Cagnaccio di San Pietro
Encyclopedia
Cagnaccio di San Pietro born Natale Bentivoglio Scarpa, was an Italian magic realist
painter.
He was born in Desenzano del Garda
. His artistic training was at the Academy of Fine Art in Venice
, where he studied under Ettore Tito
. Cagnaccio's early paintings were in a Futurist
idiom, but by the early 1920s he had adopted a very smoothly brushed, nearly photographic style. His work, which includes portraits, nudes, still life
s, scenes of popular life, and religious pictures, shows the influence of the German
painters of the New Objectivity
.
One of his best-known paintings, After the Orgy (1928), shows three nude women (apparently the same model in three different poses) asleep on a floor littered with wine bottles, playing cards and cigarettes, with an effect "more depressing than titillating". The clinical realism of this work is also seen in his still lifes, which often represent crabs, lobsters, or glass objects that he painted with chilly precision. His health disintegrated in the 1940s, and he spent the war years hospitalized in Venice
, where he died on May 29, 1946.
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
painter.
He was born in Desenzano del Garda
Desenzano del Garda
Desenzano del Garda is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy, which borders Lake Garda. It is bordered by other communes of Castiglione delle Stiviere, Lonato, Padenghe sul Garda and Sirmione.-History:...
. His artistic training was at the Academy of Fine Art in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, where he studied under Ettore Tito
Ettore Tito
Ettore Tito was an Italian artist particularly known for his paintings of contemporary life and landscapes in Venice and the surrounding region. He trained at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice and from 1894 to 1927 was the Professor of Painting there...
. Cagnaccio's early paintings were in a Futurist
Futurism (art)
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city...
idiom, but by the early 1920s he had adopted a very smoothly brushed, nearly photographic style. His work, which includes portraits, nudes, still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
s, scenes of popular life, and religious pictures, shows the influence of the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
painters of the New Objectivity
New Objectivity
The New Objectivity is a term used to characterize the attitude of public life in Weimar Germany as well as the art, literature, music, and architecture created to adapt to it...
.
One of his best-known paintings, After the Orgy (1928), shows three nude women (apparently the same model in three different poses) asleep on a floor littered with wine bottles, playing cards and cigarettes, with an effect "more depressing than titillating". The clinical realism of this work is also seen in his still lifes, which often represent crabs, lobsters, or glass objects that he painted with chilly precision. His health disintegrated in the 1940s, and he spent the war years hospitalized in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, where he died on May 29, 1946.