30 - Noè Bordignon (1841–1920)

Noè Bordignon (1841–1920) Canova’s Compatriots, approximately 1882 Oil on canvas 86 x 113 cm Signature: “Bordignon” on the reverse Distinguishing features: on the reverse, an exhibition label from the 1884 Turin exhibition bearing the artist’s name and the title Provenance: Roger Kerrison Collection, London (purchased at the General Italian Exhibition, Turin, 1884); private collection, Bologna (until 2009); Veneto Banca SpA in LCA Bibliography: Cola, “International Art Exhibition in Vienna. Italian Painting,” in *Gazzetta Piemontese*, May 30, 1882 (“Two Compatriots of Canova”); “Exhibition of Fine Arts in Rome 1883. Official General Catalog,” Rome, 1883, p. 54, no. 6 (“Two Fellow Townspeople of Canova”); “Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. 1883 Exhibition. Official Catalog,” Milan, 1883, p. 35, no. 433 (“Two Fellow Villagers of Canova”); Luigi Chirtani, “The Fine Arts Exhibition at Brera. The Prince Umberto Competition,” in “Corriere della Sera,” September 21–22, 1883 (“Canova’s Fellow Villagers”); “National Exhibition. Fine Arts Auctions,” in *Gazzetta Piemontese*, June 14, 1884 (“Canova’s Compatriots”); “General Italian Exhibition. Turin 1884. Contemporary Art. Official Catalog,” Turin, 1884, p. 12, no. 282 (“Canova’s Compatriots”); Paolo Rizzi, “Noè Bordignon, Venetian Painter (1841–1920),” biographical notes and cataloging by Luigi Dal Bello, with contributions by Pietro Zampetti and Antonio Barzaghi, Venice, 1982, p. 23 (“Two Old Men from Possagno at Canova’s Tomb”); Luca Lualdi, “Catalog of 19th-Century Italian Art,” Milan, 2008, no. 38, p. n. n. (ill.); Myriam Zerbi, ed., “Ottocento veneziano,” Turin, 2010, p. 66, no. 39 (ill.); “San Zenone: Land of Artists,” San Zenone degli Ezzelini, 2011, p. 90 (ill.), 114–115; A. Brotto Pastega, “Noè Bordignon,” in “L’illustre bassanese,” no. 135–136, January–March 2012, pp. 10 (ill.), “Emozioni in mostra: San Zenone celebra la sua terra di artisti,” in “Corriere del Veneto,” September 17, 2011, p. 19 (ill.); Vittorio Pajusco, “Painting from Life,” in Fernando Mazzocca, Elena Catra, and Vittorio Pajusco (eds.), “Noè Bordignon. 1841–1920. From Realism to Symbolism,” Genoa, 2021, pp. 96–97, p. 101 (ill.) Exhibitions: “Erste Internationale Kunstausstellung, Vienna, Künstlerhaus,” April 1–September 30, 1882; “Exhibition of Fine Arts in Rome,” Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, January 21–July 1, 1883; “Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. 1883 Exhibition,” Milan, Accademia di Brera, August 7–September 30, 1883; “XLIII General Italian Exhibition,” Turin, September 1884 (Painting Hall, IV, no. 282); “The Venetian Nineteenth Century,” curated by Myriam Zerbi, Stra, National Museum of Villa Pisani, March 28–September 26, 2010; “San Zenone: Land of Artists,” San Zenone degli Ezzelini, Villa Marini Rubelli, September 18, 2011–January 15, 2012; “Noè Bordignon. 1841–1920. From Realism to Symbolism," Genoa, September 18, 2021 – January 16, 2022; Castelfranco Veneto, Casa Giorgione Museum; and San Zenone degli Ezzelini, Villa Marini Rubelli Certificates: certificate signed by Enzo Savoia, undated Condition. Support: 80% (re-stretching; damage from inactive woodworm on the stretcher and frame) Condition. Surface: 85% (slight abrasions and color loss; at least seven traces of inactive mold damage on the inner perimeter of the frame) For direct WhatsApp assistance before and during the live auction: +39 346 12 999 80 // Direct assistance via WhatsApp before and during the auction: +39 346 12 999 80 After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice (1859–1865), Noè Bordignon traveled to Rome on a scholarship, where he became acquainted with the style of purist painting. Upon his return to Veneto in 1869, he lived and worked between Castelfranco and Venice, creating, from the start of the new decade, numerous fresco cycles in churches throughout the hinterland, while in his easel paintings he explored genre themes inspired by local folklore, which, between the late 1870s and the turn of the century, were well-received at major Italian and international exhibitions. “Two Compatriots of Canova” belongs to this prolific period of the artist’s career; it can be dated to 1882 based on its exhibition that same year at the Erste Internationale Kunstausstellung in Vienna, re-exhibited in 1883 first at the Fine Arts Exhibition in Rome and then in Milan at the Brera Academy, and subsequently in 1884 at the Promotrice in Turin, where it was purchased by an English buyer. The work depicts a conversation between two Venetian peasants—Canova’s two compatriots, from whom the title is derived — and three young women against the backdrop of the monument to Canova in the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice, designed by Canova as a cenotaph for Titian but completed posthumously by his students to honor his memory and preserve his heart. The compositional choice is remarkable, with the luminous and imposing mass of Canova’s monument magnifying and ennobling a moment of life