A survey of the most recent art sales to museum institutions—roughly within the last two years—can bring to light the often-overlooked results of the diligent work by members of the Association of Italian Antique Dealers. At the same time, it provides a solid counterbalance to the recent, alleged clouds over the art market. To avoid drowning in shallow waters, it’s best not to rely on what economic graphs—inevitably partial and incomplete—sometimes suggest: a storm is coming, get your umbrellas ready… And as with waterborne worms after the rain, articles encouraging us to put on life vests are multiplying. Betting on graphs is a fun game but not much different from the futile hopes of trying to read the unreadable: ornithomancy, haruspicy, or palmistry. Especially when dealing with the unpredictable whims of collectors, who, stubborn and tenacious, can push against the trends, sending the graph curves upward. Moreover, many analyses overlook the foundational passion of a collector. It is certainly not the need to trade a painting, but the visceral desire to own it. Then, assuming prices are indeed dropping, what better time to take home one’s El Dorado? This is even more relevant for those who buy with motives far removed from straightforward economic investment: public institutions. At this point, perhaps by also considering the high-quality offerings that an event like the Florence International Antiques Biennale constantly presents, it might be time to start the music.
The dance begins with the extensive catalog of sales by the Berardi Gallery, from a canvas by Teofilo Patini entitled The Cobbler, acquired by the National Museum of Abruzzo (L’Aquila) “thanks to the scouting efforts of an observant official who recognized the rarity of the piece,” thus “reversing the usual process in which the antiquarian proposes works to public museums,” to a clear diptych by Eugenio Agneni purchased by the State for the Villa Medici Museum in Petraia, Florence. The piece, flagged during the export certificate request, was subsequently acquired by a public museum. “On one hand, this situation fills us with pride for such a prestigious museum acquisition; on the other, it rewards the antiquarian for their work in seeking out masterpieces by overlooked artists, without the antiquarian having to bear the financial weight alone when, at times, a piece remains inexplicably unclaimed.” Or again, a divisionist masterpiece like Bathers in the Sun by Ruggero Focardi, displayed at the 1907 Salon in Paris and resurfaced nearly 120 years later, now exhibited at the Divisionism Museum (Pinacoteca Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Tortona).
A Country Dance by Guido Reni, once owned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, has returned to Villa Borghese thanks to the Fondantico Gallery. This marks a particularly joyous episode, accompanied by the news of an unpublished sketch by Giuseppe Maria Crespi entitled Creative Fatherhood and Natural Fatherhood, a rare example of a dual study on a single canvas, which recently passed to the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California. The study serves as a preparatory piece for a pair of paintings in the San Paolo cycle in Bologna, helping to fill a “black hole in Crespi’s oeuvre.”
Thanks to the discerning eye of Marco Longari, a rare 14th-century sculpture attributed to Andriolo De Santi, once owned by the notable Florentine antiquarian Stefano Bardini, as documented in a photograph from the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, has now found a home in the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice. The unique quality of the piece was promptly recognized by the State, which, fortunately, followed its notification with a compulsory purchase—an honor validating the antiquarian’s commitment to the highest quality standards.
Altomani & Sons continues to lead in the ceramics market, recently shipping a delicate Basket of Fruit by Giovanni della Robbia to a U.S. museum and maintaining their dedication to painting with the sale of a large panel by Juan de Borgoña to the Capodimonte Museum. An exceptional fusion of these two techniques can be seen in an oil-painted majolica work by Camilla Guerrieri—a noble-born artist from the Pesaro region who became a prominent artist at the Medici court—in Allegory of Painting, where she portrays herself painting Vittoria della Rovere on canvas. Adding further insight into Marche heritage studies, Altomani recently acquired Portrait of Vittoria della Rovere, as depicted in the small painted majolica, now in the Uffizi. Unfortunately, it’s disappointing that the self-portrait left the Pesaro gallery without local institutions seizing the opportunity to secure such a historically significant piece. “I was even willing to donate it if it had stayed in the city’s collection,” said Altomani. Whether due to unresponsiveness or oversight, unfortunately, “that’s how it went…”
The Caretto Occhinegro Gallery, following the sale of a Madonna and Child with Saint Joseph by the Flemish painter Adam van Noort to the Grand Dukes Museum of Lithuania (Vilnius), helped reunite the Italian ensemble in The Theorbo Player by Antiveduto Gramatica, only seemingly solo in the halls of the Galleria Sabauda in Turin. Revealed as part of a pair with Concert for Two Figures, recently sold to the same museum, the piece restored the original *Music* belonging to Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte thanks to Gianni Papi’s reconstructions. “Though we specialize in Flemish-Dutch painting, the historical significance of this discovery compelled us to make an exception, delivering the piece to its rightful home: the Galleria Sabauda, where its famous missing counterpart had always been. We’re pleased that, despite the expected—though inconsequential—debate on the correctness of the acquisition, the joy of a remarkable operation prevailed, an operation that could have easily been lost to foreign buyers interested in the work. In this sense, we believe it’s important to underscore the role of gallery owners as ‘cultural advisors,’ tasked with choosing and creating the best connections between specific works and specific institutions.”
Romigioli Gallery champions the virtuous examples of private acquisitions intended for public exhibition with the reappearance of The Good Samaritan by Girolamo da Romano, known as Romanino, formerly in the Pietro Toesca collection and now with the Tassara Foundation of Brescia, enabling its display at the Mita Museum (Museum of Carpets) in the same city. Similarly, the 15th-century polychrome wooden page known as the “Young Sforza,” “sold to a generous collector, is now on display at the Ambrosiana Gallery.”
Matteo Lampertico has enabled an elegant glazed ceramic sculpture by Fausto Melotti to join the Milanese collections at the Pinacoteca di Brera. The piece will be displayed at Palazzo Citterio in Milan starting from the eagerly anticipated reopening of the exhibition on December 7, 2024 (with this small spoiler, we strongly recommend a visit). Burzio Gallery, too, remains faithful to its decade-long commitment to selling artworks to public institutions, managing to attract the attention of museum curators (met at Tefaf) with the excellent result of three recently sold works. The fortunate selection includes a pair of exquisitely refined silver soup tureens, complete with original cases, sold to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas; a Venetian neoclassical mechanical column cabinet by Giuseppe Borsato—one of the rare surviving pieces of its kind—to the Reitz Foundation in Helsinki, Finland; and a bronze bust by Jacques-Edmé Dumont depicting Marie Louise of Austria, Napoleon’s second wife, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Ajaccio. Still in Ajaccio, the evergreen enthusiasm for the Bonaparte family has also reached the Palais Fesch-Musée des Beaux-Arts, with the acquisition of a new marble bust of Napoleon’s younger brother, Jérôme Bonaparte, by François-Joseph Bosio. This work has further enriched the already abundant collection of Bonaparte family portraits, thanks to the efforts of Galleria Antonacci Lapiccirella Gallery. As if that weren’t enough, the same gallery also facilitated the transfer of a Portrait of Elisa Bonaparte, Napoleon’s sister and Grand Duchess of Tuscany, to the Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Foundation. This is certainly not the gallery’s only recent success. “We are proud to share that the Cincinnati Art Museum has acquired our beautiful Portrait of the Painter Karl Friedrich Lessing by R. J. B. Hübner. The significance of this acquisition, beyond the rarity and exceptional quality of the painting, lies in the fact that the museum holds over 800 drawings by the portrayed artist—a substantial collection that was one of the museum’s founding gifts in 1882.” Not to mention two masterpieces by Giulio Aristide Sartorio at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. “These two panels are an important rediscovery of parts of a grand decorative frieze created by Giulio Aristide Sartorio for the Sempione International Exposition in 1906. The frieze, painted in grisaille oil on canvas, was designed to celebrate the modern feat of the Sempione Tunnel and illustrated ‘The Energy of Classical Italy in the Modern World.’ A third panel from the same frieze, Event of Art and Culture, 1906-1923, is currently part of the gallery’s own collection. It is worth noting that this is the first time significant works by Giulio Aristide Sartorio have been acquired by one of the most important international museums dedicated to works of art created between 1848 and 1914.” And finally, in response to the gloomy predictions mentioned above, we offer a reassuring Summer Sunset After the Storm by Alfred Ekstam, which has joined the collection of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, where its new home “not only enhances the historical value of the work but also guarantees it international visibility.”
Galleria Walter Padovani Gallery reaffirms itself as a stronghold of refined taste with an exquisite marble portrait of Carlotta Barbolani di Montauto, Duchess of San Clemente, sculpted by the artist of “natural beauty,” Lorenzo Bartolini. This piece was recently sold to the Gallerie degli Uffizi in Florence. Behind its refined purist aesthetic lies a display of high virtuosity in the delicate comb adorned with the Barbolani di Montauto coat of arms, which holds the incredible hairstyle in place.
Once again, Canesso Gallery proves its ability to mine the gold veins of old masters, unearthing numerous gems and even bringing to light unheard-of discoveries. Following notable sales like Amore castigato by Camillo Mainardi to the Gallerie degli Uffizi, a spectacular still life with Peaches, grapes, melon, and a vase of flowers by the Parisian painter Marquise de Grollier to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, an immense Birth of the Virgin by Jacopo Palma il Giovane, which found a new home in France thanks to the Amis des Musées d’Orléans, and a more recent sale of a Cleopatra by Denys Calvaert to the Uffizi, the gallery unveils its latest discovery of an otherwise unknown gem. This dedication to research was rewarded with the sale to the Met of a Street Vendor of Chapbooks (popular dramatic and musical “canzonette”), painted by an artist active in Northern Italy at the close of the 17th century, whom they have dubbed the “Maestro dell’Ambulante Canesso” in honor of this find.
Bottegantica reaffirms its prominent role in collaboration with both national and international foundations and museums. Recently, it has sold several important works of Futurism and Italian Aeropainting by Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, and Tullio Crali. “Among the various museum institutions, we are proud to mention the Dallas Museum of Art, the Kunsthaus Zurich, and the MAXXI Foundation – National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome.”
Cortona Fine Art Gallery showcases its high level of specialization in the drawings market with recent notable sales to prestigious museum institutions. A Head of a Child by Andrea Appiani—”a preparatory study for the right-winged cherub in the fresco lunette Justice, painted by Appiani in 1808 in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace of Milan”—has fittingly joined the collections at Brera. Additionally, two sheets by Michele Sangiorgi, Rest During the Flight into Egypt and The Virtues Crowning the Bust of Antonio Canova, were acquired by the Kunsthalle in Hamburg and the National Gallery in Washington, respectively. The latter also purchased a charming watercolor sheet Cupid and Psyche by Santino Tagliafichi and Witchcraft Scene by Domenico Guidobono, a study with a “dreamlike, almost fairytale quality,” preparatory for a painting housed at the National Gallery of Parma. Finally, the National Museum of Lithuania acquired a previously unknown oil panel depicting the Battle of Clavijo by Melchiorre Gherardini, known as Ceranino.
Maurizio Nobile Gallery presents a harmonious choreography across the centuries. A painting by Giovanni Battista Bertucci Da Faenza depicting Julius Caesar Receiving the Head of Pompey and a terracotta by Lorenzo and Angelo di Mariano featuring the Annunciation demonstrate a confident embrace of the ancient. The former was acquired by the Royal Castle Museum in Warsaw, while the latter was purchased by the Szépművészeti Múzeum in Budapest. As representatives of 20th-century Italian art, we have Giacomo Manzù’s Christ Bound, which has moved to the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana), followed closely by a signed and dated Still-life sketch by Giorgio Morandi, sold to a private collector for gifting to the Met in New York.
In conclusion, Maurizio Nobile’s words resonate universally: “For an antiquarian, it is always a great satisfaction to know that a work they discovered and possessed—even if only for a short time—has ended up in an important international museum,” because “this gives meaning to their work and rewards them for their efforts.” With some new results in hand, despite the weather warnings, the reading of the data can be turned around. The sector seems far from sick. Even if lighter times have been seen, professionalism and hard work continue to pay off well. The art market has always advanced at its own pace, alternating between high and low notes, halfway between andante and vivace. In short, using musical jargon once again, it progresses cheerfully, but not too much. With this rhythm, if an Inverno is approaching amid clouds and rain, it might just be Vivaldi’s: difficult or not, the most beautiful of the Seasons.
