PAINTINGS ONLINE | ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY

Tempera on canvas. Framed in a painted, scroll-carved and gilded frame, a mother and daughter are portrayed: the young woman is languidly stretched out on an Ottoman sofa, and caresses the little girl kneeling next to her, holding a lunch basket in one hand. On the back there is a restoration, with a patch in the central part. The work is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Sweet depiction of the putative paternity of Saint Joseph, who delicately holds his little son in his arms, who in turn strokes his beard, while they tenderly look into each other's eyes. Peculiar is the detail of the white cloth with blue stripes that the saint holds with one hand and which corresponds to the Talled (or Tallit), or the Jewish shawl used by men for ritual prayers. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Gallant Scene

Oil on canvas. Signed both lower and upper left. The scene is set in a rich noble hall, where ladies and knights in eighteenth-century clothes entertain. It is the work of the prolific Neapolitan painter Salvatore Balsamo, who died very young. It is presented in a mid-1900s frame.

Oil on canvas. The scene depicts the episode told in the biblical book of Genesis, of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, after they committed the sin of eating the forbidden fruit, fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. Aware of their nakedness, the man and woman are driven away by an archangel, with the sword of justice in his hand and surrounded by a cloud of fire, they walk shamefully and modestly into the world, represented in a Nordic landscape. The painting, restored and relined, is presented in an early 1900s frame, with carved and applied wooden decorations and friezes.

Oil on canvas. Signed H.Cooper lower left and dated 1909. On the back an inscription indicates the location of Bishops'; Stortford, in the English county of Hertfordshire. It actually depicts a glimpse of the English countryside, with a rural house on the bank of the river, on which stands a fisherman. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Male Portrait, 1913

Oil painting on canvas. Signed and dated top right. The portrait of a gentleman of a certain age, leaning in an elegant pose on his walking stick, expresses the ability of Carlo Cazzaniga, a Milanese painter who was a pupil of Tallone, to create portraits of intense expressive force with rapid strokes of color and nuanced chromatisms. The painting is presented in a contemporary gilded frame.

Oil on canvas. The large painting features a golden frame with scrolled friezes in the center of a red background, in which a praying Virgin is painted, looking at the productions of the late 17th-early 18th century; the frame is supported on the sides by two golden cherubs, who rest their feet and hands on decorations that are also golden with scrolls, on which are inserted multi-colored leaves and flowers. The painting is pre-realized on two canvases sewn horizontally. The panel is surrounded by trimmings.

The Black Cape, 1950s-60s

Print on paper. At the bottom the words "Gallery Five PU4/IK - Black Cape by Audrey Beardsley - Printed in England". This is a 1950s-1960s reissue by the London gallery of one of the Art Nouveau illustrations made by Audrey Beardsley for Oscar Wilde's play "Salomé: a tragedy in one act", written in French in 1891 by Oscar Wilde, published in London in English for the first time in 1893 and released the following year with sixteen illustrations by the young artist. Wilde's irreverent genius found full expression in Beardsley's drawings: Beardsley's elegant black and white silhouettes are the exact icon of the style that the designer and writer embodied, that is, the figure of the dandy who elevates himself and his life to a work of art, through an egocentric satisfaction in his own aesthetic refinement. Beardsley's flat, asymmetrical, superficial decorations were in sharp contrast to trompe l'oeil naturalism, to everything that is volume or plastic body, to massive, heavy, overloaded forms, to excess of detail, in short to the taste of the mature Victorian era. The work is presented in a frame.

Oil on canvas. Central European school of the first half of the 20th century. Unidentified signature on the lower left. In a wide valley under sharp mountain peaks, a small lake opens up, on which some houses overlook and boats sail; some common people's figures are busy with daily activities. Pleasant and serene in the green-blue hues of nature. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. German school of the mid-20th century. At the bottom right is the signature W. Purschke and the location Munchen. The scene is set inside the study of a high prelate: sitting at his desk he listens to two men who show him a route on a map; at the top left is placed on a shelf a model of a ship: perhaps the bishop is also the owner of the ship, who discusses the next trip with its owner. From the window, closed by a worked grille, you can glimpse the village, with houses with a characteristic Nordic appearance. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Central European school of the late 19th-early 20th century. Unidentified signature lower right. Green countryside landscape with leafy trees in autumn colors and a chalet in the center; on the wide path on the right, which leads to a lake, the figures of a woman and a child pass. The light of the blue sky, but already veiled on the horizon by the first crepuscular colors, creates a relaxed and serene atmosphere. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Allegory

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. The large painting features two figures: on the right a man sitting at a table, dressed in a red dressing gown, with a sad and concentrated expression, playing with his hands with some disheveled flowers, coming from the composition on his head; on the left standing the Christ of the Passion, crowned with thorns, with a gray cloak on his shoulders. Behind the seated man, a leaden sky in which, however, a ray of light opens. The painting probably wants to allegorically depict the painful and suffered end of the life of a person, who lives the same Passion as Christ, but who yearns for a new, bright life. The work is presented in a frame.

Alpine Pasture with Cows

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. On the frame a label with the name and dates of birth and death of the artist, of whom there is no further biographical information. The painting offers a glimpse of a wide, green Alpine valley, where a herd of cows grazes, near the watercourse. Realist in style, and with impressionist suggestions, in the dims of light and shadow, of reflections in the water, of shaded colors. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on hardboard. Venetian school of the late 19th century. Signed Carlini on the lower left. Moving family scene, with the fisherman just landed embracing his family - wife, mother, children and dog! - who have come to welcome him, while his colleagues unload the catch and arrange the nets. The colors are intense, especially the earthy ones of the figures, the sand and the boat, which contrast with the blue of the sky and the sea. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Large scene of the Nativity, which develops on two crossed lines: a vertical dimension centered on the architectural structure in bricks and straw, the stable that gave shelter to the family of Nazareth, over which the angels hover announcing the divine glory; horizontal dimension in the lower half, composed of a multitude of figures: in the center the Holy Family, on the two sides the shepherds who go to honor the Child, bringing their simple gifts in nature. Of simple and popular taste, the scene is placed on a poorly defined background. The painting has been restored and relined, but still has large losses of colour. In frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Central European school. Signed H. Church lower left. Developed vertically, the landscape offers a green countryside, with trees and undergrowth; in the center a path that leads to some farmhouses. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Gallant Scene 1885

Lithography. Signed lower left. Published by Arthur Tooth in London. The scene is typical of the painter of Italian-Austrian origins: Eugene de Blaas favored cute and often mischievous genre scenes, with girls and young men (often placed in Venetian streets but not only) intent on chatting, gossiping and courtship games. His favorite subject was the common female figure, depicted with an angelic face with diaphanous skin and a mischievous and romantic look, described with bright colors and with excellent technique in her daily environment. The lithograph has widespread humidity stains. In a mid-20th century frame.

Landscape with Hunters on Horseback 1852

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. This landscape has a suggestive atmosphere where desolate earthy hills prelude to higher peaks, fading into the distance; popular figures are included in this landscape, in particular three horsemen, probably hunters for the dogs that flank them, galloping along the path, while wayfarers on foot, women and children, give way to them. Standing out above all, filling the entire upper half of the work, is a leaden sky, full of grey clouds: the shades of grey above and the golden ochres of the earth below, define the favourite palette of this multifaceted Belgian artist, who in his pictorial production mainly created landscapes of the Ardennes. The painting was auctioned by Christie's in 2004, with an estimate of €3000.

Oil painting on canvas. Central European school of the early 1900s. This is a copy of the famous painting created around 1880 by Carl Ludwig Friedrich Becker (1820 -1900) and sold at auction at Sotheby's in New York in 1999. At the bottom right there is the writing Becker to imitate or refer to the original. In the scene the Moor of Venice is telling Desdemona and the Doge his adventures as captain of the Venetian fleet.

The Spinner 1897

Oil on canvas, applied to panel. signed and dated lower left. In the foreground a young woman is portrayed intent on spinning, inside a simple room. This type of portrait of popular figures, of a realist nature, characterized the artistic production of the Belgian painter Oscar Halle, who also produced outdoor scenes, always animated by figures. The painting is presented in a period frame.