PAINTINGS, FURNITURE AND WORKS OF ART FROM THE COLLECTION OF GIANNI VERSACE VILLA FONTANELLE, MOLTRASIO

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Lot 5
  • 5

Fortunato Duranti

Estimate
600 - 1,000 GBP
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Description

  • Fortunato Duranti
  • a) figures on a terrace in a fantastical townscape;b) a couple standing at a harbour
  • both pen and brown ink and wash, within brown ink framing lines

Condition

a) Very good condiiton. Framed in a bronze frame. b) Framed. A slighty darkening of the sheet at the upper left margin, but overall in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

These drawings are charming examples of the distinctive and extraordinary graphic work of Fortunato Duranti.  The artist lived in provincial isolation in the borgo of Monetefortino in the Marches for much of his life and is known mainly for his drawings, of which several thousand survive.1  The purpose of the sheets remains obscure: they do not relate to his few known paintings and neither are they presentation drawings for sale, or publication.  In his catalogue of the 1965 exhibition on Duranti, Lorenz Eitner described them as 'the residue of private fantasy, the record of an obsessed and self-absorbed mind: an endless monologue carried on in a void'.2  The present lot is representative of such visions.  The landscapes are fantastical and poetic, the groups of figures seemingly illustrating a tale which defies interpretation.  

1. The main public collections are in the Biblioteca Communale, Fermo, the Pinacoteca, Montefortino and the Cooper Union Museum, New York.

2. L. Eitner, essay in Fortunato Duranti 1787-1963, exhibition catalogue, Stanford University, 1965