84 - Beppe Ciardi (1875–1932)

Beppe Ciardi (1875–1932) Wind in the Lagoon, Venice Oil on canvas 76 x 100 cm Signature: “Beppe Ciardi” on the front and on the back Other inscriptions: “Wind in the Lagoon” “Venice” on the stretcher Distinctive features: on the stretcher, a label from the Minneapolis Art Institute reading “No. L47.1349 Lent by R.H. Heskett”; on the stretcher and on the back of the frame, a label from Clyde L. Smith, Designer of Fine Frames, Minneapolis, marked “Cleaned and restored painting and frame Sept. 25, 1961”; two labels reading “The Largest Permanent Exhibition in Italy. Paintings, Sculptures,” National Association of Artists, Florence Provenance: Art Gallery of the National Association of Artists, Florence; R. H. Haskett, United States of America; Sotheby’s, “19th Century European Art” (New York, Oct. 25, 2005, lot 23, €70,273, titled “Italian boats in the wind of a Venetian lagoon”); Phidias Antiques, Reggio Emilia (until 2011); Veneto Banca SpA in LCA Bibliography: “Ottocento. Catalog of 19th-Century Italian Art,” 35, Milan, 2006, p. 160, no. 35 (ill.); Antonio Parronchi, Stefano Zampieri (scientific curator), “Beppe Ciardi. General Catalog of Works,” Turin, 2019, p. 280, no. 1039 (ill.) titled “Sails in the Lagoon” Exhibitions: Art Gallery of the National Association of Artists, Florence, n.d. (1920?); Minneapolis Art Institute, Minneapolis, undated (1961?) Certificates: certificate from the Phidias Gallery, undated Condition. Support: 80% Condition. Surface: 90% (scratches from 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 Son of Guglielmo Ciardi, the most famous Venetian landscape painter of the 19th century, and brother of Emma, Giuseppe (Beppe) Ciardi began his artistic journey by experimenting with plein air painting under his father’s guidance, later refining his figure painting skills under Ettore Tito at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. Through his friendship with Vittore Grubicy, however, he was able to update his father’s teachings by incorporating the innovations of Divisionist Luminism, demonstrating a strong connection to nature in harmony with Segantini’s artistic explorations. A prime example of this is the work “Wind in the Lagoon,” which is part of a successful series of seascapes in which the artist, in the 1920s, revisited the theme of the lagoon with boats—a subject that had been one of Guglielmo’s most successful motifs (see “Barche da pesca in riposo” (Fishing Boats at Rest), Rome, General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, and “Venezia,” reproduced in Enzo Savoia and Francesco Luigi Maspes, eds., “Guglielmo Ciardi: Protagonist of Nineteenth-Century Venetian Landscape Painting,” Crocetta del Montello, 2013, pp. 35 and 120–121). In the lagoon landscapes of the early postwar period, Beppe’s brushstrokes become increasingly rapid; the sea is rendered according to a personal interpretation of Divisionism through quick touches of color, while the cloud-rippled skies allow for the study of light in infinite variations. In the work under consideration, the focus is, in particular, on the effect of light passing through dark, stormy clouds to reflect off the water in the foreground. Following in his father’s footsteps, the artist combines landscape painting with the study of the customs and traditions of the Venetian lagoon, brought to life by bustling boats of various shapes and sizes. Two labels on the back attest to the painting’s presence at the National Artists’ Association Art Gallery, which operated in Florence from the early 20th century through the 1940s. From there, the work must have made its way to the United States, where in the 1960s it was part of the collection of the prominent energy entrepreneur R.M. Heskett, co-owner of the Minnesota Northern Power Co. (“Utility Corporations. Letter from the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission,” no. 84-1, Washington, 1936), as documented by an additional label relating to a loan for an exhibition held at the Art Institute of Minneapolis. Teresa Sacchi Lodispoto We thank Antonio Parronchi and Stefano Zampieri for further confirming the work’s authenticity based on photographic evidence.