Giuseppe Ponga (Chioggia, 1856 – Venice, 1925) Capriccio with figures Oil on canvas, 18x24 cm With frame, 30x38 cm Giuseppe Ponga's vast pictorial corpus, the artist from Chioggia who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, applies to various artistic fields, ranging from mural and easel painting to miniature and watercolor. Information regarding his life's trajectory is quite limited, also due to the renowned reserve of his character: it therefore appears complex to reconstruct the stages of his artistic career and clearly trace the parabola of the evolution of his style. The artist constantly retraces the manner and themes of the eighteenth-century works of Tiepolo and Guardi, perceived as his ideal masters. The painter, straddling the 19th and 20th centuries, received prestigious commissions both in Italy and abroad: these include the decorations of the Parliament Palace in Budapest and some rooms of the Doge's Palace in Venice. He also painted the famous ten panels in eighteenth-century style that adorn the walls of the magnificent "Gran Caffè Quadri", a historic Venetian venue that directly overlooks Piazza San Marco. His paintings are very pleasant and enjoyable, and their difficult availability on the market makes them highly sought after by collectors. Our painting depicts a lively coastal scene. In the center of the painting, a fishing village, probably identifiable with Chioggia, the painter's homeland, extends along the coast, with several humble dwellings showing evident signs of age. The sky above the village is a clear and bright blue, punctuated by a few white and fluffy clouds. On the left, there are sailboats, with masts standing out against the sky, suggesting the presence of a port or maritime activity. In the foreground, on the shore, there are some human figures rendered with quick brushstrokes. The canvas shows many of the crucial characteristics of Ponga's production: the bright and flashy colors, the fluid brushstroke, the quick touch and the reprise – as far as the views are concerned – of the very famous models of Francesco Guardi.