拍品 20
  • 20

費德·加利齊亞

估價
2,000,000 - 3,000,000 USD
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招標截止

描述

  • Fede Galizia
  • 《靜物:石架上瓷碗內的葡萄與枸杞、榅桲、石榴及黃蜂》《靜物:石架上瓷籃內的李子與葡萄及梨子》
  • 一組兩幅,油彩畫板
  • 各10 3/4 x 15 1/4英寸;27.3 x 38.7公分

來源

With Alain Tarica, Geneva, 1991;
From whom acquired by the present collector.

Condition

The following condition report has been provided by Karen Thomas of Thomas Art Conservation LLC., 336 West 37th Street, Suite 830, New York, NY 10018, 212-564-4024, info@thomasartconservation.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This pair of pictures is in very good condition overall. Each is painted on a horizontally grained wood panel support comprised of a single board of wood. A very mild convex vertical wrap has developed in both paintings. Channels for crossbars, no longer extant, are found on the reverse of the panels. The still life in which the solid porcelain bowl holds only grapes remains well preserved. Small touches of restoration are found in the grapes and pear, visible under normal light due to their slight discoloration. A few small retouches are also found in the leaves. Wood strips added to the perimeter of this panel. In the pendant still life, also in a good state of preservation overall, touches of restoration are found throughout the background, while a moderate portion of one of the yellow pears in the bowl has been restored. The varnishes appear slightly matte perhaps due to a light coat of dirt. Both pictures present nicely, however superficial cleaning to remove any dirt or grime and to revive the varnish, along with correction of off-color retouching could provide improvement to the overall aspect while requiring only minimal intervention.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

拍品資料及來源

These exquisite still lifes are the work of the pioneering female painter, Fede Galizia, an artist who played a fundamental role in the emergence of still-life painting in Italy and throughout Europe in the first quarter of the seventeenth century.  Daughter of the miniaturist and painter, Nunzio Galizia, she trained under her father, and her precocious talent was already on full display as a young teenager.  By the age of 20, she had achieved international renown as a painter of portraits and devotional compositions, yet it is her remarkable still lifes that established her lasting reputation and are considered her most important works today.  

Although this pair of still lifes was unknown to scholars throughout most of the 20th century, Flavio Caroli became acquainted with them just after the publication of his monograph on Fede Galizia in 1989.  In his letter of authenticity dated 15 July 1991, Caroli characterized the pair as being of exceptional quality, noting their powerful, almost celestial qualities.1  He considers them to be autograph variants of another pair of paintings by Fede Galizia sold at Sotheby's London on 12 December 1984, and now both in private collections (figs. 1 and 2).2  Along with Galizia’s signed and dated Crystal Fruit Stand with Peaches, Quinces, and Jasmine Flowers, which was sold at Sotheby's London on 8 July 2015 for £1,565,000 (fig. 3),3 the present pair can be considered among the most important additions to Galizia’s small but impressive corpus of works in recent decades.  

A soft light illuminates each scene in this lot from the left, casting both a gentle gleam as well as subdued shadows upon the cool stone ledges, the lush fruit, and the delicate pottery, all set against a dark background.  In one, bunches of fresh grapes with large green leaves are set within a decorative faience bowl.  To the left of the bowl, a single grape has fallen onto the ledge from the overflowing bunches, while on the right sits a medlar, two quinces, and a pomegranate bursting with seeds.  Just above the quinces, a yellow wasp rests atop a grape.  In the other of the pair, a faience basket is filled with plums, quinces, and grapes, and is surrounded on the ledge by pears, six to the left and one on the right.  In both examples, Galizia has not only focused on convincingly rendering the distinct variations in the flesh of the fruits, from the delicate yet vibrant pomegranate seeds to the undulating surface of the pears, but has also carefully described the fineness of the porcelain.  

Exemplified in the present pair of paintings is Galizia’s sensitive approach to her subject matter, her acute eye for detail, and her preference for rendering still-lifes with a restrained simplicity that is echoed in works such as Francisco de Zurbarán’s Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose (Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, inv. no. F.1972.06.P).4  Never overfilled or cluttered and always imbued with a degree of naturalism, Galizia’s compositions impart quiet yet indelible impressions.  

Fruit still-lifes in Italy around the turn of the seventeenth century were rare, the earliest known being Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit of about 1595-1596 (See S. Schütze, Caravaggio: the complete works, Cologne 2009, p. 248, cat. No. 7, reproduced).  This example, now in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan, once formed part of the collection of Cardinal Federico Borromeo in Milan as did a few still-lifes by Jan Brueghel the Elder.  While these still-lifes, with their intense realism, may have influenced the Milan-based Galizia, her innovative approach to the genre was unique and unparalleled during her lifetime and set the foundation for generations of artists to follow.  The universal appeal of her still-lifes continues to transcend time and enchant viewers even today.  


1.  In his letter of 15 July 1991, Caroli notes: "Le confermo che i dipinti...sono opere splendide della pitricce Fede Galizia...La qualità delle due tavole in oggetto è tersa, astrale e potente, nell'alba di un genere che avrà un ruolo fondamentale nella storia della pittura moderna."

2.  F. Caroli, Fede Galizia, Turin 1989, p. 88, cat. nos. 34 and 35, reproduced.

3. Oil on poplar panel, 31.2 by 42.5 cm, signed with monogram lower left: FG; and dated lower right: 1607.

4.  Oil on canvas, 62.2 by 109.5, dated 1633.  See O. Delenda, Francisco de Zurbaran 1598-1664, Madrid 2009, pp. 228-30, cat. no. 57, reproduced.