International studio (27.1905/1906(1906))

Ettore Tito

travel. Tito is also one ot the few men in Italy
who paint the nucle ; indeed, as far as knowledge
goes, he is the first in the land. To realise this we
have only to look at his scenes on the seashore,
with naked figures bathing, lighted up by the
setting sun : the shadows are put in sharp and
strong, without being made heavy or brown, as is
the case in the productions of those artists who
swear by ultramarine, whicb, if not used with
intelligence as by the old masters, I always look
upon as a pons asinorum.
Tito always paints primarily wet on wet; as with
all the great moderns, he paints his pictures straight
off at one go—or at least he gives the impression of
having done so. He deliberately uses demie-päte even
for finishing, though certainly not always in his
smaller pictures—and he offen scratches out right
down to the white surface. Yet in
studying his work one always has
the feeling that the artist has never
worried himself, for it is all set
down in a few magical strokes of
the brush. In short, as regards
Science, plein air, and impressionism,
he may be considered the first artist
in Italy. He seeks to unite all the
qualities of the impressionists with
fine form, and in this he has generally
been successful—no small achieve-
ment. However, personally I prefer
the offen only suggested indication
of form given by many of the im-
pressionists, to Tito’s rather precise
and learned deliberation. The
gestures of the Venetian women in
his pictures are occasionally over-
strained, almost distorted; the
hands, though always drawn in mas-
terly style, sometimes recall the old
genre school.
In The Causezvay, here repro-
duced, we have a characteristic
Venetian milieu. It is a May day,
and the children are betaking them-
selves early in the morning to school,
while their mothers watch them from
a little distance; a man with his
back towards us is steering his boat
down the dark-green waters of the
canal; white clouds float in the sky,
and everything gives promise of a
hot day. On another occasion the
master takes us to an embankment
in the neighbouring Chioggia.
3T 2

This is a bright little picture, now at the Luxem-
bourg in Paris. Sunlight plays on the masonry
and on various details. The brightly-illuminated
figure of a child carrying a pitcher seems literally
to advance out of the frame; she wears a kilted-up
blue dress with bright mauve lights, and her blouse
is dull yellow.
The sun plays an important röle in Italy, and
every painter born in that country, or choosing to
live there, must take up its challenge, whether he
will or no. So it is with Tito, who, if I may be
allowed to say so, has come off victorious in the
fight. In The Menders the sparkle and glitter of
sunlight, the green leaves, the bright blue sky and
sea behind the black-haired or red-haired Venetian
women, combine to afford the artist a task which
he has admirably fulfilled.


“ IN THE WIND ” BY ETTORE TITO