Valentino Ghiglia - Oranges and Blue Vase

The "Still Life" genre emerged in the early 17th century. It consists 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 element. The artistic production of the painter Valentino Ghiglia, to whom the work has been attributed, includes a significant number of still lifes. The artist focused his research on this traditional genre to develop his relationship with reality and his appreciation for form.

The work is typical of Valentino Ghiglia's interpretation of the still life genre, to whom it has been attributed. Already in terms of the composition, we can note a strong affinity with the artist from Maiano in the choice to pair the fruit with a vase of full, sinuous forms, a constant combination in Ghiglia's work. In particular, this work shows us a phase in which this artist seems to be very close to the so-called "return to order" movement that swept Italian painting towards the mid-20th century and led to the birth of the "Valori plastici" group and, consequently, the Novecento movement. At this stage of his career, therefore, we note Valentino Ghiglia's marked interest in the exaltation of plastic values ​​and, more generally, in the formal attention to detail of the work. The objects in the still life are depicted with a clear form, almost with a geometric rigor that also derives from the references to the models of fifteenth-century humanist painting. This marked rationalism in the interpretation of reality, however, introduces an almost metaphysical, exquisitely modern component, typical of the pictorial climate in which this work is placed. Nevertheless, it must be said that, thanks to Valentino Ghiglia's excellent pictorial quality, the fidelity to reality remains impeccable. The artist establishes a direct relationship with the objects and, despite the accentuated formal rigor, manages to bring them to life. This is achieved through the application of color which, while maintaining the plastic form of the objects, introduces a subtle atmosphericism, just enough to give freshness to the execution. In this sense, the effect of light, reflecting on the objects with highly natural effects, is also highly evocative.

The work has been attributed to Valentino Ghiglia, an artist born in Maiano di Fiesole in 1903 and who died in Florence in 1960. He began painting alongside his younger brother Paulo Ghiglia, a portraitist, despite their father Oscar, an already established painter, opposing them. He later embraced his brothers' passion and began exhibiting alongside them. Valentino's first solo exhibition was held in 1929 in Milan at the Galleria Pesaro. After this debut, he began participating in numerous union and inter-union exhibitions, including the Quadrennials in Rome, Trieste, and Florence. His most characteristic and appreciated works depict Nordic landscapes and characteristic views of Paris. His still lifes, flowers, and vines with fruit, not without affinities with Japanese art, are also sought after.

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