PAINTINGS OF THE '900
 

The Announcement

Oil on panel. The reference name is shown at the top left, with the surname changed to Mayer. This is a copy of the painting of the same name by Claus Meyer, which was auctioned in Germany in 2005. The German artist loved to reproduce genre scenes in Flemish style. In the work presented, set in a room of a bourgeois house, a man from behind is reading a letter to a group of other men, all notables or personalities of the place. The work is presented in a period frame.

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.

Crayons on paper. In the lower right, inconsistent signature and date 1930. In an orderly countryside, a cottage stands on the left with clothes hanging in the sun on outdoor lines; on the right, a man on crutches walks along the road, while another lights a cigarette on the bank above. In the center, a light pole divides the scene in two. The work is presented in a period frame.

Les Bouches de Naples gemissent de Terreur ou de Plaisir 1969

Ink on paper. Signature, date and title below. Accompanied by authentication on photo from Galleria Giò Marconi in Milan and stamp from private archive. It is the drawing of the young artist who soon became one of the most important exponents of world surrealism, who was a poet and painter, but also a filmmaker, art and film critic, photographer and humorous designer. Born in the north of France, in 1927 he settled in Paris, where he came into contact with a group of young poets and philosophers, with whom he founded the '' Grand Jeu '' movement: play is understood as an art of living. Since 1928 he has collaborated with texts, poems and drawings for the movement's magazine and in the meantime he collaborates as an editor and reporter with various Parisian newspapers.In 1932, having exhausted the experience of the `` Grand Jeu '', he passes to the surrealist movement, collaborating on its publications and participating in its exhibitions. His humor turns towards the unusual and cruelty, more and more derisive of the absurdity of everyday life, of the tragic side of common existence, to which the spirit and the unconscious rebel, trying to access the unobservable. Knows Salvador Dalí. In 1939 he also began his activity as a filmmaker. In 1941 his first personal exhibition took place in Paris: the first buyer was Pablo Picasso. Participate in all surrealist exhibitions, including the 1947 international one in Paris. In 1951, for reasons relating to the internal discipline of the group, he abandoned the surrealist movement with others, while continuing to practice its poetics. In 1955 he also became passionate about photography. Since 1968 he has devoted himself almost exclusively to painting, abandoning the activity of humorous draftsman. In the same year he settled permanently in Milan: in Italy he exhibited in various personal exhibitions, those in Milan at the Galleria Marconi. The work presented here, an early drawing, comes from an important Milanese private collection. It is presented in a frame.

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.

Composition with Bread and Tomatoes

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. The artist's stamp is on the back of the frame. De Bernardi's painting is part of the Lombard landscape tradition of the 19th and 20th century. He always lived in Besozzo, his hometown in the province of Varese, but he traveled a lot, in Italy and outside of Italy, collecting impressions and researching, to relive them in his work, new landscapes. He preferred landscape production, even if declined with a changing style in his different pictorial phases. His production does not lack some still lifes, dating back mainly to the 1940s, compositions scrupulously drawn and aimed at dealing with the problems of light and atmospheric depth with agility and freshness, as in this presentation of some bread and tomatoes on a rustic table. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a frame.

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 Joys of Mother

Oil on canvas. Early 1900s. The painting reproduces in rather detail the work of the same name painted in 1866 ca. by the Emilian painter Gaetano Chierici, an artist who became famous for a large production of scenes of peasant life, captured in rustic interiors, interpreted through an intimate sentimental adhesion and a clear formal realism, which tell of a small happy and always serene world, often joyful despite poverty, because it is devoid of any intent of social denunciation, but rather representative of the happy conception of family that the artist had. These paintings of his were so successful with the bourgeoisie of the time that they were replicated several times by the artist's own workshop and subsequently also by other painters. Chierici almost always set the scene inside a humble peasant kitchen, full of objects described in minute detail, populated by children intent on their daily activities, by adults who watch them happy and amused: in this scene set in a poor room, a woman sitting spinning, looks smiling tenderly amused at her two little children, the eldest who, standing, steals the pacifier from the little one lying on the floor on a bed of blankets, who stretches out his little hands towards his object of pleasure. The work, in the first canvas, is presented in a carved and gilded wooden frame from the late 19th century.

The Mask

Oil on canvas. The painting reproduces in rather detail the work of the same name painted in 1869 by the Emilian painter Gaetano Chierici, an artist who became famous for a large production of scenes of peasant life, captured in rustic interiors, interpreted through an intimate sentimental adhesion and a clear formal realism, which tell of a small happy and always serene world, indeed often joyful despite poverty, because devoid of any intent of social denunciation, but rather representative of the happy conception of family that the artist had. These paintings of his had such success with the bourgeoisie of the time, that they were replicated several times by the artist's own workshop and subsequently also by other painters. Chierici almost always set the scene inside a humble peasant kitchen, full of objects described in minute detail, populated by children intent on their daily activities, by adults who watch them happily and amused: here we see the child who suddenly enters the kitchen, wearing a grotesque mask on his face and thus frightening his little sister, who abandons her food to run and cling to the skirts of her mother, intent on the hearth, who scolds her son brandishing the ladle. The work is presented in a carved and gilded wooden frame from the late 19th century.

Boats on the Canal

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. Title in pencil on the frame. The Hungarian painter Emil Lindenfeld lived in Italy for a long time, before moving to the United States in 1956. His very rich production includes scenes with humble characters, workers, but also landscapes and glimpses of the places he lived, including glimpses of Venice. The work 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.

Glimpse of the Village 1923

Oil on panel. Signed lower left. On the back is a further signature and the date (November 1923). De Bernardi's painting fits into the tradition of Lombard landscape painting of the 19th and 20th centuries. He always lived in Besozzo, his hometown in the province of Varese, but he travelled a lot, in Italy and outside of Italy, collecting impressions and researching, to relive them in his work, new landscapes. He preferred landscape production, even if declined with a changing style in his different pictorial phases. Here is a glimpse of a small village, De Bernardi's painting fits into the tradition of Lombard landscape painting of the 19th and 20th centuries. The picturesque. He always lived in Besozzo, his hometown in the province of Varese, but he travelled a lot, in Italy and outside of Italy, collecting impressions and researching, to relive them in his work, new landscapes. He preferred landscape production, even if declined with a changing style in his different pictorial phases. Here is proposed the glimpse of a mountain village. The work is presented in a frame in style.

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.

Mixed technique on paper. The work is signed lower right A. Mancini, but cannot be attributed to the master Antonio Mancini, but rather to a contemporary imitator. However of good quality, it presents the face of a young commoner. It is presented in a contemporary frame.

Oil on canvas. Northern European school of the first half of the 20th century. Signed lower right H. Williams. The landscape offers a glimpse of two chalets in the midst of vegetation rich in trees and foliage, with figures on the path; in the background rise sharp, snow-capped peaks. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Gallant Scene

Oil on canvas. Signed both lower and upper left. The scene is set in a rich noble hall, where ladies and knights in eighteenth-century clothes entertain. It is the work of the prolific Neapolitan painter Salvatore Balsamo, who died very young. It is presented in a mid-1900s frame.

Male Portrait, 1913

Oil painting on canvas. Signed and dated top right. The portrait of a gentleman of a certain age, leaning in an elegant pose on his walking stick, expresses the ability of Carlo Cazzaniga, a Milanese painter who was a pupil of Tallone, to create portraits of intense expressive force with rapid strokes of color and nuanced chromatisms. The painting is presented in a contemporary gilded frame.