Nude painting on the river bank was executed c. in 1920-30s by Italian painter and poster maker Tito Corbella ( Pontremoli (Massa Carrara) 1885 - Rome 1966 ).

Tito Corbella was primarily a postcard designer. He was born in Pontremoli (in the province of Massa Carrara) in 1885 and graduated in Chemistry at the University of Padua. Later he followed what may have been his interest and he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice where he was a pupil of Guglielmo Ciardi and Ettore Tito.

He was also a painter but he mainly dealt with illustration and poster design, not only in the field of advertising, he also worked for Ricordi in Milan and for cinema in Rome, where he died in 1966. At the time, the postcards he designed depicting mostly elegant women and couples in love, today perhaps the least interesting part of his production.

What caught my attention is in fact his work for the cinema and in particular a series of brochures (room program) with a dark tone designed for the film "Marcia Nuziale" by Carmine Gallone, starring the beautiful and famous actress of the silent Lyda Borelli. The macabre tension itself, an exception to its general frivolous and colorful tone, is seen in a series of postcards illustrating the sad story of the English nurse Edith Cavell.

As Maria Teresa Antolin reported to me, Tito Corbella was, since 1915, one of the three painters who worked for Enrico Guazzoni´s Graphics Factory, the other two were Aleardo Terzi and Armando Radiciotti. Since 1951 he has been part of the group of film poster artists who each year delivered the Spiga Cambellotti Award. Cultural-cinematographic gem: one of the latest posters designed by Corbella is for the film "Gilda", the one that Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) in "Bicycle Thieves" is about to attack on the wall when they steal his bicycle ...

Literature: Comanducci II, 1971; Designers international index, Lo. 1991. - Finarte (Aukt.) 597, Wed. 1987, No. 9.

Inscription: signed lower right

Technique: oil on canvas/cardboard. Original gold-plated frame.

Measurements: unframed w 15 3/4" x h 19 3/4" (40 x 50 cm), framed w 22" x h 26" (56 x 66 cm)

Condition: in very good condition.