Ernesto Alcide Campestrini - Polenta and Mushrooms

The "Still Life" genre emerged in the early 17th century. It consisted of compositions of inanimate subjects, most often flowers or fruit. While initially it was an opportunity for painters to experiment with naturalistic or photographic reproductions of reality, with contemporary art, the "Still Life" also became a way of interpreting reality. Indeed, as happened, for example, in the Cubist avant-garde or in Giorgio Morandi, the in-depth exploration of objects was aimed at a conceptual representation, taken beyond the mere sensory aspect.

The works of the Campestrini family are distinguished by a strong commitment to realism, and we can see how these painters, even within an academic conception, were attentive to the innovations proposed by contemporary art. Indeed, both in the execution of the human figure (in nudes and portraits) and in still lifes, the naturalistic rendering is achieved through an extraordinary technique that allows for the faithful recording of sensory data. Furthermore, the full forms of the subjects reveal a precise desire to exalt plasticity. But it is in the pictorial application, however, that the Campestrinis' artistic innovation is fully discernible. The brushstrokes are always dynamic, making the subjects' volumes quiver with atmospheric and luminous vibrations. The concreteness of the figures stands out even more in a decontextualized, almost abstract space.

Ernesto Alcide Campestrini was a Milanese artist, born in 1897 and died in 1983. Son of Alcide Davide Campestrini, he received his first artistic training from his father. He focused particularly on figures, achieving a luminous interpretation. He attended various exhibitions, including landscape works. Some of them: “Porta Volta”; “Cyrano de Bergerac”; “The Smile of Times Past”; “The Agony of the Eagles”; “Mattutino”; “The Last Note”. In addition to figures, he also painted Alpine landscapes, especially those of Trentino. He participated in the Competition for the Centenary of the Bersaglieri with the painting “Sing and It Will Pass”. The painting “Mammina”, purchased at his solo exhibition in 1940 by the Municipality, is now in the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Milan. He held several other solo exhibitions (1943, 1945, 1951) in Milan, where he always worked in the solitude of his studio. He has works in many Italian and foreign collections.

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