The Seriana Valley

The painting, shown at the Esposizione Nazionale d’Arte of 1923, is a view of the Valle Seriana, a mountainous area about 20 miles from Bergamo. The work is divided into three sections. The first (starting from the bottom) shows the plain in shades of brown and green, the second the mountains in grey and pink, and the third a sky full of thick white clouds. In terms of subject and the feeling with which the painter approaches the natural landscape, the work can be compared to Happiness by Aldo Carpi and Glarnealpen by Raffaele de Grada. It shows the influence of the Lombard Naturalism in which Arturo Tosi served his apprenticeship. The painter and critic Vittore Grubicy had noted a work of his at the Milan Società per le Belle Arti ed Esposizione Permanente in 1891 and brought him into contact with the school that was keeping this late 19th-century tradition alive. The Cézanne retrospective organised in Venice within the framework of the 12th Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte della Città di Venezia in 1920 also proved beneficial in developing the artist’s palette and handling of volume. This “change of direction” is more recognisable in the other painting by Tosi in the Cariplo Collection, namely Rural Elegy or The Vegetable Gardens of Vilmione, where the influence of the Novecento Italiano movement, albeit freely interpreted by Tosi, is more marked. While the artist’s meeting with Margherita Sarfatti brought him fame and fortune, he did not cease to develop the legacy of the Lombard Scapigliatura movement.