Farm and fields

Di Capi was a self-taught painter and a professional cobbler. His nature was so pleasant that his shop became a curious meeting place for Mantuan intellectuals and other artists. Friendship was an important value he always remained faithful to, and this allowed him to maintain important relationships even though his work as a shoemaker forced him to treat painting as a secondary activity. His artistic vocation, however, was strong, and is placidly expressed in a series of works that by far exceed the dimension of amateurism, by virtue of their expressive qualities. A vague influence of Cézanne is present in these paintings, especially in the intention of a gaze that wants to portray the reality and geometry of the houses, which are represented with calm but passionate sensibility. In this composition, the tranquil landscape of the Mantuan countryside is enlivened by the force of the colour green that, like a wave, rises from the ground to shape the trees that delimit square houses, set against a stormy sky. The movement of the brush creates a lively, real and robust composition from nothing. In the features of the larger house, the echoes of the best Italian painting of the twentieth century can be found, and an intonation reminiscent of Morandi.