Telemaco Signorini

(Italian, 1835-1901)

Sosta in un'albereta

Footnotes

Archiving certificate no. 418260 released by the Istituto Matteucci on July 14, 2017.

Provenance
Property from a Private Florentine Family Collection.

The date of the present lot and location is unknown; however, there are four distinctly comparable works in the artist's oeuvre, including one of his major works entitled Uliveta di Antignano (illustrated in Mario Borgiotti, Poesia dei Macchiaioli, Milan, 1958). This painting, together with one of two sketches, appeared in the 1926 exhibition at the Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze (no. 1 and 3).¹

In the 1850s and 1860s, Signorini travelled between La Spezia and the coast of Versilia.² Notably, Signorini visited the pinewoods of Viareggio in 1860, after spending time at the coast and stopping at Sarzana, L'Avenza, Massa and Pietrasanta. This was one of Signorini's most creative phases. The present lot may have been executed during this time; for instance Signorini has depicted holm oaks and pines – rather than olive trees. In addition, in the artist's list of paintings sold in 1890, among the works completed between 1858 and 1866, are a number of possible candidates for the present lot, such as Bosco a Seravezza, Una porcara in Maremma, L'Autunno and Il riposo e Pineta a Viareggio.

Compared to the other paintings in the 1926 Florentine exhibition, the present lot is characterized by a lovely luminescence and autumnal colours that make it, in some respects, more poetic.

¹ Mario Borgiotti, Poesia dei Macchiaioli, Milan, 1958, p. 82, tav. LXVI.
² E. Somaré, Telemaco Signorini 'Sommario autobiografico', Milan, 1926, p. 275.