Elica Balla – Inspiration 

Elica Balla Rome 1914-1995  Inspiration  1941  Oil and sand on panel, 78 × 60 cm  Signed bottom right: “ELICA BALLA”. Titled and dated on the back: “Inspiration / Spring 1941”  Provenance: Italy, private collection    Like his sister Luce, Elica carried in her name the futurist blessing of their father Giacomo, who in 1914, the year of her birth, introduced…

Galileo Chini – Self-Portrait 

Galileo Chini Florence 1873-1956  Self-Portrait  1933  Oil on panel, 60 × 50 cm  Signed at bottom: “GALILEO.CHINI.PIT.CER.FIORENTINO.1933”  Provenance: Finarte, Rome, 28-29 April 1987; Farsetti, Prato, 10 October 1997; Rome, private collection    A long way from the decorativism of a Secessionist stamp with which he passed the first decades of the twentieth century, reaching high levels of Liberty and Déco expression, in this self-portrait, with…

Noci: profilo donna

Arturo Noci – Girl in profile 

Arturo Noci   Rome 1874–New York 1953  Girl in profile  1916  Pastel on paper, 54 × 50 cm  Signed and dated top left: “Arturo Noci 1916”  Bibliography: M. Fagiolo dell’Arco, P. Spadini, L. Djokic (ed. by), Arturo Noci: un pittore tra Roma e New York 1874-1953, Rome 1996, p. 106, no. 196; M. Carrera, Arturo Noci (1874-1953) tra Roma e New York: dal…

Luigi Trifoglio – Portrait of the Surgeon Gino Pieri 

Luigi Trifoglio Rome 1888-1939  Portrait of the Surgeon Gino Pieri  1931  Oil on canvas, 130.5 × 109.5 cm  Signed: “Trifoglio Roma 1931”  Bibliography: Gino Pieri, “Luigi Trifoglio ritrattista di medici”, in Nicia. Rivista medica d’arte e varietà, A. X, n. 7-8, Milano 1940, pp. 5-9 (ill.); “Un ritrattista di medici Luigi Trifoglio”, L’artista moderno. Rivista d’arte pura e applicata, 1942, pp. 11-12 (ill.).     Interpreter of the return…

Guglielmo Janni – Fragment (Sacred Composition)

Guglielmo Janni (Rome 1882-1958)  Fragment (Sacred Composition)  Circa 1939  Oil on canvas affixed to panel, 38.5 × 27.5 cm  Inscription on the back: Head   Print: This painting is the work of the painter Guglielmo Janni. (In marker pen) circa 1930 / In faith: / Libero de Libero / Romeo Lucchese / Alberto Ziveri / Rome,…

Fergola: Cava dei Tirreni

Salvatore Fergola – Grotta Bonea at Cava dei Tirreni

Salvatore Fergola (Naples 1799-1874)  Grotta Bonea at Cava dei Tirreni  Circa 1830  Oil on canvas, 20.2 × 16 cm  Signed on back of canvas, in pen: “Fergola”  Provenance: Rome, private collection      Among the canonical destinations of nineteenth century landscape painting in Naples, the cave Grotta Bonea is situated on the route that led to the famous and agreeable sanctuary of Avvocatella near Cava, and was considered a picturesque subject due to the presence of wild, rocky terrain, ancient ruins…

Gaetano De Simone – Portrait of the Astronomer Giuseppe Cassella

Gaetano de Simone Naples 1747–circa 1822  Portrait of the astronomer Giuseppe Cassella (Cusano Mutri 1755-Naples 1808)  1789  Oil on canvas, 66 × 52 cm  Signed and dated on the back of the frame, top: “Gaetano De Simone 1789 Napoli”; lower left: “Gaetano De Simoni”  Provenance: Italy, private collection    Gaetano De Simone was rediscovered only recently as a protagonist of aristocratic Neapolitan…

Jacob More – View of the lake Nemi

Jacob More (Edinburgh 1740-Rome 1793) View of Lake Nemi, known as Speculum Dianae in ancient times circa 1780 Oil on canvas, 70.5 × 94.5 cm Old collection label on the frame: “N.5 Italian Landscape Jacob More” Provenance: Holland, private collection; Rome, private collection   “The finest painter of air since Claude” according to Joshua Reynolds,…