PAINTINGS OF THE '900

Ligurian Beach

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. It is a glimpse of the Ligurian Riviera, near a cove, surmounted by houses close to the coast. Berto Ferrari, born and always lived in Liguria, was a skilled and sensitive marine and landscape painter of the post-impressionist tradition, who painted the beauties of the Ligurian Riviera and numerous views of the Apennine hinterland. The painting has drops of color and traces of restoration. It is in a coeval frame.

Female figure ca. 1950

Tempera on paper applied to canvas. Signed lower right. On the back is the label of the Galleria Cadario in Milan, where the work was exhibited. The work is accompanied by an authentication from the Mario Sironi Archive, with archive number 4/25: During his career, Sironi has joined various artistic movements and even founded one together with other artists, as in the case of the Novecento Italiano movement. Over the years, Sironi has been a member of Futurism, the Italian avant-garde born in 1909 with the famous manifesto by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti; after which for a certain period he was also influenced by the Metaphysical movement, founded in the 1920s by Giorgio de Chirico, and starting from the 1930s his painting abandoned the clear sign of the first Novecento season to go through an expressionist period, characterized by an approximation of the figure and a marked brushstroke. The female figure has always been the protagonist in Mario Sironi's works, gradually represented in different ways, following the evolution of the artist's style. This figure is part of the production of the 50s, in which Sironi lived withdrawn, avoiding recognition and even refusing invitations to the most prestigious events; it was a period of solitude and depression that, however, from an artistic point of view, revealed itself to be surprisingly generative at times: starting from 1942, Sironi fell back on a metaphysical reflection with very heterogeneous works, in which clear tones and dark spatulas, mannequins and empty atmospheres alternate. The work is presented in a frame.

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.

Painting on canvas. Unlike most contemporary banners, this one is hand painted and not printed on canvas. The scene is divided into three parts, enclosed within a frame painted with floral motifs and separated by the design of small columns. In the center are depicted the Madonna with Jesus on the throne, on the sides two angels with the appearance of girls. The painting is then framed by a trimming.

Auronzo di Cadore

Oil on canvas, 1954. Signed and dated lower right. Further signature and title on the back. In a contemporary gilded frame.

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.

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.

The Country Road 1905

Oil on canvas. signed and dated lower right. The Hungarian painter Antal Berkes painted landscapes in the early years of his career, but later devoted himself to glimpses and views of cities, Budapest, Paris, Vienna. This painting still belongs to the first production, proposing the view of a country road, which passes through a forest where some farmhouses are located; on the dirt road there is a cart pulled by horses. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Landscape with Figures

Mixed media on cardboard. Signed lower left. Stamp of the artist's studio on the back. The painter of Apulian origins Giuseppe Casciaro, painter and teacher at the Institute of Fine Arts in Naples where he trained, was essentially a landscape painter and produced in particular views of the surroundings of Naples, Irpinia (Nusco) and Puglia. He preferred the pastel painting technique in which he excelled. Here is a glimpse of a Mediterranean countryside, crossed by a path with wayfarers. It is presented in a period frame.

Tarasp Castle 1960

Oil on cardboard. Signed and dated lower right. The Roman artist Cesare Maggi established himself as a landscape painter of the divisionist style, portraying Alpine landscapes of the Engadine and Aosta Valley, often enlivened by the inclusion of figures and animals. Having become friends with the painter Giacomo Grosso in Turin in 1901, he then successfully turned to the portrait genre, setting aside the divisionist technique. Although he still preferred high mountain views, he expanded his subjects by also working on marine and still life paintings. Shown here is the snow-covered glimpse of Tarasp Castle, an 11th-century fortress in Lower Engadine, Switzerland. This is a late work by the artist, who remained attached to his favorite subject, the Alpine landscape, until the end, despite having now abandoned the divisionist technique of his early period. The work is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Looking at the compositions of the 17th-18th century, the painting proposes a composition of variegated and colorful flowers, which surmount a sculpture of three fauns and a cut pumpkin. It is presented in a contemporary frame.

Oil on canvas. Central European school of the first half of the 20th century. Unidentified signature on the lower left. In a wide valley under sharp mountain peaks, a small lake opens up, on which some houses overlook and boats sail; some common people's figures are busy with daily activities. Pleasant and serene in the green-blue hues of nature. It is presented in a period frame.

Allegory

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. The large painting features two figures: on the right a man sitting at a table, dressed in a red dressing gown, with a sad and concentrated expression, playing with his hands with some disheveled flowers, coming from the composition on his head; on the left standing the Christ of the Passion, crowned with thorns, with a gray cloak on his shoulders. Behind the seated man, a leaden sky in which, however, a ray of light opens. The painting probably wants to allegorically depict the painful and suffered end of the life of a person, who lives the same Passion as Christ, but who yearns for a new, bright life. The work is presented in a frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Central European school of the first half of the 20th century. Unidentified signature lower left. Sweetness and tenderness shine through these two embraced figures, similar in facial features and expression, composed in their elegant and lively clothes, with the background of a floral wallpaper. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Landscape with Mill

Oil on cardboard. Signed lower right. Carlo Vittori, an artist from Cremona, mainly portrayed the landscapes of his Po Valley. Here he proposes a countryside inhabited by a mill, to which the water arrives through an overhead canalization. The painting is presented in chronicle.

Seated Figure

Oil on wooden board. Signed lower right. The painter Salvatore Sportelli, of Apulian origin but who lived for a long time in Lodi, where he taught (a posthumous exhibition of his was recently held in the city), produced numerous popular figures and genre scenes characterized by a look at post-impressionism. The work is presented in a frame.

Mountain Landscape

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower left. The Milanese painter Gino Federici specialized in Alpine views, as in this view, where in the foreground a flock of sheep drinks water from a stream, in the wide valley, under steep peaks. The painting is presented in a contemporary frame. It shows signs of previous restoration.

Watercolor on paper. Signature L. Rossi at the bottom left. It is a quick portrait, in pencil and then watercoloured, of two young ladies in winter walking clothes, shot in almost full length. The drawing is presented in a gilded and carved frame from the late 19th century, which has several defects.

Watercolor on paper. Signature L. Rossi at the bottom left. They are two young ladies in winter walking clothes, shot in almost full length. The drawing is presented in a gilded and carved frame from the late 19th century, which has several defects and traces of previous restoration

Portraits of Children, 1930

Photographs retouched with pastels. Signed bottom right. On the back of three of them is the date 11 November 1930. A photographic sequence of the portrait of three children is shown, who slightly change their pose or expression. They are the work of the British photographer Eva Barrett who, after an initial experience as a painter, decided to dedicate herself to photography, thinking that "it was better to be a first-rate photographer than a second-rate [painter]. Having moved to Rome in 1913, she established her laboratory here. Pictorialist, with a small camera, Eva Barrett created her own photographic method that was reminiscent of drawing sketches: she applied a few very light pencil strokes, managing to create subdued images but with particularly dense blacks, thus maintaining the characteristics of photography and portraits. In this way he was very successful and his career took off. Eva Barrett photographed the Italian royal family, the wives and children of foreign ambassadors, as well as received numerous commissions from European royalty in Belgium, Sweden, Greece. The four portraits are presented in style frames.