We’ve got exciting news about the our of three Maritime paintings that allude to the Habsburg family. You may remember the posts from back in 2009, where we explored the lore of the Habsburg dynasty, symbolism of the flags, and the allusions to Greek and Roman myths.
Carlton Hobbs LLC
This painting, by the French artist Adolphe Demange, depicts the Duchess d’Uzès working on a monumental sculpture of Joan of Arc in the workshop of her mentor, the painter and sculptor Jean-Alexandre-Josef Falguière. Demange (1857- after 1927) was a portraitist who was inducted into the Society of French Artists after 1901, and appeared in the Society’s expositions between 1896 and 1926. He signed the painting at the upper right: “To the valiant artist-sculptor Mme La Duchesse d’Uzès, tribute of the painter A.D. Demange.”
Detail of signature
A few weeks ago we posted about an interesting painting whose mystery was slowly being uncovered. We now have another exciting piece of information to share about the family depicted.
We now know that the group within a neoclassical interior almost certainly depicts the apothecary Konrad Göschl and his wife Franziska, possibly with their children. It was painted by the artist Clemens Johann Evangelist della Croce (1782-1824), active in Burghausen, Bavaria in the 19th century.
This painting of a group within a neoclassical interior has been in Carlton Hobbs’ personal collection for nearly 26 years and has remained a mystery. Until now…
The group may be a family, though that is not certain. The young girl on the left was clearly not painted at the same time as the other figures, based on her unusual pallor and the fact that her dress covers an original signature on the lower left of the canvas.
Possibly Brazilian School. First half of the eighteenth century.
Oil on canvas.
Height: 41″ (104 cm); Width: 32 1/2″ (81.5 cm). 9897
The painting belongs to a small, but increasingly examined, body of works in which black subjects are depicted in all manner of roles, from subservient to scholarly. While the representation of blacks following intellectual pursuits is rare, it is not unheard of, as seen in the portrait Francis Williams, the Negro Scholar of Jamaica circa 1740, in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The son of wealthy former slaves, Williams enjoyed a European lifestyle and the opportunity to pursue poetry and mathematics. In his portrait, Williams is depicted in his study with the Jamaican city of Spanish Town in the distance. While the subject of the present painting also appears to enjoy some level of luxury, the context is more ambiguous.
It’s Women’s History Month, and we have a very interesting painting of two ladies to share with you!
The painting depicts a black female artist completing a portrait of a well-to-do European lady. Black female images are extremely uncommon in 18th century art, which begs the question as to whether the picture may be an actual self-portrait, as opposed to a playful fantasy. An eminent painting conservator in NYC has inspected the painting and confirmed that it was painted in the early 18th century, however, it is unclear as to where it was executed.
La Toilette. Turkish School, 18th century. Carlton Hobbs LLC.
“La toilette,” a term first used in the 16th century, describes “the process by which aristocrats prepared themselves every morning to face the world.”1 It was a long and complex exercise, which could be estimated to last at three hours from start to finish, and included the preparation of the skin, makeup, perfume and coiffure. In the 18th century the toilette evolved from a dressing procedure to an all-out ceremony or performance. “The most stylish citizens of Versailles adored showing themselves off while they were in the process of being dressed.”2 The term is also applied to furniture of the boudoir such; a dressing table, such as the one below, and all appurtenances are also considered the toilette or table de toilette.
This mysterious painting of an open hand dates back to 1633 according to one of the many inscriptions on the canvas. Measuring 49 inches high, 28 inches wide, this intriguing painting contains multiple cryptic Latin phrases and is of uncertain origin.
According to Dr. George Szabo, former director of the Lehman collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the painting is probably a unique example of an instructive work of art that may have adorned the study of a Late Renaissance patron with a strong bent to the philosophic or scientific. The lettering and numerals, being highly accomplished ,leads one to believe that it probably was painted in one of the leading Italian centers with a strong tradition of calligraphy.
This set of eight large watercolors of World War I Airplanes was painted by Riccardo Caviglioli (1895 -1975), an Italian aviator and painter born in Milan. Caviglioli received multiple decorations during World War I, and during his lifetime worked as an aeronautical writer, designer and illustrator for advertising campaigns. Additionally, he wrote a book entitled Austrian-Hungary Aviation on the Italian Front between 1915 and 1918 published in 1930.
Caviglioli’s aviation watercolors were first presented at the Torino Exposition in 1928. His designs represent true historic reconstructions of a glorious past, and through his artistic style he was able to depict the impression of flight, glides, turns and takeoffs.
This painting of unusually large scale (at just over 14 feet long) depicts the entrance front of the great house of Denham Place, Buckinghamshire and has been attributed to the artist Peter Hartover. The painting, which can be dated on the grounds of stylistic comparison with other of Hartover’s works to around 1675, records the appearance of Denham Place after the addition of a vast façade by Sir William Bowyer (1612-79) in the 1650s and before its rebuilding by Sir Roger Hill from 1688.
