CESARE MAGGI Rome, 1881 - Turin, 1961 Pasture at the foot of the Matterhorn Signed C Maggi top right Oil on canvas, 100X140 cm Cesare Maggi, known for his connection to alpine landscapes, creates in the painting presented here a masterful depiction of the Matterhorn, standing majestically and snow-capped against a clear sky. At its foot, a flock of sheep emerges from the canvas in a composed manner, realised with rapid brushstrokes that lend vitality and dynamism, adding a sense of harmony to the mountain setting. The mountain, portrayed with a painting technique close to pointillism, reveals a profound attention to the effect of light and colour across the scene. The choice of segmenting the colour into distinct points creates a vibrant effect that makes the painting vivid, bringing the observer closer to the freshness of the Alpine environment. The contrast between the lit and shaded parts enhances the landscape and the delicacy of the surrounding nature. Coming from a family of actors, Maggi was initiated into classical studies by his father, began attending the studio of the Leghorn painter Vittorio Corcos and later that of Gaetano Esposito in Naples. His debut at the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Fine Arts in Florence in 1898 was followed by a short stay in Paris for further training. However, the decisive turning point in his artistic career came with the posthumous exhibition dedicated to Giovanni Segantini in 1899, at the Società di Belle Arti in Milan, which definitively oriented his production towards Divisionist landscape painting. After a short period in the Engadine, Maggi returned to Milan and finally settled in Turin. He participated in the most important Italian and European exhibitions, and in 1912 an entire room was dedicated to him at the International Art Exhibition in Venice. Reference bibliography: G. A. Dell'Acqua, Il Divisionismo italiano. Milan 1979, ad vocem P. Pinotti, M. Rosci, Il Paesaggio italiano nell'arte: Cesare Maggi e la rappresentazione alpina. Turin 1995, ad vocem G. Bianchino, Cesare Maggi. L'arte della montagna. Turin 2000, ad vocem