Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's… Read more

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED ITALIAN COLLECTIONThere is a considerable difference between a group of paintings put together as a form of investment and an art collection in its most authentic meaning. The next six lots belong to the latter: a sophisticated collection of works of art, assembled by a passionate, discerning art lover and his wife.The late owner started collecting in the 1960s and continued through the 1990s. Some key elements were in his favour: he was gifted with strong entrepreneurial skills, elegant taste and intellectual curiosity, but he also had an excellent guide in Claudia Gian Ferrari.Claudia Gian Ferrari (Milan, 1945-2010) was an important protagonist of the Italian art scene. In the gallery she ran in Milan for almost thirty years, after the death of her father Ettore in 1982, she contributed to the reappraisal of the Italian art between the wars through her exhibitions and as an art historian, compiling catalogues on Sironi, Casorati and Martini among others. Also known as a collector herself, Claudia acquired significant works from the 20th Century, including paintings by the major names in contemporary Italian Art, such as Morandi, Fontana, De Chirico as well as pieces by emerging artists. In 1996 she founded the “Studio di consulenza per il Novecento Italiano”, a consultancy studio conceived as an exhibition space as well as a centre for documentation. Every important art collector in Italy would at some point gravitate towards one of her venues, (her two galleries and the Studio), as all three played a key role in nourishing a circle of sophisticated art lovers who, following her advice in sourcing and lending their works of art, forged some of the most respected collections of ‘Moderno Italiano’.The owner of the paintings displayed in the next pages, (and in a section of this week’s Impressionist and Modern Art South Kensington on 5 February), soon became one of them.Although not every work in the collection was sourced directly through the Gian Ferrari Gallery, most of them were chosen with Claudia’s advice. The result is a group of important, historical works by some of the most renowned names of the Italian art scene between the wars: De Chirico, Morandi, Casorati and Sironi among others.When looking at the selection of works we have from this collection this season, one easily perceives a sense of cohesion, knowledge and consistency behind each choice - the only non-Italian name included in the group being Raoul Dufy, here represented at lot 373 later in this sale, a beautiful example of one of his all-time preferred subjects, Le Havre. Almost none of the lots have ever been seen before at auction, and those that have, have not appeared on the market for over twenty years. Many of the paintings boast extensive exhibition histories, having been lent by the owner to major Italian and international museums, who would always turn to Claudia Gian Ferrari knowing they would find in her a supporter, willing to push her collectors to grant them the loan of their works of art.Some of these museums (like Museo del Novecento and Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan, or MAXXI and MACRO in Rome) are now proud to display many works of art once belonging to the Gian Ferrari family, who very generously donated them, in line with their nature as enlightened patrons of Italian Modern Art.

Mario Sironi (1885-1961)

La Carità

Details

Mario Sironi (1885-1961)
La Carità
signed 'Sironi' (lower right)
tempera and oil on paper laid down on canvas
26 1/8 x 26 3/4 in. (66.5 x 68 cm.)
Painted in 1940

Provenance

Gruppo 'L'altana', Milan.
Galleria del Milione, Milan (no. 4380).
Gruppo 'Il camino', Milan.
Marino collection, Milan & Naples.
Galleria d'Arte Moderna Farsetti, Milan.
Private collection, Italy, by whom acquired from the above, and thence by descent to the present owners.

Literature

C. Gian Ferrari, Mario Sironi, Opere, Milan, 2002, p. 112 (illustrated p. 113).

Exhibited

Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, Arte moderna in Italia, 1915-1935, February - March 1967, no. 1389, p. XLIII.
Milan, Galleria d'Arte Moderna Farsetti, Mario Sironi, 1988.
Rome, Galleria Nazionela d'Arte Moderna, Mario Sironi 1885-1961, December 1993 - February 1994, p. 308 (illustrated p. 309).
Cagliari, Castello di San Michele, Mario Sironi, Opere 1919-1959, July - September 2002, p. 112 (illustrated p. 113).
Milan, Palazzo Reale, Mario Sironi, Constant Permeke, I luoghi e l'anima, October 2005 - January 2006, p. 122 (illustrated p. 123).
Milan, Fondazione Stelline, Sironi. Gli anni '40 e '50, Dal crollo dell'ideologia agli anni dell'Apocalisse, February - May 2008, p. 121 (illustrated).

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Sale room notice

This lot is withdrawn.

Brought to you by

Ishbel Gray

igray@christies.com +44 (0)20 7752 3338

Lot Essay

Francesco Meloni has confirmed the authenticity of this work.

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