Picasso(1881-1973) had his”Blue Period “…1901-1904. Cesare Ricciardi (1892-1973) had his “Moonlit Harbor Period” two decades later….1928-1935. Contemporaries,both used monochromatic paint in blue and gray tones. Picasso painted during a deep depression following the suicide of his friend Casagenas at the L’Hippodrome Cafe in Paris, February, 1901. Although Ricciardi’s blue works do not feel as though they were painted during such saddness, one can only speculate. An Italian immigrant, he studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under the influential training of Thomas Anshutz, Cecelia Beaux, Hugh Breckenridge and Robert Henri. Traveling to Paris for further studies, he later became a member of the Philadelphia Sketch Club and the Philadelphia Art Alliance. His specialty was society portraits, but he traveled to New England often which led to his early moonlit harbor and dock scenes, especially in the Boston area. It is interesting that both of these artists’ blue periods are some of the most sought after their works today.

21 x 26 in original oil gilt frame, signed and dated “1931”, L/L,

$1250.