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All auctions / Miscellaneous / Giovanni Battista Quadrone (1844-1898) - Il riposo del cacciatore


Giovanni Battista Quadrone (Mondovì, January 5, 1844 – Turin, November 23, 1898) The hunter's rest 1897. private collection Milan Work published in the Comanducci. In Color on page 2609 Edition IV volume IV of 1974 Giovanni Battista Quadrone (Mondovì, January 5, 1844 – Turin, November 23, 1898) was an Italian painter. Biography The formative years (1861 - 1868) From a wealthy family (his father was an entrepreneur active in the marble trade and sale), he could indulge his artistic inclinations, leaving the profitable family business to enroll in 1861 at the Albertina Academy of Turin, where he studied first under Enrico Gamba and later Gaetano Ferri, immediately distinguished himself in annual competitions and, in his diploma year (1868), won the first prize at the three-year competition with the painting Eudoro and Cimodocea in the Colosseum at the moment of being attacked by the crowd (a scene taken from the popular historical novel Les Martyrs by Chateaubriand). At that date, however, he had already participated in and exhibited at the Promotrice in Turin (in 1865 with Vittor Pisani in prison and in 1866 with Amleto in the cemetery, now at the GAM in Turin), albeit with the qualification of "pupil of the Albertina Academy, school of Cav. Ferri". These years were marked by a strong influence from his master, still tied to a genre painting with historical-epic scenes, but Quadrone managed to mediate and lightened it in some way, using literary subjects or scenes in period costumes with a theatrical flavor, arousing the interest of the bourgeoisie and ensuring immediate success. The 'Italian Meissonnier' (1870 - 1880) The Circus, 1894 In 1870 he stayed in Paris, where he attended the studio of Jean-Léon Gérôme, with the aim of enriching his formative experience also with transalpine expressiveness; the rapid events of the Franco-Prussian War, however, forced him to return to Italy already in October of the same year, later moving to Turin. Here Quadrone will make the most of the even brief French experience, developing precise and meticulous painting, moving from historical-literary subjects to scenes of daily life in costume, sometimes ironic or excessively theatrical, so much so that he was subsequently defined as the "Italian Meissonier". It is from this period, in fact, the works A Jester, exhibited at the Promotrice in Turin in 1871, Soliloquio, exhibited at the Promotrice in Turin in 1875, Uff, com'è dura, or Ah, briccone! these last two from 1874 and exhibited both in Florence at the Luigi Pisani Art Gallery, with whom he had signed a two-year contract (subsequently tacitly renewed), which led his paintings to quickly reach very high valuations thanks to the prudent management of the Florentine dealer. Maturity: the hunting theme and landscape painting (1880 – 1898) The global economic crisis and the resulting stagnation in the antique market pushed Quadrone to seek new market outlets in Europe, especially in England, France, and the Prussian area. He would again vary his painting subjects, turning to landscape painting and hunting subjects (the latter derived from his passion for hunting and his reputation as an expert in cinetics), overcoming the previous paintings' courtly refinements and artificial prettiness to reach a stricter and more authentic description. With these subjects Quadrone would reach the height of his artistic maturity, mediated by the study of truth (especially through his stays in Sardinia), and would lead to the definitive consecration of his art, with important acquisitions by museum institutions (Una vecchia berlina and Vergognosa, acquired by the Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Turin; Ritorno, acquired by the Galleria d'arte moderna in Rome).
Estimate:$11,377.73
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Estimate:
$11,377.73


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