L12225

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Lot 278
  • 278

Count Amadeo Preziosi

Estimate
120,000 - 150,000 GBP
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Description

  • Count Amadeo Preziosi
  • Memorie del mio viaggio in Europe, 1855: an album of forty-eight drawings of a journey from Istanbul to London, including landscapes of Smyrna, the bay of Naples, Malta, Tenedos, and Westminster Bridge with the Palace of Westminster under construction

  • titled, signed & dated 19 aprile 1855 / Preziosi and indistinctly dedicated on page one, the majority of the drawings inscribed and dated

  • pencil on paper

  • the album 26 by 54.5cm., 10¼ by 21½in. (6 drawings across a double page, 42 on single pages)

Exhibited

Istanbul, Yapi Kredi Kâzim Taskent Gallery, Amadeo Preziosi, 2007, illustrated in the catalogue

Literature

Sonman 2010, illustrated and discussed throughout

Condition

As visible in the catalogue illustrations, overall the drawings are in good condition. Sold in an album with 20th Century black morocco clothboards, and with the original label attached on the cover.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

On the 19 April 1855 Count Amadeo Preziosi set sail from Constantinople on the Messageries Impériales mail steamer Le Caire. The journey would take him around the Mediterranean to Marseilles via Gallipoli, Smyrna, Syra, Malta, Messina, Naples and Livorno, and onwards to Paris, Boulogne and thence London, returning via Corsica, Sancakkale, Smyrna and Tenedos (the final dated drawing, of 13 July). The album is characterised by the artist's spontaneity and versatility, from a portrait of a man in Smyrna wearing a turban and holding prayer beads to the topographical view of the city, and from the French Zouave soldiers aboard the Caire to a view of the bay of Naples with Vesuvius.

A native of Malta, Preziosi first visited Istanbul in 1842, and depicting the city and its people in their distinctive costumes and attitudes was to be the focus for his artistic career thereafter. In the 1850s he worked for the Illustrated London News, first published in 1851, and his 1858 album of chromolithographs Stamboul, Recollections of Eastern Life was published by Lemercier and republished in further editions, assuring his fame. Preziosi was invited in 1866 to paint the official portrait of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz for the Turkish Pavilion of the 1867 Universal Exhibition in Paris. During his time in Constantinople which he made his home, Preziosi was the most popular painter in the city.