"Lady fruit Seller in her Stall, Castellammare, Sicily" (16"X20", Oil on Canvas, $650)
Castellammare is another town in Sicily, this time on the northwest coast. It's also really beautiful and underappreciated by the traveling public. This is a quiet little working fishing village, and all the fruits of the sea are available in the restaurants every night. The fruits of the vine are available, too, but in this case they're on display on the sidewalk. The displays are made up from the fruit crates the produce came in and forms the entranceway, almost blocking the sidewalk. There's more inside, behind the Nona in the doorway, but rather than poke around in her shop I just looked form the outside.
As usual, the shaded stall is nonetheless flooded with reflected light, since the sun is overhead. The old striped awning keeps her and the fruit cool. I don't think there was even a sign. Not needed, since all the locals know who and where she is.
The tree with the little cage around it is common in Italy, as is the cage itself. Clearly this tree pulled its cage over to the side to get more light. Does anyone recognize this kind of tree? Let me know what it is by commenting below.
The theme of this painting is the stoic patience of the lady fruit seller who knows that in time all her fresh tomatoes, oranges, raddicchio, cucumbers and green beans will be sold to the local restaurants and residents for their tables and guests. She's also kind of a cute old nonna.
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