Giovanni Battista Piazzetta - Two Figures Reading - image-1

Lot 1144 Dα

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta - Two Figures Reading

Auction 1141 - overview Cologne
16.11.2019, 11:00 - Paintings and Drawings 15th - 19th C.
Estimate: 40.000 € - 50.000 €
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Giovanni Battista Piazzetta

Two Figures Reading

Charcoal and chalk on tinted paper. 40.5 x 31.5 cm.

The present work is a characteristic drawing by the great Venetian painter who produced sheets like these as stand-alone works. They not only served as inspiration for paintings, but were also reproduced in copperplate engravings and disseminated throughout Europe. In "Life and Poetry", Johann Wolfgang von Goethe even mentions copying engravings of Piazzetta's works as a young man in order to learn draughtsmanship.

Piazzetta's "Teste" were always especially popular among drawing collectors. The finest among them even made their way into the collection of the English royal family during the artist's lifetime and are still housed in Windsor Castle to this day.

In very good condition.

Certificate

George Knox, 31.3.2007.

Provenance

Sotheby´s, London 1920. - Collection of Charles Férault, Biarritz (George Knox 31.3.2007). - Lempertz, Cologne 19.11.2011, lot 1380. - Rhenish private collection.

Literature

For more on the drawings of Piazzetta cf.: G. Knox (ed.), Piazzetta. A Tercentary Exhibition of Drawings, Prints and Books, Washington, National Gallery 1983.