Bronze Bust of Contadinella by Giovanni De Martino, Naples, Italy, Late 1800s

Details

Description

Item description:
Delicate bust of a girl or commoner, bronze sculpture from the late 1800s or early 1900s, in full … Read more Item description:
Delicate bust of a girl or commoner, bronze sculpture from the late 1800s or early 1900s, in full Art Nouveau style, created by Giovanni De Martino (1870-1935). The bronze is very old, it is not a recasting, i.e. a later reproduction, but 100% original. Beautiful patina and on the back, inside the bronze, you can clearly see the beautiful natural yellow color of the bronze, before burnishing, guaranteeing the high quality of the material used and therefore the originality of the work. Black garnet marble base.

Useful information for evaluating the object:
Online research shows that the four highest prices achieved by Giovanni De Martino's sculptures range from €4,000 to over €11,000, to which auction fees of 25-30% must be added. To validate the attribution of this work, we found the exact same bust entitled "La Contadinella" (The Peasant Girl), also attributed to Giovanni De Martino, which was auctioned in 2021, lot 354, at the Mount Kisco auction house in New York.


Information about the artist and/or manufacturer:
De Martino is a classical artist, known for producing sculptures depicting mainly small bronze busts, in particular ("scugnizzi," fishermen, commoners) with realistic features. He trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples under Stanislao Lista, Gioacchino Toma, and Achille D'Orsi. At a very young age, he moved to Paris, exhibiting frequently at the "Salon de Paris" where he won the Louvre Museum prize for his bronze work Le Pêcheur de criquets (The Locust Fisherman). Upon his return to Naples, he returned to socialist realism, producing sculptures depicting characteristic Neapolitan types, especially street urchins, "scugnizzi," children, and young fishermen. Later, the dominant theme of his work was childhood, particularly thoughtful, sad, emaciated children whose faces showed signs of abandonment and suffering. De Martino became known by the nickname "The sculptor of children." He took part in numerous national and international exhibitions, particularly between 1900 and 1929, exhibiting in Naples from 1892, in Paris from 1900, in St. Petersburg in 1902, in Rome in 1903, in Venice in 1905, and in Rimini in 1909 and later in 1922, 1924, and 1928 in Munich. He participated several times in the Venice Biennale in 1907, 1922, 1924, 1928, and 1930. In 1929, he exhibited at the exhibitions of the Campania Fine Arts Union, and was then present at the Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts in Naples in 1910 and at the Fiorentina Primaverile in Florence in 1922. His adolescent and childhood themes are rendered with such extraordinary effectiveness that even Benito Mussolini was greatly fascinated by them at the Rome Quadriennale in 1931 (January-June), where he presented himself with his friends, the "Italian artists of Paris," including Gino Severini, Filippo de Pisis, and Massimo Campigli.


This piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no
official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity



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