49 - G. Ronchi (20th century)

G. Ronchi (20th century) River Landscape, 1933 Oil on panel 57.5 x 43.5 cm (inner dimensions) Signature: on the front, “G. Ronchi” Date: on the front, “33” Provenance: Cassa di Risparmio di Fabriano e Cupramontana; Veneto Banca SpA in LCA 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 The work, also referred to in the bibliography as “View of the Ruins, now the church of Marqorewòs, from the northwest,” belongs to the body of graphic works—engravings and drawings—created by Bianchi Barriviera during his stay in Libya and Italian East Africa between 1937 and 1939. As Silvia Bianchi notes in the introduction to the monographic exhibition held in Treviso in 2010 (pp. 6–8), “The African drawings and engravings constitute a significant presence in the vast body of graphic work by Lino Bianchi Barriviera —an artist who, in his choice of subjects, always favored views and landscapes—both for their undeniable artistic merit and as a testament to a fundamental chapter in the master’s life experience (...) a veritable travel diary.” “Bianchi Barriviera had traveled to Libya for the first time in 1927 upon completing high school, after earning his diploma as a technical specialist and commercial accountant.” “In the spring of 1937, Bianchi Barriviera undertook a second, longer, excursion to Libya, venturing inland along the western edge of Tripolitania on the border with Tunisia, as far as the oasis town of Ghadames at the edge of the desert, and then along the coast to the archaeological site of Leptis Magna. From this trip he brought back a collection of drawings—some more polished, others more rough and schematic—created exclusively to be translated into etchings, from which, upon his return, he produced a portfolio of thirteen engravings executed with refined and masterful technique, dedicated to the governor of Libya, Italo Balbo, who had encouraged and supported the project. In December 1938, at the invitation of the Duke of Aosta, Viceroy of Ethiopia, the artist traveled to Italian East Africa, where, until July 1939, he traversed Eritrea from the Red Sea coast to the inland regions bordering Sudan, and part of Ethiopia, reaching Addis Ababa.” "From his journey to Italian East Africa, the artist brought back over three hundred drawings and about thirty etched plates: the drawings, for the most part, were thoroughly executed, an end in themselves; the plates were engraved directly on site using a point on a waxed matrix and treated with etching solution upon his return to the temporary base. These works alternate between descriptive accuracy and interpretive conciseness: there are precise depictions of monuments and typical villages—sometimes brought to life by the presence of indigenous people—and there are boundless landscapes where everything is condensed into a synthesis that seems not to probe or linger on details, thereby enhancing the mystery and vastness of the country.” "Among the first exhibitions to feature Bianchi Barriviera’s African works, the following are worth noting: the 21st Venice Biennale in 1938, the solo exhibition organized by the artist himself in Asmara in June 1939, the 3rd Rome Quadriennale in 1939, the First Overseas Triennial Exhibition in Naples in 1940, the 22nd Venice Biennale in 1940, and the 29th exhibition at the Galleria di Roma in 1942.”