Ernesto Fontana (1837 - 1918) Civety, 1869 Oil... Lot 343

Ernesto Fontana (1837 - 1918) Civety, 1869 Oil on canvas 101.1 x 75 cm Signature: "E. Fontana" on recto Date: "1869" on recto Bibliography: Paola Dell'Armi, "Ernesto Fontana," in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 48, Rome, 1997, s.v. Conservation status. Support: 70% (important breakthrough at 7 restored, in the upper register) Conservation status. Surface: 80% (repainting, protective varnish). A pupil of Hayez and Bertini at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Fontana initially embarked on history painting, in accordance with the then-prevailing Romantic taste. In 1860 he participated in the Canonica competition for history painting, proving the winner with the painting "Gerolamo Morone, grand chancellor of Duke Francesco Sforza, at the moment he is arrested in Novara by Antonio Leywa captain of Charles V" (Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera). In 1862 he was awarded the prize in the painting class of the Brera Academy and took studio with Mosé Bianchi in the old convent of San Primo. In these years, Fontana approached Scapigliatura, grasping its light and captivating element: hence the female figures, often in acts of seduction, to which he owed much of his fame at the turn of the century. It is precisely the theme of the coquettish girl that is the subject of a series of works entitled "Civetteria," including the one in the auction, dated 1869, which could be identified with the canvas of the same title exhibited at the II National Exhibition of Fine Arts at the Brera Academy in 1872, rather than with the canvas of also enumerated as "Civetteria" in the catalog of the 1870 exhibition at the Società promotrice di belle arti in Turin, which corresponds to the painting now at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in Udine. The romantic theme alternates-ensuring the painter's success on seemingly different registers, but united by an interest in sentimental effects-with history painting. In 1872, in fact, Fontana offered a "Mary Stuart at the Feet of Elizabeth of England in the Park of Forteringa," which was awarded a gold medal at the National Painting Exhibition in Milan and was later acquired by the British Museum, while in 1873 "A Lesson in Love" (Milan, Gallery of Modern Art) was awarded by the Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts to the City of Milan. The romantic and sentimental theme also returned in 1880, the year in which Fontana exhibited a large nucleus of works, including "Piacerò?" at the Fourth Exhibition of Fine Arts in Turin. In 1887 he participated in the National Art Exhibition in Venice with, among others, "Furtive Glance" and "A Thought to Him." A successful illustrator for the publications "L'Illustrazione Italiana" and "L'Illustrazione Universale," Fontana was also commissioned to paint frescoes and ceiling designs for villas and churches. Some survive today, including those at Villa Erba and Villa Olmo, both on Lake Como.