Giuseppe De Nittis

The compilation of the General Catalogue of the Donation necessarily required a rereading and review of Giuseppe De Nittis’ work, involving not only the debate regarding his relations with his French colleagues, above all Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Gustave Ciallebotte, but also his personal and very Italian contribution to the definition and fortunes of Impressionism. Rereading is never solitary. Scholars like Marina Ferretti Bocquillon, Francesca Dini, Marina Fusari, Robert Jensen, Anne F. Maheux, Michael Marrinan, Fausto Minervini, Manuela Moscatiello and Gabriele Romani have each tackled a particular critical aspect of De Nittis’ production and discovered interesting associations. The artist’s creativity fully reflects the movement’s ethical principles, in other words the rejection of every crystallization and the constant proposal of a new visual system as well as a close link between the painting’s images and native structure, turning the work into indelible and unique “dramatic architecture”.