Giuseppe Recco

GIUSEPPE RECCO (Naples, 1634 - Alicante, 1695).
"Still life with fish, pottery and wine glass".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has traces of label on the back.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 100 x 82 cm; 117 x 100 cm (frame).
In this canvas the author offers us a still life rooted in the baroque tradition of the genre, as much for its composition as for the chromatic and light treatment, the care of the qualities and the precise and detailed brushstroke reveal the mastery of the author. As was the case with many of the Baroque painters, especially the Dutch, here we see the elements that make up the still life arranged in a disorganized, although clear, on a flat surface that runs parallel to the lower margin of the painting. Moreover, following this same tradition, the still life is placed in the foreground, on a neutral and dark background that delimits the space, focusing our gaze on what the painter considers most important. While during the first half of the century the still life is orderly and clear, with a classicist aesthetic, the works of the second half of the century present very different characteristics, the result of the stylistic evolution towards the full baroque, leaving behind the dominant classicism of the beginning of the century. In works such as the one presented here, the taste for naturalism is maintained, which leads the author to meticulously describe not only the details, but also to transmit their different tactile qualities.
The style of the work belongs to an aesthetic defined within the artistic circle of the painter Giuseppe Recco, who was one of the most influential still life painters in Naples. His training was linked to his family, who were also dedicated to painting, it is believed that his artistic education began in Lombardy. His work is characterized by a naturalistic language, linked to tenebrism and hallmarks of color, especially focused on the theme of still life, in which he explored a great multiplicity of elements. Throughout his artistic career, he worked for numerous Spanish nobles and vierres who were in Naples; this work led him to be requested by Charles II, however, he died on the trip to Spain. ighly appreciated within the antiquarian market, as well as among collectors and art historians, the Neapolitan still life school of the Baroque enjoyed a spectacular development, leaving behind the splendors of the sixteenth century and progressing within a fully Baroque and clearly identifiable style. Artists such as Tommaso Realfonso, Nicola Casissa, Gaspare Lopez, Giacomo Nani and Baldassare de Caro continued the local tradition by specializing in the painting of flowers, fruit, fish and game, thus satisfying the demand of a vast clientele characterized by a new taste typical of the 17th century. To these authors must also be added the minor figures, who are slowly emerging from an unjust oblivion, and some artists who worked between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, such as Francesco della Questa, Aniello Ascione, Nicola Malinconico, Gaetano Cusati, Onofrio Loth, Elena and Nicola Maria Recco, Giuseppe Ruoppolo and Andrea Belvedere. These Neapolitan still life painters, who worked during the 17th and early 18th century, are called "i generisti", and were important not only within their own environment but also, and especially, in Spain, where the development of the genre was clearly marked by Italian influence, specifically by the contribution of the Neapolitan school. Today this school is considered one of the most outstanding within the Baroque still life. The distinctive sign of Neapolitan Baroque painters was always their strong naturalistic character and their warm chromatism, with a dominance of reddish and earthy tones.