21/12/2001
by Luisa Vassallo

Sotheby’s and Christie’s Italy battled it out in their sales of 19^th century paintings held on the same day, the 12^th of December, before the break for the Christmas holidays. Christie’s included their 294 lots with their Old Master Paintings catalogue obtaining a success rate of 66%, while Sotheby’s opted for a smaller but separate sale catalogue that comprised 187 lots with only 56% selling.

Christie’s Rome sale of 19^th Century Paintings managed to raise a total of $ 1,133,800 (€ 1,264,200) with landscape paintings proving to be particularly appreciated by the market. The top lot was Eugenio Cecconi’s (1842-1903) Bivacco di cacciatori, a signed oil on canvas (86 x 137 cm) dating from his mature period and depicting one of his typical hunting scenes, that sold for an amazing $ 195,800 (€ 218,300) against an estimate of $ 120,400-148,200 (€ 134,300-165,300). The artist, having trained at the Accademia in Florence, operated within the Macchiaioli school and was a good friend of Giovanni Fattori, whose more significant works now come up for auction less frequently, opening the market for the secondary Macchiaioli painters. Angelo Inganni, renowned for his scenes depicting Milan in the second half of the 19^th century, also performed well with a small oil (30 x 40 cm) Notturno di Piazza del Duomo a Milano that was eventually sold for $ 58,200 (€ 52,200), against an estimate of $ 34,700-41,700 (€ 38,700-46,500). The Duomo in Milan has inspired painters over the centuries, but this depiction with moonlit snow may have proven to be popular in the run up to Christmas. The third best seller was Ritorno dal mercato by Stefano Bruzzi that sold just above its high estimate for $ 42,000 (€ 46,800), the price being boosted by the fact that the painting will be included in a revised catalogue raisonné of the artist. Disappointedly, however, an important painting by Angelo Morbelli, Caseggiati a Burano, failed to find a buyer, probably due to its inflated estimate ($ 152,700-175,900, € 170,400-196,300).

Sculptures had a better reception at Christie’s than the one they received at the 19^th Century Art sales recently held by Finarte in Milan (see daily gabrius 14/12/2001). Vincenzo Gemito’s Ritratto di Giuseppe Verdi, a 57 cm high bronze, sailed past its estimate ($ 8,300-11,600, € 9,300-12,900) to make $ 21,000 (€ 23,400). Competition for this lot was probably boosted by this year’s celebrations marking the centenary of the composer’s death.

The same day Sotheby’s Milan sale fetched a total of $ 823,400 (€ 918,200) with the front cover lot setting a new auction record for Michele Tedesco (1834-1918). After some competitive bidding, his signed Allattamento, a large oil on canvas (200 x 113 cm) from 1876, was finally sold to a private Italian collector for $ 63,200 (€ 70,500), against an estimate of $ 27,700-36,900 (€ 31,000-41,300). In the 1860’s-1870’s the artist, a pupil of Domenico Morelli in Naples and also close to the Macchiaioli school, painted a series of works depicting daily life and this picture of a mother feeding her baby is a clear example of his attention to detail in reconstructing in intimate family settings. The second best seller was another scene depicting the sphere of feminine life, this time a refined interior with a young lady with embroidery. Il ricamo by Luigi Nono (oil on panel, 40.3 x 21 cm), is a portrait of the vendor’s grandmother and thus being fresh on the market the work sold for $ 71,400 (€ 79,900) within estimate. The top lot of the auction was Francesco Hayez’s Vaso di Fiori presented at the end of the sale that hammered just above its high-end estimate for $ 76,700 (€ 85,900). The success of this small signed oil (42 x 35 cm) executed in 1860 may be put down to the fact that is an important precursor to one of the artist’s most famous paintings, Vaso di fiori sulla finestra di un Harem held at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. The still-life is also a fine example of Hayez’s skilled naturalism and a rare subject in the artist’s repertoire.

Competitive prices were fetched by a series of Venetian scenes. Giovanni Migliara’s (1785-1837) Chiesa Veneta went for $ 26,300 (€ 29,400) (estimate: $ 23,100-32,300, € 25,900-36,200) while two paintings by Emma Ciardi (1879-1933) sold within estimates for $ 11,000 (€ 12,300) and $ 8,200 (€ 9,200), hinting at the market’s appetite for this particular genre. With a century dividing the two artists, their work differs greatly in style, Migliara being closer to the 18^th century vedute (such as Canaletto or Guardi), while Ciardi is best known for landscapes executed in a dreamier manner based on en plein air observation and sketching. The sale of the Venetian painter Federico Zandomeneghi’s Davanti al fuoco turned out to be a disappointment, as the small delicate pastel signed by the artist failed to reach its estimate of $ 83,000-101,400 (€ 93,000-113,600), probably due to its poor state of conservation.

Although the overall results and the percentages of sold lots were quite encouraging when compared to the majority of 19^th century paintings sales held this season, it would perhaps have been wiser for the two auction houses to have agreed to schedule their auctions on different days (notwithstanding the collusion allegations object of the recent trial of Alfred Taubman, ex-chairman of Sotheby’s, held in New York).