CARLO LEVI

VASE OF FLOWERS 1933

Oil on cardboard, cm 61 x 50
Signed lower right
On the back, Galleria Lo Scettro, Rapallo, label and Galleria Fidia, Rome, stamp
Work authenticated by Fondazione Carlo Levi, Rome. Reg. n. 605

In 1932, during his extended stay in Paris, Levi’s painting style matured and stabilized, developing into a free and lyrical expressionism that remained essentially stable for the rest of his life. There can be no doubt that it was his entry into the group of Jewish artists based in Montparnasse, which had been dubbed the Ecole de Paris, that inspired his fantastically expressionist vein, neither violent nor dramatic, apparently closest to Soutine. In this splendid vase of flowers, with a dense, sinuous brushstroke, Levi reelaborates and reinterprets the Parisian influences and evidences traces of the teachings of Matisse.