Lot:
211
72nd Auction: Art from '800-'900, Modern and Contemporary Art, National and International
3rd Session: Modern and Contemporary Art, National and Intenational
Framed
As can be read in the recent fundamental publication by Enrico Lucchese dedicated to Nicola Grassi, Ediz. ZeL Treviso, 2019, pp. 532, one of the leading historians and experts on the artist, it is an important work, considered by the Bibliography dedicated to the author as "among the most valuable of the last period" by Giuseppe Gallo, as he wrote in the publication published for the "Nicola Grassi Exhibition. Biennali d'Arte Antica", which he curated in Udine at the Church of San Francesco, 25 June - 15 October 1961. Formerly in the Calligaris Collection of Terzo di Aquileia - continues Enrico Lucchese -, recognized as Nicola Grassi by Hermann Voss (De Rossi 2007), the painting was restored by Gian Paolo Rampini about twenty years ago in Udine. Genericly dated "around the 1930s" for "the characteristic broken way of draping" and for the tendency towards "an iridescent effect on large surfaces with reflective effects" (Pignatti, 1984), the canvas, formerly by Calligaris, has been considered by Laura De Rossi (2007) as a headboard interpreting the "good death", in analogy with the similar work by Nicola del Convento dei francescani in Cavalese (cat.141).
This interpretation, combined with the observation, through direct observation during the restoration, of a lighter and more luminous pictorial conduct compared to the aforementioned Ampezzo group, leads to a hypothesis of execution around the fourth decade, likely after Grassi's paintings, datable between 1735 and 1737, therefore around the time of the Martyrdom of Saint Andrew by Strozza (Bergamo): a work dated 1739 which shares with the present expressive maturity, in accordance with the "elegance of rhythms" and the "nervous expressive cadence" (Pallucchini, 1994) developed by Giambattista Pittoni.
A work with a rich bibliography: Giuseppe Fiocco, Nicola Grassi, Del Bianco Publishers, Udine, 1961; Giuseppe Gallo, Nicola Grassi Exhibition. Biennials of Ancient Art, Udine, Church of San Francesco, 1961, pp. 32-33 cat. 58, p. 43; Rodolfo Pallucchini, Nicola Grassi and Criticism, Friulian Graphic Arts, Udine, 1964, p. 22; Franca Zava Boccazzi 1964; Terisio Pignatti 1985, p. 75; Elvio Mich 2000, p. 170; Fabrizio Magani 2001, p. 132; Enrico Lucchese 2003, p. 266; Fabrizio Magani 2004, p. 49; Paolo Pugnetti 2006, p. 413; Laura De Rossi 2007, p. 332; Enrico Lucchese, 2009, p. 227; Enrico Lucchese, ZeL Editions, Treviso, 2019, p. 388
Price:
20.000 €
+ buyer's premium
25%
plus shipment costs