GAETANO CHIERICI | Surprised!

John Alfred Spranger, Florence (by 1938. John Alfred was the son of Robert William Spranger, the artist's dealer who promoted his work in Germany)

Purchased by the great grandfather of the present owner circa 1950; thence by descent 

'Una catastrofe. Quadro di Gaetano Chierici', in L'Italia Centrale, 3 February 1889, mentioned

Nello Quilici, 'La mostra emiliana d'arte moderna. Un grande maestro: Gaetano Chierici', in La rivista di Ferrara, Ferrara, June 1933

Enrico Somaré, Città di Reggio Emilia: Gaetano Chierici, pittore dell'infanzia ridente, Reggio Emilia, 1938, fig. 17, illustrated (and erroneously dated 1889)

Elio Monducci, Gaetano Chierici 1838 - 1920, mostra antologica, Reggio Emilia, 1986,p. 205, no. 161, catalogued & illustrated (titled Patatrach! and erroneously dated 1887)

Munich, Münchener Jahresausstellung, 1889, no. 167, illustrated

Ferrara, Mostra emiliana d'arte moderna, 1933

Reggio Emilia, Gaetano Chierici pittore, 1938, no. 19 (lent by John Alfred Spranger)

This tour de force painting is testament to the artist's fame as one of the most celebrated Italian genre painters of the nineteenth century. He was the master of capturing the fleeting expression, usually happiness or surprise, and of attention to detail. Often, as in the present work, the setting for his paintings was the farmhouse kitchen, a choice no doubt influenced by his own experiences growing up in a poor family.