31 - Luigi Serena (1855–1911)

Luigi Serena (1855–1911) Portrait of a Young Girl with a Laurel Wreath, 1880–1885 Pencil and charcoal on paper 60.5 x 45.7 cm (image size) Signature: “L Serena” on the front Distinguishing features: on the reverse, a label from the Banca Popolare di Asolo e Montebelluna with inventory references Provenance: Banca Popolare di Asolo e Montebelluna; Veneto Banca SpA in LCA Bibliography: O. Stefani, “Luigi Serena 1855–1911,” Ponzano Veneto, 2006, pp. 169 and 174, ill. 139 Condition. Support: 95% Condition. Surface: 95% 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 Luigi Serena, the painter of choice for Treviso’s bourgeoisie at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, had no direct students, but he was admired by younger artists for his bohemian and anti-bourgeois spirit—and as a moral compass—becoming a cornerstone of the artistic landscape of the Marca. It was the avant-garde artists, led by Arturo Martini, who organized Serena’s posthumous exhibition shortly after his death in 1911. Although he worked primarily in the province, the artist successfully participated in the most important exhibitions of the time: in Venice (1881), Milan (1883), Turin (1884), Florence (1886), Paris (1888), and Munich (1890). She was among those invited to the 1897 Venice Biennale (Eugenio Manzato, “Treviso,” in “La Pittura in Italia. L’Ottocento,” Milan, 1990, p. 213). The drawing was identified by Eugenio Manzato in 2002. As Ottorino Stefani observes, the “delicate and graceful” “Portrait of a Girl with a Laurel Wreath” echoes Renaissance models (“Luigi Serena 1855–1911,” Ponzano Veneto, 2006, p. 169).