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Peinture en Relief, 1960s

Mixed technique on hardboard, with applications of materials in relief. From 1958 to 1968 ORAZI, who had already moved from the figurative to the abstract phase, devoted himself to creating compositions in relief: he collected and used materials and fibres of different types, especially natural materials and fibres such as tiny grains of sand, seeds, plant filaments and fragments of bark, with which he created relief shapes that emerged from the surface of the canvas. The basis of this artistic experience, called Peinture en Relief, was the exploration of nature, its components and its phenomena (flowers, plants, sands, rocks, volcanic lava, coasts and seabeds, eruptions, storms, petrified meteorites). The works of this period were initially characterised by a still rather low relief; but subsequently the relief became more and more pronounced, often coming out of the perimeter of the support, to the point of appearing more like statues than paintings. The work presented here probably belongs to the first experimental phase, with a still not very pronounced relief. The work is mounted on a support panel. It comes from the artist's family collection.

Scene with Figures, 1950 ca.

Oil on canvas. It belongs to a group of works called Jeux de Symboles, created from 1945 to 1950 approximately, in which ORAZI's painting moves towards the production of the so-called Peinture du Mouvement, characterized by the work on the dynamic effects of the human body (and animals) in motion, emphasized by the strength of color. Color dominates this scene, strong, acid, bright color, which outlines almost geometric human and animal figures, with marked and clear contours, in which two different ethnic groups seem to be recognized in comparison. The canvas has small losses of color. It comes from the artist's family collection.

The Shawl Portrait of a Mexican Woman ca. 1950

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. The French painter ORAZI stayed in Mexico in 1955 and then in 1956-57, which was an exceptionally attractive world for intellectuals and artists of the time. The natural scenery, the customs and traditions of the local population were the themes that converged in the series of paintings called Peintures sur le Mexique, landscapes, compositions and portraits without giving in to the taste for the exotic, with an extremely careful work on the color to represent, without descriptivism, the elements of nature and the figures of men and women, already projected towards abstraction. This pictorial series, composed of 35 pieces, was then exhibited in 1957, upon his return to France, at the Vendôme Gallery in Paris. The painting comes from the private collection of the artist's family.

Portrait of a Woman 1951

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. The date of the work places this work in the period in which ORAZI was already projecting himself towards a less realistic painting, creating a portrait characterized by very marked physiognomic features, almost geometric, and a color scheme that plays on the variation of a single color range. The figure portrayed is that of an elderly woman, belonging to the peasant world.

Mexican Peasant Figure 1956

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated 1956 lower left. The French painter ORAZI stayed in Mexico in 1955 and then in 1956-57, which was an exceptionally attractive world for intellectuals and artists of the time. The natural scenery, the customs and traditions of the local population were the themes that converged in the series of paintings called Peintures sur le Mexique, landscapes, compositions and portraits without giving in to the taste for the exotic, with an extremely careful work on the color to represent, without descriptivism, the elements of nature and the figures of men and women, already projected towards abstraction. This pictorial series, composed of 35 pieces, was then exhibited in 1957, upon his return to France, at the Vendôme Gallery in Paris. The painting comes from the private collection of the artist's family.

Oil on canvas. The noblewoman is richly dressed, with an elegant red cape resting on her shoulders, which leaves the lace-trimmed dress uncovered; her hair is embellished with pearls. At the top right of the canvas, the coat of arms of the woman's family also appears: tripartite, it features two rampant and crowned lions facing each other, surmounted by a plausibly floral decoration. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on panel. The scene captures the Holy Family probably during the flight into Egypt, in a moment of rest during the journey; in fact, in addition to the figures of the family, an angel appears at the bottom, recognizable by the hinted wings, who offers a plate with food, from which Joseph has already taken some cherries, as the apocryphal versions of the gospels tell. The panel has some small woodworm holes. It is presented in an early 1900s frame.

Oil on canvas. Second half of the 19th century. Intense close-up portrait of a man, probably North African, which belongs to the artistic period defined as orientalist, that is, in that artistic production that was fascinated by the oriental world, following the numerous trips in vogue in the 19th century to the warm and exotic lands of the countries of Western Asia. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Interior with Female Figure

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. In a soberly furnished room, an elderly woman sits reading, or perhaps meditating, with her book resting on the table under the window, while her dog sleeps curled up on a bench to the right of the woman. The scene is rich in finely depicted details; from the window, with the curtains raised to let in the light that illuminates the scene, we can glimpse figures walking on a road that leads to a fortified palace. The German painter August Friedrich Siegert established himself mainly for his portraits and genre scenes that represent moments of daily life with great attention to detail and a touch of realism. The painting is presented in a contemporary gilded frame from the second half of the 19th century.

Oil on canvas. The scene depicts the Holy Family accompanied by St. John the Baptist and another saint kneeling before the Baby Jesus, who is conversing with them while sitting on his mother's lap; Mary, on the other hand, is turned backwards, observing the carpentry work that her husband Joseph is doing, intent on chiseling. The adult saint who stands next to St. John the Baptist, and who occupies the left half of the scene, to underline his importance for the client, has no particular iconographic signs, even if his physiognomy could refer to St. Peter. The scene is set outside a marble palace, in an Italian landscape. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Grotesque with Angels

Fake fresco on canvas. In imitation of classical frescoes, the canvas features a grotesque decoration, characterized by fantasy plant forms intertwined with human figures, animals or bizarrely deformed masks, in this case cherubs and birds, inserted in architectural references, as in this case the fake support base.

Landscape with Water and Shepherds

Oil on canvas. In a green hilly countryside, where a stream flows, some shepherds sit whistling in the shade of the trees, while they check the flock that is drinking. Thick dark clouds gather in the sky. The style recalls the production of Marco Ricci, a painter from Belluno who became famous for his undoubted talent for naturalistic and architectural representation. His landscapes, still of a distinctly seventeenth-century taste, are already lit up by powerful and emotional lights, by dry and twisted trees, rocks and towers, cumulus clouds that suddenly break into vague flashes of blue, a complex repertoire that transfigures nature into a dramatic and restless representation. He became a point of reference for several other artists contemporary to him, who took up his style, as in this work. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Winter Landscape with Figures

Oil on canvas. In a wintry countryside landscape, sprinkled with snow, on the bare, dark, arid nature, a path winds through completely bare trees that leads to the village, and some wayfarers pass along it, while on the side some woodcutters are at work. A sky full of dark clouds looms over everything, although on the left there is a patch of blue. The style harks back to the production of Marco Ricci, a painter from Belluno who made a name for himself for his undoubted talent for naturalistic and architectural representation. His landscapes, still of a distinctly seventeenth-century taste, are already lit up by powerful and emotional lights, by dry and twisted trees, rocks and towers, cumulus clouds that suddenly break apart into vague flashes of blue, a complex repertoire that transfigures nature into a dramatic and restless representation. He became a point of reference for several other artists contemporary to him, who took up his style, as in this work. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Venetian school of the 18th century. The landscape, rather barren and with snow-capped mountain peaks in the background, frames in the foreground a family of shepherds, sitting to rest on the edge of the road outside the village, while their herd drinks from the nearby stream; in the meantime they converse and ask directions to the commoner who passes by on the path with her basket under her arm. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Venetian school of the 18th century. Large landscape of pre-Alpine hills, crossed by a stream that reaches the mill in the right foreground, while numerous figures of commoners animate the path that leads to the building, busy with various occupations; in particular, in the center foreground, the two fishermen with their nets stand out. Formerly attributed to Giuseppe Zais (1709 -1784), a Venetian painter who became famous for his large landscapes animated by figures, characterized by an airy luminosity and a care in the description of nature. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in an early 20th century frame.

Confidences

Watercolor on paper. Artist's monogram top left. Tranquillo Cremona, after an initial period close to romantic painting, from 1870 onwards distanced himself from the influences of Francesco Hayez and adopted a painting style with indefinite contours, developing the concept of "macchia scapigliata" together with his friend Daniele Ranzoni: after an initial intervention with brushes, he refined the works with his fingers to blend, using all his fingers to make his paintings as vaporous as possible. This technique (which cost him his life due to lead poisoning caused by repeated contact with the skin of the colors) was compared by Camillo Boito to the views of the magic lantern, when the right focus of the lens had not yet been found: the image is already distinguishable, but is immersed in an almost gaseous vapor. The subjects of Tranquillo Cremona's works were always human figures, present in the historical-literary scenes of the romantic period, as in the portraits and genre scenes of the scapigliata phase; his subjects were taken from everyday life, in its simplicity and spontaneous immediacy, like these three female figures depicted in a moment of confidential and intimate conversation between friends. The work is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Oil on canvas. Lively naturalistic composition of multicolored flowers in blue ceramic vases, which recall the sky color of the upper part of the background, which then fades into an earthy color in the lower part; on the left a parrot stands out for its unusual dark color. The painting has slight color losses, especially in the background. It is presented in a contemporary regilded frame.

Oil on canvas. Flemish school of the 19th century. The hilly landscape features on the left in the foreground a tall tree towering over the fields below, with a hunter intent on aiming at a prey hidden among its branches; not far away are some farmhouses, with the typical Nordic sloping roof, in front of which other figures can be glimpsed; in the background in the distance the blurred profile of a city emerges. On the frame is applied a plaque attributing to Anthony Van Borssom (1629 -1677), a Flemish landscape painter, to whose production the painting refers in some ways. The pictorial panel has been parqueted. The painting is presented in a gilded frame from the mid-1900s.

Torrefazione Caffè Pernigotti, 1924

Color lithograph. Signed and dated 1924 top right. Printed by the printer Barabino & Graeve of Genoa. This is an advertising poster for the well-known Pernigotti company of Novi Ligure, today renowned above all for the famous Gianduiotti chocolates, but which began with the production of various confectionery and similar products. Ettore Mazzini, a Genoese portrait and landscape painter, also created various advertising illustrations for important Ligurian companies (we recall the poster for the naval, thermal, electrical and mechanical constructions of the Ansaldo group of Genoa). The poster presented is in good condition, with humidity stains and a cut in the paper. Framed.

Landscape with Figures, 1930 ca.

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. Ivan Karpoff, of Russian origins but raised and artistically established in Italy, was appreciated for his painting oriented towards the Italian impressionistic realism of the late 19th century; he devoted himself mainly to landscapes and portraits. In this work he offers a glimpse of the countryside and hills overlooking a lake, with two peasant figures intent on harvesting. On the back of the canvas there is a dedication: "Campanini... to the Manara spouses Luciano and Adriana, Milan 28 October 1939 XVII". The painting is presented in a mid-1900s frame.

The Return from the Feast of the Madonna dell'Arco in Naples

Oil on canvas. This is a copy of a famous painting by the painter Louis Léopold Robert (1794 -1835), which was exhibited at the Salon de Paris in 1827 and bought by King Louis Philippe; it is currently preserved in the Louvre Museum. The painting depicts a joyful festive scene, rich in folklore with costumed characters dancing the tarantella and in the background the fantastic panorama of the city of Naples. Robert, a Swiss artist, stayed several times in Italy, where he found inspiration for the creation of many works and established himself as a romantic genre painter and Grand Tour landscape painter, whose subjects were highly appreciated and replicated. The painting of the "Return from the feast of the Madonna dell'Arco in Naples", was part of a project by Robert, who intended to paint four large canvases on the seasons, set in four different parts of Italy: this one represented Spring. The canvas presented here, unsigned, is nevertheless of high pictorial quality. Restored and relined, it is presented in a late 19th - early 20th century frame.

Oil on canvas, applied to a wooden plate. The Saint is depicted in the foreground, half-length: the naked torso of the body is partially covered by a fur falling from the shoulders, on which her long hair stretches; the Magdalene keeps her eyes turned to the sky, in a contemplative state, in her hands the skull, Memento mori, and next to it a crust of bread, her only nourishment in the life of penance. Behind the figure is a dark background, from which a beam of light emerges to create a halo around her head and accentuate the pathos of her expression. The painting has slight color nuances, especially along the right margin. It is presented in a frame in style,

Interior with Figures and Animals, 1917

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. In Giuseppe Solenghi's extensive production, rich in lyricism expressed with delicate and refined tones and strokes, the urban landscapes of Milan or the Venetian lagoon views prevail, but there are also several glimpses of the countryside, mainly Lombardy, as well as rustic interiors. In this work the artist portrays the interior of a peasant house, where humans and animals coexist: the scene is pervaded by a serene atmosphere of family everyday life, in which the warm light of the sun filtering through the open door creates plays of light and shadow on the earth tones of the interior. The painting is presented in a mid-20th century frame.

Oil on canvas. Tasty depiction of popular life with caricature-like figures: three full-length commoners are depicted on the street while they converse intensely with each other, exchanging confidences or... gossip! Unsigned, the painting requires restoration due to a tear at the bottom.