| most famous member of a family of still-life painters that included his father, Giacomo Recco (who was probably the earliest flower painter in Naples), and Giovanni Battista Recco, his uncle or elder brother, Giuseppe probably studied with his father because his early works follow the family style. Today Giuseppe is regarded as the leading Neapolitan still-life painter of his generation. Contemporary scholarship has made great progress in isolating Giuseppe's still lifes from those of Giovanni. Battista Recco and Giacomo Recco, with whom Giuseppe shared the same monogram. Giuseppe tended to sign and date his works, giving scholars some guidance in tracing his development, though variations in signature are not regarded today as a reliable key. After about 1676 he did add the prefix "Eques," indicating he was knighted and giving us a terminus ante quern for undated works with such a signature. Why and when he was knighted is still unclear. The events of Recco's life are fairly sketchy. De Dominici (1742) states that the youthful Recco traveled to Lombardy, leading some scholars to suggest the influence of Evaristo Baschenis,* although this is still debated. He married young in 1654 and settled in Naples. In 1665 he helped found the Congregazione dei Santi Luca ed Anna, a professional artists' society. Probably on the advice of Luca Giordano* (with whom Recco collaborated on at least one occasion), Giuseppe was invited to Spain by Carlos II (Charles II) but died on the way at Alicante. Recco's oeuvre includes kitchen pieces with fish. Nearly monochromatic in color, they feature isolated strong areas of shiny translucent silvers and grays of sea creatures, or an equally startling harsh red. Less complex and quietly simple kitchen pieces also survive, including an exceptionally fine one found in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. Of Recco's marines, his sympathetic and fascinating portrayal of a sea turtle in the Prado, Madrid, is memorable. Rowers and more sumptuous arrangements of musical instruments and ornamental objects round out Recco's oeuvre. A notable example exists in the Boymans-van Beuningcn museum, Rotterdam. Recco's son and daughter; Nicola Maria Recco and Elena Recco, are called his closest followers; Andrea Belvedere is considered his most gifted emulator. |
