(Alessandria 1854–1919 Milan)
“Siesta invernale”, exhibition label on the reverse,
pencil and pastel on paper, 38.5 x 63.5 cm, framed, (GG)

Provenance:
Private Collection, Italy.

Listed and reproduced in:
Retrospettiva Morbelli, exhibition catalogue, Milan 1920, p. 14, no. 32; Mostra Postuma di Angelo Morbelli, Galleria Pesaro, Milan 1929–1930, no. 87; Arturo Mensi, catalogo della Mostra commemorativa del pittore Angelo Morbelli, Pinacoteca civica, Alessandria 1953, no. 31, no. 77; Teresa Fiori, Archivi del divisionismo, Officina edizioni, Roma 1968, vol. II, p. 113, no. VI. 89 and p. 292, ill. 1452; E. Bairati, Angelo Morbelli, catalogo della Mostra del divisionismo italiano, Permanente, Milan 1970, p. 109, no. 85, ill. 85; Arturo Mensi, catalogo della mostra omaggio a Morbelli, Galleria La Maggiolina Alessandria 1970, plate XXI; Luciano Caramel, catalogo della mostra Angelo Morbelli, Palazzo Cuttica Alessandria 3 April-6 May 1982; edizioni Mazzotta, Milan 1982, p. 120, no. 31.

Exhibited:
Retrospettiva Morbelli, Milan 1920; Galleria Pesaro, mostra postuma di Angelo Morbelli, December 1929-January 1930; Pinacoteca civica di Alessandria, mostra commemorativa di Angelo Morbelli (1853–1919), 24 October-15 December 1953; Palazzo del Permanente, Milano, mostra del divisionismo italiano, 17 March - April 1970; Galleria la Maggiolina, Alessandria, omaggio a Morbelli nel cinquantenario della morte: mostra di disegni ordinata da Pietro Morando e Arturo Mensi, 15 -25 February 1970; Palazzo Cuttica, Alessandria, Angelo Morbelli, 3 April-16 May 1982; Galleria nazionale d’arte moderna, Rome, Angelo Morbelli, 25 June-29 August 1982; Galleria d’arte Fogliato, Turin, 1983.

Angelo Morbelli trained at the Accademia di Brera under Raffaele Casnedi (1822-1892) and Giuseppe Bertini (1825-1898), winning several awards for his rural genre scenes. Studying alongside Segantini, Previati and Longoni he became friends with them. His paintings are characterised by a markedly realistic style. In 1887 Vittore Grubicy signed him up. Although he lived in Milan, each summer he and his wife Maria Pagani stayed near Casale Monferrato in a house belonging to his parents, where he also opened a studio in 1889.
The collaboration with the Grubicy Gallery came to an end in 1893. In 1902, when the present lot was painted, Morbelli set up a studio in the Pio Albergo Trivulzio in Milan, a rest home for the elderly, where he produced several paintings exploring the themes of old age.
The figures represented are passing the time in lonely introspection, trying to sleep and keep warm. The present preparatory drawing relates to an oil painting of the same title exhibited at the 1903 Venice Biennale.
Both represent a variant of the picture, “La sedia vuota”.