Ernesto Alcide Campestrini - Dreaming

Portraiture is one of the most widespread artistic expressions, especially in painting, but also in sculpture, throughout the ages. Portraiture is, first and foremost, a description of the subject depicted, an attempt to capture their physiognomy and individual characteristics truthfully and naturally. With the progressive evolution of artistic research, the physiognomic description of the subject has also been accompanied by a psychological one. Therefore, over the centuries, portraiture has also become a means of introspective investigation of the subject, their character, and their state of mind. The processes of abstraction brought about by contemporary art have contributed to this type of investigation.

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. However, it is in the pictorial application that one perceives the full innovation of the Campestrinis' artistic approach. 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, rendered through the painter's gestural intervention. Even in this portrait, despite the vaguely symbolist theme suggested by the work's title, Ernesto Alcide Campestrini adheres to an exquisitely realistic vision. The face almost seems to have been taken by surprise by the painter, captured at the precise moment he is abandoning himself to his reveries. This gives rise to a very pronounced torsion of the neck and head, yet perfectly natural in its casualness. The role of light is crucial, making the figure emerge from the dark background.

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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