Oil and collage on board, 54×36 cm
signed and dated lower right U. Conti 1917
Famous is this Cocomeraia by Primo Conti, in which the cheerfulness of the Neapolitan summer and the freshness of colors made terse by the nature of water, light and air still echo. It is a beautiful example of the absolute newness in which Conti’s futurism moves, enlivened by the synthetic experience of earlier Fauvism and its sharp approach to surface values. It also explains even better, thus, the use of collage inserted directly into the oil painting, not to distort or divide the surface, but to emphasize it even better, almost a precious fragment of the universe. The tip of the curtain and the still life on the bench, which wedge toward the woman’s rocking body, suspend the entire composition in a poetic instant, as if by a darting revelation.
