The unusual framing, which cuts across the hull horizontally, suggests that it continues beyond the bottom of the canvas and places the painter (and the viewer) inside the boat, allowing him to capture the boy up close: a technique clearly derived from Impressionist painting, which Sorolla became familiar with during his stay in Paris in the second half of the 1880s. The canvas in the Frugone Collections, dated 1895/1896 (perhaps to indicate the start and end dates of the work, or, in the later dating, the time of sale of the painting), is an example of Sorolla's painting linked to costumbrismo (i.e. “folkloric sketches”, a theme widespread in Spain, in painting and literature, throughout the 19th century) that can be defined as maritime, in which a greater detachment from the subject favours the acquisition of that international flavour that would mark the beginning of his success. The study of light becomes a fundamental element here: the shaded area in the foreground makes the brightness beyond the stern even stronger: the glare of the zenithal light is achieved with intense, almost dazzling whites in the rudder, in the slight rippling of the sea waves, and in the boats on the horizon. The sail, barely moved by the wind, closes the painting at the top, allowing the sun's rays to filter through and illuminate small areas of detail in the foreground. ‘Sonnellino in barca’ depicts a child asleep on a boat, in the shade of the sail, on the shore of the sea.

Al dipinto, ascrivibile a un periodo anteriore al 1911-12, conosciuto anche come La modellina e il dipinto, sembra in realtà più consono il titolo La poupée: la bambina infatti non appare nel quadro che sta osservando ed è presumibilmente una delle due figlie dell’artista colta nell’atto dì curiosare, con la sua bambola, nello studio del padre. Simon, pur avendo adottato nelle ultime opere una tavolozza molto brillante, mostra in questo dipinto di non aver abbandonato quella prima maniera "oscura", a "solide macchie di colore di tonalità bassa, con qua e là qualche nota vibrante di rosso e di giallo e qualche nota luminosa di bianco...". Questa era la tipicità della sua pittura nell’ambito di quel gruppo di artisti (Cottet, Dauchez, ecc.) che, privilegiando soggetti bretoni, si rifaceva alle tinte sombres di Courbet, in antitesi alla peinture claire impressionista e fu perciò denominato dalla critica, a partire dagli anni Novanta, "la banda nera". Rispetto ad analoghi dipinti dello stesso tema, che ricorre con una certa frequenza nella pittura Belle Epoque, la tela si segnala, soprattutto, per il modo in cui è ritratta la bimba, di spalle, in una posa priva di artificio che riesce a comunicare la sua infantile curiosità per quel luogo misterioso e pieno di fascino, dove non sì è avventurata senza la sua bambola.

The subject refers directly to the paintings of religious processions by the Abruzzo painter Francesco Paolo Michetti, a friend of Mancini, Vincenzo Gemito and Gaetano Esposito, with whom he shared artistic and life experiences. The work can be identified as the painting that Michetti presented at the Milan Fine Arts Exhibition in 1884, which can therefore be dated to around 1883. The central figure is still imbued with an evident naturalism, while in the background - conceived as a vibrant and colourful palette - the elements appear more blurred, in a manner typical of the artist's later work. Both in 1938, at the exhibition organised in Genoa by Orlando Grosso at Palazzo Bianco, and at the “Esposizione commemorativa di Antonio Mancini” (Commemorative Exhibition of Antonio Mancini), held in Turin in 1940, “Pastorello in ciocie” received positive and admiring reviews from critics. Vertical canvas depicting a young shepherd wearing traditional Ciociaria footwear, with a stick under his arm.

In the refined and mischievous "Fanciulla abruzzese", datable to the 1880s because of the decadent tone that connotes it, Francesco Paolo Michetti carefully describes the little girl's face, her delicate complexion, the dishevelled locks of hair that partly cover her forehead, her earrings, their reflections on the necklace of crosses and seeds, her white dress and the small bouquet of small wild flowers; all of which are further emphasised by the dark green of the background vegetation. This is a recurring figure in the works of the Abruzzese artist, who was a friend and protector of D'Annunzio, illustrator of his tragedies, and animator of a cultured coterie of artists, men of letters and musicians in his home-atelier at the Conventino in Francavilla sul Mare. It is difficult to identify the girl depicted, although young figures very similar to this one appear in other works by Michetti. The material preciousness of the work is well matched by the decorative richness of the frame that frames it, richly carved with scrolls and foliage and with four cartouches with lozenge motifs in the centre of the sides, characteristic of mid-18th century French decoration. Rectangular canvas painted in oil and framed in wood. The subject is a little girl with blonde hair, tousled and light as foam, dressed up for a party, with earrings, a necklace of seeds, crosses and medals around her neck, and a bouquet of wildflowers in her hand.

La Pastorella al monte delle Raccolte Frugone vede la protagonista insieme ad un gruppo di pecore e due cani, in uno spazio naturale di ampio respiro, realizzato attraverso una pittura di tocco che diventa strumento per riportare sulla tela la percezione del reale. La tela è un esempio di come il lungo soggiorno francese abbia favorito nella pittura di Giuseppe Palizzi un interesse per il vero, inteso soprattutto come "percezione".
Se, pur mantenendo un interesse comune nei confronti della scelta del soggetto, la pittura del fratello Filippo è maggiormente orientata verso una riproduzione oggettiva del vero, nei suoi dipinti Giuseppe guarda più all’aspetto complessivo che non alla descrizione dei particolari.
Il dipinto è collocabile cronologicamente tra le opere della tarda produzione, in cui la pittura, più libera, sciolta e luminosa, sembra mossa da sollecitazioni impressioniste.

Datato dagli studiosi tra il 1917 e il 1918, il dipinto sembra essere il primo dei quattro ritratti della figlia Anna, che all’età di sette o otto anni (era nata nel 1910) diventa la modella prediletta dal padre. Il pittore la ritrae nel suo studio, arricchito dalla presenza di una tela appoggiata al muro, seduta su uno sgabello con un delizioso abito a righe bianche e blu stretto in vita da una cintura (lo stesso che Anna indossa in Bambini che studiano del 1918), dal quale spunta la sottoveste bianca in pizzo.
La bambina indossa un cappello di paglia a larghe tese, ha le braccia abbandonate in grembo, le gambe leggermente divaricate, lo sguardo immobile ed una posizione rilassata, a sottolineare un atteggiamento un po’ stanco ed annoiato a causa della eccessiva durata della posa.
Il ritratto delle Raccolte Frugone, evidenzia una pittura luminosa e sensibile a volumi più corposi, resi attraverso stesure di colore più uniformi e delineate nei contorni, sostenute da un virtuosismo pittorico del quale resta interessante esempio la realizzazione dell’abito con le righe bianche e blu.

Skilled in the analytical representation of the natural datum, it is well known how Filippo Palizzi loved, in the pursuit of this goal, to make his own working tools, brushes and palette knives, as recalled by his painter friend Domenico Morelli. Exemplary of this desire are the two paintings selected by the Frugone brothers, in which animal hair, hay threads, even the cracks in the walls testify to his ability to make painting “tactile,” rendering to perfection the feeling of roughness or softness of each element. The painting depicts a sheep and a cow eating together.

The canvas presents a charcoal sketch of two "Lovers" made by Giovanni Segantini and formally related to two similar young people in the well-known 1896 painting "Love at the Source of Life" (Milan, Galleria d'Arte Moderna).
"The playful and carefree love of the female, and the thoughtful love of the male, bound together by the natural impulse of youth and spring", as Segantini wrote in 1896. Apparently far removed from the painter's expressive methods and exuberant colours precisely because they were unfinished, the two figures were perhaps made for the Symbolist painting ‘The Earthly Paradise’, which was interrupted by the artist's sudden death.
The museum also houses a beautiful charcoal drawing by Segantini, the "Sleeping Shepherd" from around 1893, from the collection of the famous conductor Arturo Toscanini, who bought it during a sale of works belonging to the painter Vittore Grubicy De Dragon who, with his brother Alberto, had been the reference market for the Italian Divisionists. Charcoal drawing depicting two figures with soft, flowing volumes, in a style close to classicism.

This is the final sheet in a series of similar subjects tackled on several occasions by Segantini, using different techniques. Charcoal is used here to veil the grainy paper support. Only later does the artist insert the figures of the shepherd and the animals. Lazzaro Frugone purchased the drawing, through the mediation of his usual dealer Ferruccio Stefani, from the renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini, arousing the envy of the collector Ricci Oddi of Piacenza, who would have liked it for himself. The drawing depicts a young shepherd resting under a tree, next to a sheep.