Egisto Lancerotto, the painter of Noale

Egisto Lancerotto was born in Noale in 1847. Only twenty at the time, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and passed with flying colors thanks to his vicinity to the best artists. “Soon enough – says Eleonora Marcato, Art Historian – he leaves behind the most academic themes to practice Genre and portrait painting and, with quickly-applied and impressionist brushstrokes, he tells the stories of an exuberant Venice for the working class through female characters wearing folk clothes and engaging in common activities of everyday life. He’s always favored genre painting, interiors with female characters and portraits that he painted as they embrace their femininity.” He hosted several exhibitions in Italy in cities such as Torino, Genoa, Milan, Rome and Florence, as well as in Europe in Nice, Munich, Paris and Vienna. He exhibited his works at the Venice Biennale four times, the last one being in 1910. He passed away in 1916.

“Sometimes I walk down the streets in my hometown – continues Eleonora Marcato – and I wonder how Noale must have looked like back in Egisto’s times. I imagine the painter strolling under the shade of the medieval Rocca and its towers, observing the calm flowing of the river Marzenego, shopping at the popular city market, chatting with contemporaries like Prandstraller, the Vallottos, the Beninis by the 16th century Peace Column or at the Loggia Palace. Those are the city’s evocative places where history, with its archives, monuments and images, blend with the emotions carried by the memories of those characters who are no longer here.” Around 79 of his paintings on canvas and 19 drawings are kept in the town’s art gallery (Collezione Civica di Noale), whereas some others are exhibited at the Modern Art Gallery of Ca’ Pesaro and the Ca’ Rezzonico Museum in Venice; some of his works are also showcased in private galleries. The beautiful “Regata a Venezia” (1887) is currently located at the Quirinal Palace, in the office of Italy’s President.

Lancerotto was one of the painters from the Venetian School, that included artists who practiced painting en plein air. Their art was influenced by both the Tuscan Macchiaioli and the French Impressionists, but had also strong links with the local tradition for depicting colour and light and the local tendency to choose scenes from everyday life. Gazing at his works is like taking a step back in time, where you’ll be able to experience traditions that today are almost entirely forgotten. His favorite themes were romance, families, life of both young and older people of the working-class and views of the Venetian lagoon and the city itself. The leading roles, however, are played by female characters and in his paintings they are represented striking elegant poses and suggesting a high degree of sensibility – they populate the artist’s canvases and in their simplicity win the hearts of the viewers. They are workers, lovers, artists or happy mothers – his works are like tales that enables the reader to appreciate the rural atmosphere and uniqueness of the area.