ERNESTO FONTANA

LA GALLERYA PROPOSES OIL ON CANVAS BY THE MASTER ERNESTO FONTANA ENTITLED "FRUIT OF THE MASTER" IMPORTANT WORK OF THE ARTIST PRESENTED AT THE ITALIAN FINE ARTS EXHIBITION IN 1884 FROM WHICH LITOGRAPHIES WERE ALSO DRAWN IMPORTANT PRIVATE PROVENANCE H37X L30CM THE GALLERYA SNC WILL BE OPEN THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF AUGUST VISIT ALL OUR PROPOSALS ACCOMPANIED BY A CERTIFICATE OF AUTENTICITY WE PRIVATELY PURCHASE ANTIQUES, ANTIQUE FURNITURE, ENTIRE HERITAGES IMMEDIATE PAYMENT MAX RELIABILITY INFO LUCA SARIETTO 339 3797813 info@lagallerya.it LA GALLERYA 1000 SQM LARGE ANTIQUE MARKET WHOLESALE//RETAIL PURCHASE AND SALE ANTIQUES, MODERN ANTIQUES, VINTAGE NEW WEEKLY ARRIVALS ESTIMATES APPRAISALS, SUCCESSIONS AND INHERITANCE DIVISIONS IN VIA AUTOSTRADA 34D MAGLIANO ALPI HIGHWAY TO/SV CARRU EXIT 500M TO THE LEFT OPEN EVERY DAY FROM 09 TO 12.30 AND FROM 15 TO 19 SATURDAY SUNDAY INCLUDED RECEIPT BY APPOINTMENT OUTSIDE HOURS CLOSED ON TUESDAYS FONTANA, Ernesto. - He was born in Milan on February 12, 1837. He completed his studies at the Brera Academy, where he attended G. Bertini's courses, graduating in 1863. Like his master, F. initially moved towards the themes of historical romanticism. In 1860 he participated in the Canonica competition for history painting, winning with the painting Gerolamo Morone, grand chancellor of Duke Francesco Sforza, at the moment he is arrested in Novara by Antonio Leywa captain of Charles V (Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera). According to a letter accompanying the painting written by F. himself, he based the reconstruction on P. Verri's History of Milan (Previtera, 1993). In 1862 he obtained the prize in the painting class of the Brera Academy and, in the same year, took a studio in common with M. Bianchi in the old convent of S. Primo. F. took from the Scapigliatura the sentimental attitudes that he translated into the subjects of his paintings in a light and easily disseminated tone: gifted with a certain technical ability, he directed himself towards genre scenes and easy sketching, dedicating himself above all to painting graceful and mischievous female figures, to which he owed much of his popularity at the turn of the century. In 1870 he exhibited the painting Civetteria (catal., p. 15) at the Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts of Turin, currently at the Marangoni Gallery of Modern Art in Udine; in the following edition, in 1872, he participated with the works Dolce far niente and A memory of the father confessor (catal., pp. 9 ff.). In the same year he participated in the II National Exhibition of Fine Arts of the Brera Academy with the works Civetteria and again A memory of the father confessor (catal., pp. 28 ff.); also in 1872 he returned to history painting with the painting Maria Stuarda at the feet of Elizabeth of England in the park of Forteringa (catal., p. 28), which was awarded the gold medal at the National Painting Exhibition of Milan and later purchased by the British Museum in London. In 1873 his canvas entitled A lesson of love (Milan, Galleria d'arte moderna) was assigned by the Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts to the Municipality of Milan. In 1880 F. took part in the IV Exhibition of Fine Arts of Turin with a conspicuous nucleus of works, Piacerò?, Cibo dell'anima, Cibo del corpo, Lavoro e riposo, In piccionaia (catal., p. 72), and participated in the Donatello Exhibition of Florence with the painting Calma domestica. The following year he was present with a Portrait at the Exhibition of Fine Arts of Milan (catal., p. 97). In 1884 he presented the work Frutta pel padrone at the Italian Exhibition of Fine Arts of Turin (catal., p. 72). II F. also dedicated himself to the fresco decoration of churches and patrician palaces in Lombardy. Of particular note is a theory of nudes that decorated the bathroom of a rich and well-known Milanese (Marangoni, 1924) and above all the frescoes of some rooms of Villa Olmo in Como, owned by the dukes Visconti di Modrone. For this residence, F. painted the ceiling of the bedroom with an allegorical subject (La Fortuna surrounded by handmaidens and putti rising from the sea) and the sky of the small theater, built in 1883, with a Goddess and musical putti in the act of leafing through a large book of music, revisiting the decorative Baroque tradition in the wake of the eclectic inspiration of the decorative enterprises of the Bertini atelier. In 1887 he participated in the National Artistic Exhibition of Venice with the works Occhiata furtiva, Dolce far niente, Pesciolino all'amo, Pernice al laccio, Le ultime foglie, Un pensmento a lui (catal., p. 30). In the same year he executed La Carmen and La Mignon, two Belle Époque-style tables, which were given as a wedding gift to the spouses M. and L. Jalbert, and destined by the heirs to the Pinacoteca of Jesi (where they still are). These works had a particular success with the general public, and were disseminated through thousands of copies and oleographles, consolidating the fame of their author. In 1894 F. exhibited the painting Nell'harem (catal., p. 74) at the II Triennale Exhibition of the Brera Academy and in 1900 he took part with the genre sketch entitled Al levar del sole at the V. Alinari Exhibition competition in Florence, with the theme a Madonna with Child or a Mother with Child (catal., p. 43). His skill as a draughtsman led him towards graphics, as documented by his activity as an illustrator of periodicals: we remember the strongly caricatured lithographs made for the satirical newspapers Lo Spirito folletto and Il Pasquino, in collaboration with his younger brother Francesco. From 1894 to 1898 he alternated with A. Deon, S. Calcagni, E. Rossi, R. Paoletti and A. Terzi in illustrating the frontispiece and unbound plates of the periodical Natura ed arte with allegorical compositions, figures in historical costume and sketches imprinted with a popular and precious taste. As a portrait painter F. achieved remarkable results: we remember the Portrait of a lady of 1895, the Head of a woman and the Portrait of a man preserved at the Galleria d'arte moderna of Milan and the Portrait of Mrs. Ortelli Visconti (Milan, coll. Silva). In his last years F. lived secluded, now forgotten by the young generations. His last work, L'Odalisca II, is preserved together with other works of his in Cureglia, in Canton Ticino, where he had settled and where he died on July 25, 1918.