Francesco Di Cocco - Barded Horses

The painting can be defined as a genre scene, that is, the depiction of an episode of everyday life that, apparently, lacks any significant element. These types of domestic subjects were long considered minor and only began to spread in Western art starting in the 17th century. Only with the development of 19th-century realism did everyday subjects become considered equally important as historical or religious ones. The artist Francesco Di Cocco has focused part of his pictorial production on genre scenes depicting peasants and the countryside. His works thus represent a perfect fusion of art with a social, genuinely realist and popular character, and a landscape painting that nevertheless displays symbolist, almost metaphysical, overtones.

Typically, the scenes depicting domestic and popular life by artist Francesco Di Cocco have a coldly objective quality that freezes the representation in a metaphysical atmosphere. In this case, however, given that it is a small-scale work, the artist dissolves his material into a decidedly pictorial style. Indeed, the rendering of the figures is essentially based on the application of color. A patchy application that defines the subjects in an extremely summary manner, yet undoubtedly vivid and profoundly expressive. It is a type of representation that harks back to a post-Impressionist style of art. Indeed, in this particular work, Di Cocco seems to consciously reference the Macchiaioli (including in the choice of subject matter). The sense of peasant solitude typical of the Tuscan group prevails, even though for Di Cocco it is in line with the metaphysical nature of his work. The palette, composed of brown and earthy tones, is typical of this artist's style.

Francesco Di Cocco was born in Rome in 1900 and passed away in 1989. He initially trained in Alfredo Biagini's ceramics factory. He later lived for a time in Paris with Biagini, where he came into contact with the vibrant Montparnasse scene. In Rome, he made his debut at the Third Biennale in 1925. The following year, he participated in the First Exhibition of the Italian Twentieth Century. In 1931, he exhibited at the First Rome Quadrennial; the following year, he had a solo exhibition, with around thirty works, at the Third Rome Sindacale, and participated in the XVIII Venice Biennale. In 1933, he exhibited at the Fifth Milan Triennial, and in 1934, he collaborated on the installation of the Fourth Sindacale at the Trajan's Market. In 1935, he participated in the Second Quadrennial and devoted himself to decoration, also working in Belgium. In 1937 he worked at the Italian Pavilion at the International Exhibition in Paris, then went to New York where he exhibited at the American branch of the Galleria della Cometa.

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