Sale 2605, Lot 551Jose Villegas y Cordero (Spanish/Italian, 1848-1921), "Market in July,"oil on canvas, signed lower right "J. Villegas" and titled in Italian "mercado in Giulio", presented in a wood frame,
H.- 14 1/4 in., W.- 20 1/4 in., Framed- H.- 17 3/4 in., W.- 23 1/2 in.
$800-1,200
Other Notes: Jose Villegas studied and lived in Italy for the majority of his career, first in Venice and later in Rome. In 1898 he was appointed as the director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome ( a post he held until 1918). In recognition of position in Italy he was also made director of the Prado Museum in 1901. Mariano Barbasan Lagueruela, a fellow Spaniard, and accomplished painter, also worked in Rome between 1912- 1921, and would have been well acquainted with Villegas, 20 years his senior, and director of the Academy of Fine Arts. Lagueruela is known to have painted this exact same market scene in the outskirts of Rome. Whether the Spanish artists painted the scene together on one of their sojourns to Anticoli Corrado (Italian countryside village) or Villegas (or vice versa) copied the work of the other is not known. Both artists were known to copy the works of other contemporary artists and Villegas' later style exhibits loose brush work, with variations in his signature without the crossed V that also include his full name and the initial J.
Provenance: Property from the Estate of Murphy A. Bourke, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Condition:There are two well integrated wax patch repairs en verso with correspondent inpainting on the right side of the canvas to the entryway on the building on the left above the stairs and to right (left facing) edge of the second building from the left. These repairs are not readily visible except under UV light which also detected minor abrading, a flake loss, and inpainted "touch-ups" to the top center of the sky. Surface is relatively clean and free of soiling with light craquelure. There are two tiny staple-sized punctures/holes to the canvas in the lower right quadrant. The holes are so small that light does not really shine through to photograph well. In overall good condition. Condition is as to be expected with age, material and medium.
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Condition is not stated in
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