Vittorio Botticini: Brescia’s Paladin of Modernity

Turquoise, magenta and gold; a gondola between ochre palaces, moored boats rocking in the foreground, a black tree cutting across a yellow sky, the drawing laid in black over the colour. Vittorio Botticini (1909–1978) painted Venice as a Brescian, in the lyrical post-Cubism he made his own, and this gouache is lot 20 of our Modern Masters: 20th Century Art sale.

A labourer at the Brera

Botticini was born in Brescia on 23 February 1909 and trained between Brescia and Fiumicello under Annibale Scaroni. During his military service in Verona he enrolled at the Cignaroli Academy under Angelo Dall’Oca Bianca; back in Brescia he worked as a labourer while continuing his studies at the Brera in Milan. Recognition came slowly and then steadily: the Brozzoni Bequest in 1938, a first solo exhibition in 1944, third prize at the first Premio Brescia in 1952 with Il porticciolo di Desenzano.

Cézanne, Picasso and Venetian colour

His art is a personal reworking of the great movements of the Italian twentieth century: rooted in the Brescian and Venetian tradition of colour, open to Cézanne and Picasso, and resolved in an intense, lyrical post-Cubism. Landscapes of the lakes, Venice, still lifes and figures are drawn in black over glowing planes of colour. His monographer Roberto Ferrari called him a paladin of modernity. He died in Brescia on 19 February 1978.

Botticini for collectors

The Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia holds his work, and many Lombard collections with it; the market is mainly Italian, with Venice and the lakes the favourite motifs. A gouache in this fresh, unrestored state gives the full range of his palette at a modest price. More on his artist page.

At Aurora & Athena

Venice, Canal with a Gondola at Sunset, c. 1960s, gouache on cardboard, 34 × 44 cm, framed under glass, signed at the lower right, is offered on 17 October 2026 with an estimate of 400 – 600 €. Photographs, condition summary and bidding on the lot page.