Telemaco Signorini

Benaim Collection, Florence (by 1930)
Camillo Giussani, Erba (by 1949)
Private Collection, Italy
Acquired by the parents of the present owners

Milan, Galleria dell'Arte, Mostra inaugurale di pittori italiani dell'Ottocento, 1922, illustrated in the catalogue
Florence, Regia Galleria dell'Accademia, Onoranze a Telemaco Signorini, 1926, no. 211
Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Mostra del Centenario della Società Amatori e Cultori di Arte a Roma. Mostra dell'Ottocento, 1930, room XVII, no. 9 (as Ore d'Ozio a Riomaggiore; lent by Benaim)
Milan, Galleria dell'Esame, Glorie della pittura italiana dell'Ottocento, March 1946
New York, Wildenstein & Co., Pittori italiani dell'Ottocento, 1949, no. 100, illustrated in the catalogue (lent by Camillo Giussani)
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Centro d'Arte Dolomiti, Omaggio a Telemaco Signorini, 1970, no. 26, illustrated in the catalogue
Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, Pittori italiani dell'Ottocento, 1973, no. 16, illustrated in the catalogue
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Toskanische Impressionen: der Beitrag der Macchiaioli zum europäischen Realismus, 1975-6, no. 251, illustrated in the catalogue

Enrico Somarè, Signorini, Milan, 1926, p. 40, pl. 55, illustrated (as Ore d'ozio a Riomaggiore)
Enrico Somarè, Storia dei pittori italiani dell'Ottocento, Milan, 1928, vol. II, p. 186
Enrico Somarè, La pittura italiana dell'Ottocento, Novara, 1944, p. 30, mentioned
M. Carrà, 'Mostre in Italia' in Notizie d'arte, vol. V, Milan, 1973, p. 11, no. 10

Original canvas. Ultraviolet light reveals some minor retouching in the red hair of the seated woman at the far right and a couple of scatterd tiny spots. There is a circa 7cm vertical tear to the right of the head of the woman with the yellow scarf, and two small repaired punctures, one in the centre and one to the upper right of this (the three patched on the reverse). There is some frame rubbing along the extreme lower edge. The painting would benefit from retouching to the repaired tears and a light surface clean. Held in an elaborate gold-painted wood and plaster frame. The colours in the catalogue illustration are overall accurate.
"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."

Signorini began visiting the village of Riomaggiore in 1881, and returned often over the following fifteen years. Perched on a steep cliff running down to the sea, the village is the southernmost of the Cinque Terre, the five rugged coastal settlements in the Italian region of Liguria. The region and its inhabitants provided not only the subject for an important series of paintings, but also a book about the village and the villagers, written by Signorini and published posthumously by his brother Paolo in 1920.

The present work, painted circa 1892-4, dates from Signorini's main period of artistic production in Riomaggiore. In some of his works the focus is on the village and landscape, depicting slopes, the roofs of small houses clinging to the hills and the gulf of La Spezia. The present work and others like it (fig. 1), however, focus on the lives of the village's inhabitants: children seated with their mothers, knitting and chatting, the ladies' gold earrings, hair a la greca, pulled back into a cuin, their yellow, blue, or emerald-green mandilla scarves - all are captured in the present work, as in the artist's book, which gives the ladies' particular names - Gibbina, Crova, Mentona, Martorina, and so on. In his book Signorini describes his growing familiarity with the villagers, and their eagerness to appear in his paintings.