ROME – After more than half a century in a Rome collection an important work by Angiolo Tommasi titled La visita alla balia will be offered at auction by Babuino on Oct. 30 during the sale of 19th century paintings.
The choice of the subject, a scene of daily life of bourgeois society, evokes the work of some of Tommasi’s contemporaries like Giuseppe De Nittis and Giovanni Boldini, who were also deeply interested in the depiction of the life of the middle class.
Stylistically, however, one can recognize the teaching of Silvestro Lega, who was a teacher of Tommasi and a frequent guest of the family house at Bellariva, near Florence, between 1878 and 1885. The painting dates to that time, the first half of the 1880s. Even the setting of the work reveals the influence of the master. Also, Lega represented groups of women in his works La visita (1868, now preserved at the Modern Art Gallery of Rome), Un dopo pranzo (1968, at Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan), and La visita della balia (1873, at the Gallery of Palazzo Pitti in Florence). As for the decision to place the scene in a bright view, this choice is also taken in the work La culla (1882, at the Museo Fattori in Livorno), and in some works by De Nittis from that time, such as Al Bois de Boulogne (1873) and Che freddo! (1874), both now in private hands.
Born in Livorno in 1858, Tommasi achieved success with audience and critics during his lifetime. In 1889 he was awarded at the Universal Exhibition in Paris for Le bagnanti, and in 1899 he participated in the First Biennial of Venice with Il riposo delle gabbrigiane. At the beginning of the 20th century Tommasi traveled to South America and worked for the Argentinean government. Back in Italy he came in contact with the Livorno Impressionists. He died in 1923. The estimate of the painting offered by Babuino, an oil on canvas of 195 x 280 cm, amounts to €40,000-€50,000.
At the same auction of 19th century paintings there are two works that represent an opportunity for collectors. The first is a work by Alessio Issupoff, who was born in Russia in 1889 and then moved to Rome where he received immediate consecration of critics and market, and where he died in 1957. In this case, we speak of a work of realist flavor that dates back to Russian period, which means before 1926: a portrait of Contadina (oil on canvas, 98 x 74 cm) that shows the ability of the artist to portray the local customs and characters with the power of color. The estimate is €2,000-€3,000.
The other work is a Madre con bambino by Francesco Longo Mancini (Catania 1880–Rome 1954), an oil on canvas of 97 x 99 cm, estimated at €2,500-3,000. Longo Mancini was active in the early 20th century. He remained alien to the avant-garde and is known, instead, for his nudes and portraits of women. He did not disdain orientalist subjects, either, in fact he received recognition during his life because one of his works depicting La preghiera di Maometto was purchased by King Umberto of Savoy.
In addition to this auction of 19th century paintings, Babuino holds at the end of this month two other auctions, one of Old Masters (Oct.29) and the other one of books, silverware and porcelain (Oct.31). The total number of lots going up for auction is about 700. For paintings, estimates range from around €1,000 to €50,000.
Among the Old Masters, there are expectations for the “vedutisti” of the 18th century. The auction, in fact, offers two works from the period with architectural subjects: one is by Gian Paolo Panini, who was born in Piacenza in 1691, where he studied theater design, and then moved to Rome in 1911, where he worked as a decorator of palaces, a painter and a teacher of perspective at the French Academy. He died in Rome in 1765. As a painter he was famous for his real and imaginary views of the city and depictions of ruins. In this case, the work offered is titled Capriccio architettonico con figure e statua di Achille, and is also known under the title Mario sulle rovine di Cartagine. It is an oil on canvas of 65 x 44 cm, realized around 1718, just before the work Alessandro visita la tomba di Achille, which was donated by Panini to the San Luca Academy. The same subject is repeated in other works by the artist. The work is estimated at €35,000 to €45,000.
The other architectural view is a collaboration between Michele Marieschi (Venice 1710-1743) and Francesco Albotto (Venice 1721-1757), to whom are attributed the figures. It is a “Veduta con capriccio architettonico, obelisco e monumento equestre,” an oil on canvas of 69 x 83 cm, estimated at €15,000-€20,000. It was replicated by both painters in numerous later works, which are now preserved in important museums and collections.
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