PAINTINGS OF THE '900
 

Face

Mixed technique on canvas. Signed lower right. In the vast artistic production of Giacomo Manzù, an excellent sculptor, there are also rare paintings on canvas and numerous drawings on paper, among which the human face is one of the most recurring subjects, in particular that of his wife Inge Schabel, inspiring muse and model favorite of the artist. The face drawn here, although barely sketched with a few strokes made in mixed technique, expresses an intense expressiveness. The work is presented in a frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower right and on the back. Ezio Pastorio, originally from Cremona but transplanted to Valseriana after his studies, is considered "a great Italian master of the 20th century, who knew how to renew the artistic language of the landscape while maintaining a strong link with 19th century painting". His production is post-impressionist in nature, especially in the large landscape production that depicts the Po and Bergamo plains, the Venetian lagoon and some Parisian glimpses, admired during some travels. In his works, Pastorio creates suggestive atmospheres using infinite ranges of colours, which harmonize and sometimes even contrast, but always presented as a transparency which annuls the static nature of the representation and with a delicacy which expresses his devout religiosity towards nature and the created. Less frequent in his production are floral subjects, such as this vase full of daisies, which moreover reflects all the artist's expressive capacity, and his skilful use of colour. The work, coming from a private collection, is presented in a frame.

Landscape with River Glimpse 1906

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower left. The Roman-born artist Cesare Maggi established himself as a pointillist landscape painter, portraying alpine landscapes in the Engadine and Aosta Valley, often enlivened by the inclusion of figures and animals. Becoming a friend of the painter Giacomo Grosso in Turin in 1901, he then successfully oriented himself towards the portrait genre, setting aside the pointillist technique. While still favoring high mountain views, he broadened his subjects by also engaging in seascapes and still lifes. In this work, still from the first period, Maggi portrays a glimpse of the countryside crossed by a calm river, bordered by rows of bare trees and small grassy hills, behind which the farmhouses overlook: already no longer linked to the techniques divisionist, the work is rather characterized by dense and opaque mixtures of color, in which the earth, the water and the farmhouses are superimposed in a continuum broken only by the band of sky above. The work is presented in a period frame.

The path of San Rocco (Camogli)

Oil on cardboard. Signed lower left. On the back this title in pencil. An extremely original landscape painter who experimented with oil painting but also with watercolors and engraving, Raul Viviani came very close to pointillist painting, however developing his own personal technique, characterized by very thin filaments of color in the shape of thin commas, which define the structures of his landscapes. With his transfer to Liguria, which made the landscape of that region the protagonist of his works, his technique changed, moving away from the original divisionism to open up to a broad and summary brushstroke, which finally resulted in the last period in a production of nature death with violent and contrasting colors. This landscape can also be placed in the Ligurian period, which offers a glimpse of a well-known Ligurian locality, still rendered in the characteristic style of Viviani, made of brushstrokes in thin filaments, superimposed on spots of lively color, in the chromatic ranges of the colors of nature. In frame.

Still life

Oil on the table. Signed upper right. An extremely original landscape painter who experimented with oil painting but also with watercolors and engraving, Raul Viviani came very close to pointillist painting, however developing his own personal technique, characterized by very thin filaments of color in the shape of thin commas, which define the structures of his landscapes. With his transfer to Liguria, which made the landscape of that region the protagonist of his works, his technique changed, moving away from the original divisionism to open up to a broad and summary brushstroke, which finally resulted in the last period in a production of nature death with violent and contrasting colors. This still life, a composition of vegetables and a vividly colored bottle, can be placed in this period. The work is presented in a frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Signed in the lower right corner and on the back (Verschafeldt). Light losses of color. In coeval frame with missing parts. Early 20th century.

Poppies in Vase 1948

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. Composition of poppies in vase, with ceramic Madonnina on the rear wall. Noel Quintavalle (known under the pseudonym Noelqui), a native of Ferrara but raised and artistically trained in Milan, was a multifaceted artist. Graduated in architecture, he was self-taught in the arts, but after the great war in which he actively participated, he quickly distinguished himself and exhibited in numerous national and international exhibitions; in the meantime he also carried out literary activities by publishing various volumes (satire, fairy tales, short memories of the war) and also experimented with sculpture and xylography. His pictorial production, which began as a pointillist, was then influenced by the synthesis of modern painting. The subjects most dear to him were the portrait (with a preference for particular female figures, such as dancers) and the landscape. His production of floral subjects dates back to the 1940s, linked to the period in which he recovered the need for interiority, approaching the aesthetic concepts of the art of the "twentieth century". The work is presented in a contemporary frame.

Little Girl

Oil on the table. On the back there are traces of the signature and two labels from Art galleries, the Bottega d'arte of Livorno and the Galleria Manzoni of Milan, bearing the name of the author, the title and the technical data of the work. Livornese by birth, Ludovico Tommasi was trained near the Macchiaioli current, developing a strong sensitivity for color, which led him to create realist works pervaded by harmonious chromatisms. The work is presented in a stylish frame.

Female Portrait

Oil on canvas. Signed at the bottom right. Portrait of a young woman in a black evening dress, enlivened by the large flowered shawl she wears draped over one shoulder. The work of the Romagna artist Alberto Salietti. Although he spent almost all his artistic career in Milan and Liguria, Alberto Salietti - painter, engraver, mosaicist and fresco painter - remained a point of reference for painters from Romagna, especially between the two wars. After moving with his family to Milan, Salietti attended the Brera Academy of Fine Arts until 1914. After the Venice Biennial in 1924, he joined the Novecento movement and became its secretary in 1925. In 1926 he exhibited at the "First exhibition of the Novecento italiano" and in 1927 was one of the founders of the "Group of seven modern painters" together with Funi, Sironi, Tosi, Carrà, Marussig and Bernasconi. As a portraitist and landscape painter, Salietti - who patiently drew on post-impressionist, secessionist and Novecentista influences - made an original contribution to Italian art between the two wars, distinguishing himself by his joyful and optimistic adherence to reality. The painting comes in a frame.

Venice, Glimpse of the Lagoon

Watercolor on cardboard. Signed lower left. Evocative glimpse of the Venetian lagoon, with fishing boats in the foreground and the city skyline in the background. Natale Gavagnin, born in Venice and trained at the Venetian Academy, devoted himself mainly to the landscape, and above all to that of his city and the lagoon. He exhibited mainly at the exhibitions in Venice and Milan. The painting is presented in a stylish frame. The watercolor is in good condition, with gores of humidity on the passepartout.

Duel scene 1915

Oil on the table. Signed lower left. Further signature and date on the back. Riccardo Pellegrini, a Milanese painter, was a pupil of Domenico Morelli and trained in the climate of Romanticism. He was a landscape painter and genre painter, but he also created valuable still lifes, with bright colors and precise and realistic design. His landscape production drew on the various places he visited and lived in, in Italy and abroad, especially in Spain and France. In this work Pellegrini proposes a genre scene, a duel at dawn outside the walls of a garden, a rather typical theme of the romantic genre, especially literary. The dynamic figures of the duelists, engaged in the violent and bloody act of the duel, assisted by the godparents, contrast with the quiet of the garden and the delicacy of the flowering bushes. The plays of light and shadow play well, prolonging the shapes of the figures and the vegetation, already with meager outlines. The work is presented in a coeval frame.

Marmittone gets married 1950

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. On the back there is a cartouche of the Ranzini Gallery in Milan, relating to the artist's personal exhibition held in November 1950, which indicates the title of the work. It is an original and unusual subject by the Ligurian painter, who is inspired by a comic published starting from 1928 in the Corriere dei Piccoli, which tells the adventures of the simple soldier Marmittone, a type not too bright but of good will who, due to gaffes or simply out of sheer misfortune, ends up in jail at the end of each adventure. Noelqui's work is of a fantastic kind: the two protagonists of the scene, Marmittone and his bride, are flanked by characters with the appearance of animals, the context is represented with geometrically defined houses with simple outlines, the colors are lively and cheerful. It seems almost the illustration of a children's story, which refers to the activity of writer, also of fairy tales and short stories, in which Noelqui ventured. Noel Quintavalle (known under the pseudonym Noelqui), a native of Ferrara but raised and artistically trained in Milan, was a multifaceted artist. Graduated in architecture, he was self-taught in the arts, but after the great war in which he actively participated, he quickly distinguished himself and exhibited in numerous national and international exhibitions; in the meantime he also carried out the aforementioned literary activity, publishing various volumes (satire, fairy tales, short memories of the war) and also tried his hand at sculpture and xylography. His pictorial production, which began as a pointillist, was then influenced by the synthesis of modern painting. The subjects most dear to him were the portrait and the landscape. The work presented is in a contemporary frame, with some small defects.

Stratosphere 1962

Oil on canvas. On the back there is the title, date and signature of the artist. Present cartouche from the Falchi Gallery in Milan. Felice Canonico was born in Messina, where he made his debut as a self-taught person, making himself noticed within the circuit of city exhibitions; then follows a period of training in Florence with Ardengo Soffici and Pietro Annigoni. From '51 to '60, he collaborated with the major construction sites in Messina. Moving to Milan, he attended the Blu gallery, coming into contact with the most innovative artists of the time: Fontana, Burri, Vedova, Borlotti, Santomaso. He exhibits in Rome, Venice, Paris, London, Stuttgart, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, also winning several prizes. In his long and versatile activity he experiments with the most diverse and alternative artistic techniques. The work is presented in a frame.

Venetian Glimpse With Masked Figures

oil on plywood. Signed at the bottom right. View of a bridge that crosses a canal in the middle of the woods; above the bridge there are masked figures, below is a gondola. Born into a family of artists and artistically trained in Venice, Paoletti later moved to Milan, where he continued his career, devoting himself not only to painting but also to illustrating magazines. The Venetian theme remained a recurring theme in his painting: maintaining the link with Venetian vedutista painting of the late 19th century, Paoletti translated the views of his city into forms of colour and lights. Coeval frame.

Venetian Glimpse With Masks

Oil on plywood. Signed at the bottom right. Glimpse of a venetian house with access to the canal near which there is a gondola; two figures of venetian masks are gettin inside the house. Paoletti was born and trained in Venice by a family of artists and later moved to Milan where he dedicated himself to painting and illustration. The theme of Venice also remained recurrent in his pictorial production: maintaining the link with the Venetian vedutista painting of the late '800, Paoletti translates into forms of color and light the views of his city. The painting comes in a coeval frame.

Still Life With Apples 1932

OIl on plywood. Signature and date at the top right. The composition shows some apples spread on the table with other elements: a plate, a jug and the glass, the chalice, some jars. The Tuscan artist Luigi Bini was a painter, ceramist and sculptor, who did not feel bound by traditional techniques but liked to experiment with new ones. His paintings, which include portraits and figure studies, were mainly done in pastel and tempera in order to achieve lively and soft chromatic transitions through broad brush strokes. The painting comes in a contemporary frame.

Landscape with Shepherd and Flock

Oil on cardboard. Signed lower left. The Milanese artist Carlo Balestrini preferred two subjects in his impressionist production: views of Milan and its popular suburbs, and horses, depicted both in the countryside and in city parks. In this work, on the other hand, he offers a glimpse of the countryside in which a stream flows from which a flock is drinking. The work is presented in a contemporary frame.

Portrait of a young commoner

Oil on canvas applied to the table. Signed lower right. Antonio Vallone, a Neapolitan painter close to Morelli's school, specialized in genre portraits, above all of smiling young men and women, street urchins or peasant women typical of his homeland. The work is presented in a period frame.

Portrait Of Masai Warrior

Oil on faesite. Signed at the bottom right. Portrait of the Masai warrior that shows his pride with his pose and look. It comes in frame.

Portrait of a Street Boy

Oil on canvas applied to the table. Signed lower right. Antonio Vallone, a Neapolitan painter close to Morelli's school, specialized in genre portraits, above all of smiling young men and women, street urchins or peasant women typical of his homeland. The work is presented in a period frame.