Antique Table Clock Bronze Onyx Europe XX Century - Europe, Mid XX Century ca.

The Birth of Venus, 1935

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left on the left lateral canvas. The large composition is made up of three separate canvases, the central one developed vertically (dimensions 220 x 128 cm) and rounded on the upper margin, the two lateral ones developed horizontally and shaped at the corners (dimensions 150 x 328 cm). The central canvas is dominated by the figure of Venus, who emerges naked from the sea foam, with one arm raised to cover her eyes to protect herself from the light of dawn; on the two lateral canvases, a group of tritons, sirens, sea nymphs, sea monsters, led by the god Poseidon, recognizable on the left by the trident he holds, witness the event with amazement and joyful exultation. The figures stand out against the background of sea and sky, fused in a luminous continuum of shades of blue, into which the pink light of dawn insinuates itself, illuminating the scene. Trained at the school of Cesare Tallone, Brignoli learned from him the naturalism deriving from the Venetian tradition, the observation of nature, the decisive brush stroke, the strong contrasts of light. Moreover, after several trips to Africa, begun in 1922, Brignoli approached orientalist painting, but he shunned forms of exotic rhetoric, to instead relive the new subject with a careful research of colors and the effects of light on the landscape. This work, belonging to the artist's already "African" period, is influenced by this imprint, in the bright and clear chromatic choices. Due to its size and the composition of the three canvases, it has a great scenographic impact: coming from a large villa in Brescia, where it was displayed on the imposing staircase, it was probably conceived and created specifically as a custom-made decorative element. The canvases are presented in contemporary gilded frames, missing some parts.

Pastoral Scene with Saint and Lamb

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. In the large painting, a young woman with a halo is encircling the neck of a lamb with a wreath of flowers; the two figures are placed in a meadow full of flowering bushes, part of a verdant plain that extends to the mountain peaks in the distance. The girl, completely dressed in red, wears a halo on her head: this symbol and the presence of the lamb refer to Saint Agnes, traditionally depicted with this animal symbol of purity; the red of her dress may indicate the martyrdom of the young girl. It is the landscape setting that makes the depiction of the saint particular and unusual, who becomes the central element of the large landscape. Giovanni Buffa, a painter, sculptor and decorator active in Milan, became famous above all for his historiated stained glass windows, created alone or in collaboration with the famous company Beltrami & C. – Artistic stained glass, an almost absolute protagonist of the very brief season of national Liberty in this sector, specialized in the execution of stained glass windows of both a sacred and profane nature. Buffa contributed in particular with the creation of preparatory cartoons for many stained glass windows of the Milan Cathedral and other national churches. His pictorial production includes several portraits of people, especially Milanese, but also some genre scenes in exteriors, in cities or in naturalistic settings.

Landscape with Figures

Oil on canvas applied to board. Signed lower left. On the back there is a cartouche with expert authentication dated 1944 and signed by a Milanese art critic. In the vast plain, green but with few trees, which recalls the Lombard plains, two farmers work near a pond, close to their farmhouse; in the background you can glimpse the mountain peaks of the Alpine chain. The subject is part of the production of strong naturalistic matrix of the painter, born in Modena but artistically raised in Milan and its surroundings, places that were frequent themes of his landscape production. The painting is presented in a period frame.

View of Corfu with a Small Church and a Monk

Watercolor on paper. Signed lower left. Angelos Giallinas, born in Corfu, was known for his numerous views of his native island, although his landscape production includes glimpses of Greece, other Greek islands, Italian and oriental cities. His watercolor glimpses are pervaded by a suspended, veiled atmosphere. The painting has slight scratches. Framed.

View of Corfù

Watercolour on paper. Signed lower left. Angelos Giallinas, born in Corfu, was known for his numerous views of his native island, although his landscape production includes glimpses of Greece, other Greek islands, Italian and oriental cities. His watercolor glimpses are pervaded by a suspended, veiled atmosphere. This same view of the island was presented, in a smaller example, at a Sotheby's auction in London in 2002. The work is presented in a frame.

Oil on canvas. The painting, made in the first half of the 1900s, takes up the landscape works in the subject and in the pictorial mode: in a landscape rich in vegetation and with peaks in the background, a young commoner asks for charity from some travelers who rest on the roadside , near a stone arch. The canvas has undergone aging and is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Study for Vegetation

Pencil on paper. Signed lower right. Michetti, originally from Abruzzo, studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, where he developed his realistic and naturalistic style. But rural Abruzzo, with its still uncontaminated nature, was always his main source of inspiration. Here is a small study of country vegetation. Framed.

Composed of woodblocked sheets, sewn together and partly colored, with matching figures and texts. The group consists of 23 booklets, of which two in three copies and one in four copies; another couple has the same cover but different contents. The booklets can be considered as "manga" of the nineteenth century: the word "manga" still today can designate many different productions, such as single cartoons, scattered drawings, more elaborate illustrations, comic strips, comic books, as well as animated drawings. Therefore, starting from the assumption that there is no "manga form" but different ways of conceiving objects and graphic forms all denominated with this word, the term manga can be attested in literary and essayistic use in Japan as early as the eighteenth century to indicate, as mentioned above, drawings and sketches. But it is from the first half of the nineteenth century that Katsushika Hokusai's 15 volumes of illustrations, studies, graphic entertainment and detailed bichromatic prints became established, thanks to the progressive publication, starting from 1814. If, on the other hand, we want to give the word the more specific meaning of “stories drawn in sequence”, then the debut must be placed in the second half of the nineteenth century, similarly to what happened in Europe and the United States for comics. The booklets are in good condition.

Hospitalization of the Trident 1916

Oil on cardboard. Signed lower right. On the back there is the name with the title, which locates the small glimpse in Macedonia in 1916, during the First World War. Alfonso Corradi, born in Emilia but trained and then lived in Milan, was a student of ornaments at the Brera Academy and for some years he also devoted himself to scenography. He specialized in landscape and embarked on an exhibition career concentrated above all in Milan. The subject proposed here, although of a landscape nature, is part of a rare production of a series of small pictures, almost sketches, which leads back to the First World War, in particular to the military expedition of an Italian body to Macedonia in 1916, sent by the government to the aim to counter the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian forces during the First World War and to control that territory. Moreover, there is no documentation of the painter's direct participation in this war campaign. The painting is framed.

Tempera on canvas. Signed Mimy and dated lower right. The scene, set in an elegant living room, features a group of ladies and gentlemen entertaining themselves musically during a reception: while a woman plays the spinet, a young couple dances. The work is presented in a period frame, with a large lack in the upper part.

Italy, XX Century

Lacquered and painted corner unit, in Venetian Baroque style, fir, faux marble top, door painted with floral motifs and silver leaf moulding. Italy, 20th century

Oil on canvas. Northern European school, early 1900s. Unidentified signature on the lower right. The landscape represents a glimpse of uncultivated countryside, with patches of vegetation, meadows full of heather, crossed by a path that leads towards the nearby hills, passing next to a stable. The work has a small cut at the top center. It is presented in a frame.