Luigi NONO (1850-1918) - Lot 163

Luigi NONO (1850-1918) Recollection Oil on canvas, signed lower right. H_108 cm L_69 cm Luigi Nono (1850-1918) was an Italian painter of the Venetian schoolBorn in Fusina (near Venice) and trained at the Venice Academy of Fine Arts under Pompeo Molmenti, he began by painting landscapes attentive to the atmospheres of Friuli (Polcenigo, Gorgazzo), then established himself with genre scenes and pathetic or religious subjects that were very popular at the end of the XIXᵉ century. His work is characterized by a sense of narrative, Venetian light and a marked empathy for modest figures (children, women, bereaved families), treated with a naturalistic touch and an often melancholy tone. He exhibited at the major events of his day, notably the Venice Biennale (for example, Funeral of a Child in 1897), and also presented Prima pioggia (First Rain) in 1909, now in the Musée d'Orsay. Among Luigi Nono's most frequently mentioned works are Le Sorgenti del Gorgazzo (The Sources of the Gorgazzo, successfully exhibited at Brera) and Les Orphelins (now in Venice, Ca' Pesaro). These works aptly reflect the balance he struck between landscape and genre, favoring sensitive, measured expression over demonstrative pathos.