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PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED ITALIAN COLLECTIONThere is a considerable difference between a group of paintings put together as a form of investment and an art collection in its most authentic meaning. The next six lots belong to the latter: a sophisticated collection of works of art, assembled by a passionate, discerning art lover and his wife.The late owner started collecting in the 1960s and continued through the 1990s. Some key elements were in his favour: he was gifted with strong entrepreneurial skills, elegant taste and intellectual curiosity, but he also had an excellent guide in Claudia Gian Ferrari.Claudia Gian Ferrari (Milan, 1945-2010) was an important protagonist of the Italian art scene. In the gallery she ran in Milan for almost thirty years, after the death of her father Ettore in 1982, she contributed to the reappraisal of the Italian art between the wars through her exhibitions and as an art historian, compiling catalogues on Sironi, Casorati and Martini among others. Also known as a collector herself, Claudia acquired significant works from the 20th Century, including paintings by the major names in contemporary Italian Art, such as Morandi, Fontana, De Chirico as well as pieces by emerging artists. In 1996 she founded the “Studio di consulenza per il Novecento Italiano”, a consultancy studio conceived as an exhibition space as well as a centre for documentation. Every important art collector in Italy would at some point gravitate towards one of her venues, (her two galleries and the Studio), as all three played a key role in nourishing a circle of sophisticated art lovers who, following her advice in sourcing and lending their works of art, forged some of the most respected collections of ‘Moderno Italiano’.The owner of the paintings displayed in the next pages, (and in a section of this week’s Impressionist and Modern Art South Kensington on 5 February), soon became one of them.Although not every work in the collection was sourced directly through the Gian Ferrari Gallery, most of them were chosen with Claudia’s advice. The result is a group of important, historical works by some of the most renowned names of the Italian art scene between the wars: De Chirico, Morandi, Casorati and Sironi among others.When looking at the selection of works we have from this collection this season, one easily perceives a sense of cohesion, knowledge and consistency behind each choice - the only non-Italian name included in the group being Raoul Dufy, here represented at lot 373 later in this sale, a beautiful example of one of his all-time preferred subjects, Le Havre. Almost none of the lots have ever been seen before at auction, and those that have, have not appeared on the market for over twenty years. Many of the paintings boast extensive exhibition histories, having been lent by the owner to major Italian and international museums, who would always turn to Claudia Gian Ferrari knowing they would find in her a supporter, willing to push her collectors to grant them the loan of their works of art.Some of these museums (like Museo del Novecento and Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan, or MAXXI and MACRO in Rome) are now proud to display many works of art once belonging to the Gian Ferrari family, who very generously donated them, in line with their nature as enlightened patrons of Italian Modern Art.

Felice Casorati (1883-1963)

Ragazza nuda

Details

Felice Casorati (1883-1963)
Ragazza nuda
signed 'F. CASORATI' (lower right)
oil on canvas
43 1/2 x 24 1/2 in. (110.5 x 62.2 cm.)
Painted in 1937

Provenance

Galleria Rotta, Genova.
Galleria Nuova Gissi, Turin.
Anonymous sale, Finarte, Milan, 26 October 1995, lot 188.
Private collection, Italy, and thence by descent to the present owners.

Literature

L. Carluccio, Casorati, Turin, 1964, no. 135, p. 119 (illustrated).
G. Bertolmo & F. Poli, Felice Casorati, Catalogo generale, I dipinti, vol. I, Turin, 1995, no. 605, p. 362 (illustrated vol. II, fig. 605).

Exhibited

Venezia, Giardini della Biennale, XXIII Esposizione internazionale d'arte, 1942, no. 26.
Genova, Galleria Rotta, Mostra d'arte contemporanea, July 1953, no. 13 (illustrated).
Genova, La Rinascente, Felice Casorati nelle collezioni genovesi, October - November 1963.
Turin, Galleria Civica d'arte moderna, Casorati, April - June 1964, no. 152 (illustrated).
Turin, Galleria Gissi, I protagonisti italiani del XX secolo, mostra collettiva, June 1983, no. 7 (illustrated).
Turin, Galleria Gissi, Felice Casorati, opere scelte 1928-1960, November - December 1993, no. 4 (illustrated, n.p.)
Turin, Palazzo Bricherasio, Felice Casorati, dagli anni Venti agli anni Quaranta, April - June 1996, no. 70, p. 129 (illustrated).
Acqui Terme, Palazzo Liceo Saracco, Felice Casorati, Il nudo, July - September 1999, no. 24, p. 66 (illustrated p. 67).
Ravenna, Loggetta Lombardesca, Felice Casorati, dipingere il silenzio, April - July 2007, p. 124 (illustrated); this exhibition later travelled to Trieste, Museo Revoltella, September - November 2007.

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Sale room notice

This lot is withdrawn.

Brought to you by

Ishbel Gray

igray@christies.com +44 (0)20 7752 3338

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