 Nerli and his wife returned to Europe in 1904 where the artist spent the rest of his life, struggling against declining fortunes, between London and Nervi, Genova (Genoa) in Italy.He died childless in Nervi on 24 June 1926.An occasionally brilliant painter Nerli brought something of the new influences emerging in Europe to the Australasian art scene, helping to shift the direction of Australian and New Zealand art.