Angelo Abrate ( 1900 - 1985 )

First snows, Les Houches, Savoie, France.


First snows, Les Houches, Savoie, France.


oil on panel, 34 x 44 cm.
signed, inscribed on verso: Première neige, Les Houches, 1936
 

item sold

This is an unusual and charming picture by Abrate. It seems to have already snowed a good deal before this blizzard came on and a closer inspection of the painter’s technique shows some rapid passages of painting and broad applications of paint on top of which, Abrate would have flecked all the tiny snowflakes tumbling from the sky. The flat light and deadened atmosphere give the picture a vaguely art naif look as well as an unintended association with the early Flemish painters’ attempts at snowy landscapes.
 

Angelo Abrate