Carlo Pittara (6 June 1835 – 25 October 1891) was an Italian painter who specialized in animals, pastoral landscapes, rivers and peasants at work.
Later, he became the leader of a group of landscape painters who met during the summers near Rivara, in the Canavese, to paint "en plein aire".
During the last ten years of his life, he spent the winters in Paris, where his work began to take on Impressionist overtones.
After his death, Telemaco Signorini questioned his role in establishing the Scuola di Rivara, suggesting that Rayper was actually the focus of the group's inspiration.
[citation needed] Pittara was, in fact, largely forgotten until 1947, when the "Galleria Fogliato" in Turin presented 88 of his canvases.