'La Sartoria' (The Dressmaker's Workshop) by Alberto Chiancone (circa 1960s)

'La Sartoria' (The Dressmaker's Workshop), oil on canvas-lined board, by the Neapolitan painter, Alberto Chiancone (circa 1960s). A compelling interior scene depicting a dressmaker's studio. To the left is the seamstress in a pink smock who is leaning in to adjust the length of a richly patterned garment worn by a standing figure, ostensibly a client at a fitting, her back turned and her posture held perfectly still for the work at hand. To the right, two women sit at ease against a folding screen in dusty mauve and violet, one simply watching the fitting, the other absorbed in some handwork of her own, the two seemingly waiting their turn. The artist creates the scene around earthen tones divided into quadrants, forming a quiet backdrop for the livelier hues worn by the client in the foreground. The brushwork is textural, particularly rich in the impasto detail of the standing figure's garment lending energy to an otherwise quiet, everyday moment of work and life. The painting is in good overall condition and has been elegantly framed with a linen slip. it is signed in the lower left hand. Please enjoy the many photos accompanying the listing. Upon request a video will be provided.

Dimensions with Frame:

H 50.8 cm / 20"

W 61 cm /24"

Dimensions without Frame:

H 39 cm / 15.4"

W 48.7 cm / 19.2"

About the Artist: Alberto Chiancone (1904–1988) was a significant figure in 20th-century Neapolitan painting. Born in Tuscany to Neapolitan parents, he moved with his family back to Naples as an adolescent, where he studied at the Regio Istituto d'Arte. In his twenties, he became one of the youngest and most energetic members of the "Ostinati" group, who gathered at the Caffè Tripoli in Piazza del Plebiscito and pushed for a renewal of Neapolitan painting away from what they saw as a tired 19th-century tradition.

Chiancone exhibited extensively and prominently throughout his career, including at the Venice Biennale on numerous occasions between 1934 and 1948, the Rome Quadriennale, and the Monza Biennale. In 1937, he achieved national recognition by winning the Premio San Remo for painting. From 1932, he taught at his own alma mater, the Regio Istituto d'Arte in Naples, eventually holding the chair of Decorative Painting from 1942 until 1976, a 43-year teaching career that shaped generations of Neapolitan artists.

His work is held in numerous public collections, including the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome, the Museo Civico of Udine, the Galleria d'Arte Moderna of Latina and the Accademia di Belle Arti of Florence. Described by contemporaries as an introspective and refined painter, each of his works has been characterised as a kind of quiet, unplanned pictorial confession.