14/12/2001
by Luisa Vassallo

After the New York and London sales of 19^th Century Paintings, it was Italy’s turn to tackle this section of the market from the end of November. Finarte took its stand first in Milan with its 19^th Century Paintings sale on the 27^th of November, followed by the auction held at its Rome premises on the 4^th of December. As expected, the first sale was the most successful, as witness the results, but there were no major surprises.

The auction house tabled the most important works in the first sale that raised a respectable $ 1,248,200 (€ 1,390,800) inclusive of premium, with just over 53% of the 299 lots on offer being sold. Finarte Milan marketed its sale as a homage to female beauty in 19^th century painting, but this strategy did not pay off. The majority of the important works falling under this section went unsold, including Armando Spadini’s 1924 The Bather, a large representative work (190 x 103 cm) estimated at $ 115,850-125,150 (€ 129,100-139,450). However, the third highest price of the sale was made by Francesco Hayez’s attractive Portrait of the Countess Luigia Douglas Scotti, which sold for $ 97,600 (€ 108,600), within its pre-sale estimate of $ 92,800-116,000 (€ 103,300-129,100). The sitter was a member of the Austrian Imperial court in Vienna and the portrait, commissioned in 1830 as a wedding present, is a striking piece of work that focuses on the Countess’s candid face and deep neckline set against the dark tones of the dress and background.

The top price of $ 102,900 (€ 114,602) went to Raccolta delle Foglie, a signed oil on canvas (113 x 80.5 cm) by Giovanni Fattori, one of the most representative painters of the Macchiaioli school. The subject was inspired by a country-woman on a ladder picking leaves from a tree, which the artist drew and subsequently used for two paintings and an engraving. This version had not been on the market since the late 1930s and was presented with a price tag of $ 92,800-116,000 (€ 103,300-129,100). Undoubtedly the bibliography and the exhibitions dedicated to the artist in recent years (Palazzo Forti, Verona, 1998; Villa Mimbelli, Livorno, 1999; Villa Mimbelli, Livorno, 2001) have helped consolidate the painter’s position on the art market. Nino Costa’s Casolari toscani, a small but detailed oil on canvas (17 x 56.5 cm) depicting country cottages with the Tuscan hills in the background, came to auction with an estimate of $ 83,400-101,950 (€ 92,950-113,600) and eventually sold for $ 89,400 (€ 99,600). The popularity of paintings from Tuscany was further evidenced by Raffaello Sorbi’s 1914 Calendimaggio, a colourful river scene featured on the front cover of the catalogue and depicting the feast for the beginning of Spring, a Florentine celebration of Medieval origin. The work was estimated at $ 69,550-92,800 (€ 77,450-103,300) and finally sold well above its high-end estimate for $ 100,200 (€ 111,600).

Only two sculptures were offered in the sale. The first, a bronze Portrait of Giovanni Segantini by Paul Troubetzkoy (estimate $ 46,400, € 51,650) failed to find a buyer, perhaps because the work had been notified by the Italian Artistic Heritage Authorities and had therefore been denied an export licence. The second, a 68 cm high bronze by Libero Andreotti, called Il pettine spagnolo, sold below estimate for $ 19,150 (€ 21,350).

The auction held by Finarte in Rome on the 4^th of December, sold only 39% of the 229 lots on offer to raise $ 184,300 (€ 205,200), buyer’s premium included. The Posillipo school (Naples) secured top spot with Giacinto Gigante’s 1848 oil on canvas (38.5 x 78 cm) Paesaggio sorrentino. This landscape characteristic of the artist’s work from this period - after he had abandoned his early documentary style for a luminous interpretation of the countryside strongly influenced by William Turner - sold just above its low-end estimate for $ 24,200 (€ 26,800). Taormina (121 x 195 cm) by Friedrich August Elsasser, another landscape from the South of Italy, went for $ 18,150 (€ 20,100), just above its high-end valuation. The lot, featured on the front cover of the small catalogue, was also included in the top ten results of the sale. The atmospheric Summer evening in Paris (oil on canvas, 85 x 61 cm) by Mario De Maria, called Marius Pictor, hammered for $ 12,100 (€ 13,400) against an estimate of $ 11,650-13,050 (€ 12,900-14,450). The sale also included a collection of 56 vedute of the Pantheon in Rome, 30 of which sold. Worthy of note among these is a highly detailed Capriccio by Thomas de Thomon (ink and watercolour on paper, 55 x 90 cm) that more than doubled its low end estimate, eventually selling for $ 11,500 (€ 12,800).

The overall results achieved by the two Finarte sales in Italy confirmed the demand from buyers for good quality works and points to a predilection for landscapes by the Macchiaioli and Neapolitan schools, as well as decorative paintings featuring beautiful young ladies.