First exhibition in the US for Italian Impressionist painter Giuseppe De Nittis

An Italian Impressionist in Paris: The Phillips Collection will present the first exhibition in the United States dedicated to Giuseppe De Nittis in Washington. The show is a collaboration between Phillips, the Giuseppe De Nittis Art Gallery, the City of Barletta, the Region of Puglia and the Pino Pascali Foundation.

The exhibition, open from November 12 to  February 12, will bring together 73 works held in important collections and museums throughout the United States, France and Italy, 32 of which come from the De Nittis Art Gallery.

“Giuseppe De Nittis was an important figure in Impressionism, but in the United States he isn’t acclaimed in the same way as Degas or Manet,” said Dorothy Kosinski, the director of Phillips.

Kosinski hopes that the exhibition will shine a spotlight on the artist’s influential role in the art movement, especially in Paris, where De Nittis arrived from Naples in 1867 at the age of 21.

The young artist soon made a name for himself, and in 1874 he was the only Italian that Degas invited to participate in the first Impressionist exhibition, held at at 35 Boulevard des Capucines - former studio of photographer Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, better known as Nadar.

Based in Barletta in the historic Palazzo Marra, the De Nittis Art Gallery was born with the bequest of Léontine Gruvelle De Nittis, the artist’s widow - around 200 paintings and drawings by her husband.

The exhibition also presents the results of his close friendship with Manet Degas, who was the young Apulian’s mentor, as well as his first collaborations in Naples in 1872 and 1875 with the young Gustave Caillebotte.

“Largely overlooked, De Nittis was an important figure in the history of modernism and 19th century art in Europe,” said Renato Miracco, the curator of the De Nittis Art Gallery.

 According to Mariangela Zappia, Ambassador of Italy in Washington:

“This event is a perfect testament to the long friendship between Italy and the United States, and the relentless work of both countries to strengthen ties through art and culture.”