Ottavio Steffenini, Figurative Komposition, 1930er, Öl auf Karton, Gerahmt

Oil on cardboard. Signed lower right. On the back label from the 1930s triennial exhibition in Naples, with the title of the work.The Cuneo artist Ottavio Steffanini had a life on the move, divided between Italy, Europe and America (particularly in Venezuela).A restless and unpredictable artist, he focused his painting mainly on female figures, portrayed with placid sensuality and an opulence influenced by the Spanish masters with whom he studied. But in his production there is no shortage of other subjects, united by a relentless exaltation of life, of nature.In this small glimpse of an Arab neighborhood in Tripoli, one finds his quick brushstrokes, his choice of vivid colors to define figures and places that are blurred but vital, lived.The work is presented in a coeval frame.