In 1881, resident of Bologna, he exhibited at Milan, "The Cloister of the Abbey of S. Gregorio". In 1883, having moved to Rome, he displayed a "Vedute of Piazza di San Trovaso at Moonlight". In 1886, De Maria became a member of the Roman Society of "In Arte Libertas". In 1899, in Venice, he exhibited "Cypresses of the Villa Massimo" and "The End of a Summer's Day". This latter picture was selected by De Maria as his contribution to the Paris Exposition of 1900. Rollins Willard ends his description of the artist with: "Whatever opinion might be formed as to its absolute merits, it was certainly of interest from the point of view of the art historian as evidence of a nascent reaction against naturalism, and a return to the older principles of art which the naturalistic movement drove out of favor."