he was an early opponent of Fascism, and he found himself attracted to the changing aspects of contemporary art while stuck working on “old-fashioned” portraits and commissions from the bourgeois of Milan and Triest. His appreciation for the work of Edgar Degas and Max Liebermann, as well as his outspoken political criticism, made him a contentious figure in Italy, and for several years in the 1930s he was a virtual recluse at the Foro Ulpiano in Trieste. The death of his wife Elena in 1940 further embittered him, and he withdrew to Milan, eventually fleeing there due to the bombings. He found a brief respite with a group of anti-fascist intellectuals in Fontaniva, but his apartment was destroyed by a bomb in 1943 and he fled the area on foot. Suffering greatly from diabetes and gout, he died during the flight on February 6th. Although many of his works were destroyed during World War II, appreciation and recognition for his work continues to grow, with some pieces permanently displayed at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan.