Object Description
Pair of genre portrait paintings by Italian artist Giovanni Bragolin
Italian, 20th Century
Frame: Height 85cm, width 65cm, depth 5cm
Canvas: Height 70cm, width 50cm, depth 1cm
This pair of paintings is by the Italian genre painter Giovanni Bragolin. The paintings depict young boys in a condition of extreme poverty; each boy cries with sadness at his condition, dressed in tattered clothes and with a dirtied face and hair. Both are set against a background of a decrepit wooden structure, perhaps a shack or fence. The colour palette is subdued and sombre, and the style of execution is fluid and painterly. Bragolin’s paintings should be viewed within the broader context of genre painting, particularly that strand popular in Britain in the 19th century and evident in the work of artists like Luke Fildes. Each painting is signed and held within a giltwood frame.