Vittorio Zecchin (1978-1947) - Méduse

Painting on panel by Vittorio Zecchin, entitled "Meduse", tempera on panel 34.5 x 20.3 cm. Signed "VZ" lower right on the front, also signed on the back of the plate and Nei Pasinetti's signature on the Pasinetti collection stamp.

Vittorio Zecchin was born in Murano on 21 May 1878, son of Luigi, a glassmaker. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, but he is impatient with the late nineteenth-century realist culture that he encounters here while he feels attracted by the stimuli offered by the Venetian Biennials that he frequents, coming into contact with symbolist research and the secession environment Viennese.

The encounter with the mystical and symbolist painting of Jan Toorop was fundamental in this period. Starting from 1909 he shared the experience of the group of artists linked to Cà Pesaro and participated in their exhibitions. And the other fundamental encounter with the refined painting of Gustav Klimt dates back to 1910. In this context, his friendship was born with the painter Teodoro Wolf Ferrari with whom he shared a growing interest in the applied arts, in particular in the expressive potential of mosaic glass.