ROME.- Among latest acquisitions, Ponti Art Gallery offers an astonishing group of seascapes by Eduardo de Martino, already belonged to Marie Elizabeth ‘Piccola’ de Martino Mulhall (1878-1960) and coming from a private collection of a Sorrento shipowner.

The parable of the Sorrentine painter can be summarized in three phases: the years spent in Meta are those of scholastic, artistic and military formation, as well as that of political awareness. In South America from 1868 to 1876, the years of appreciation and recognition. This was a phase of growth and research of artistic identity in which Eduardo assimilated and reworked styles and subjects, a period of great commitment and extraordinary creativity so as to produce an exceptional amount of surprising works for their eclecticism.

Finally in London where he found the highest affirmation and notoriety (from 1876 to 1912) obtaining prestigious positions: he was Marine painter in Ordinary of the Royal House and the Royal Yacht Squadron, as well as a member of the authoritative Royal Institution of Naval Architects. It is to this stage that At Liverpool docks belongs: it shows a gloomy day at the port of Liverpool; de Martino makes the atmosphere of the docks of the English port vibrant, populating the scene with a series of characters that make it lively and full of elements anecdotal.

On the other hand, a famous sport challenge is at the centre of one of the masterpieces by De Martino offered by Ponti Art Gallery: the America’s Cup, the most famous trophy in the sport of sailing, as well as the oldest sports trophy in the world for which it still competes. This is a series of match race regattas, that is, between only two yachts competing against each other. The two boats belong to two different Yacht Clubs, one representative the yacht club that holds the cup and the other a challenging yacht club.

One of the most famous and determined challengers was the Baron of Tea (of Irish but Scottish origin by birth), Sir Thomas Lipton, who organized five challenges between 1899 and 1930, all with yachts called Shamrock. One of the main reasons that induced Lipton to become passionate about the America’s Cup was probably the publicity and visibility that the competition would bring to his company. The one depicted here painted by de Martino is the 1899 edition, the tenth, which saw oppose the Shamrock, portrayed in the foreground, at Columbia, owned by J. Pierpont Morgan. In the preliminary sessions of the competition also other boats participated, like the Sea Fox, the Katrina and the Gracie, visible in the background of the composition.