Francesco Guardi

Alfred Lindon (c. 1867–1948), Paris;

Confiscated from the above by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg and deposited at the Jeu de Paume on 10 December 1940;

Transferred to the Central Collecting Point Munich on 26 June 1945 (inv. no. 231/29);

Restituted to the Republic of France on 31 July 1946;

Restituted to Alfred Lindon (Lindenbaum), Paris, before February 1947;

His sale, Paris, Palais Galliéra, 9 June 1964, lot 31 (as attributed to Francesco Guardi, alongside its pendant, lot 32);

Private collection, Switzerland, by 2012;

Whence sold ('Property from a Swiss Private Collection'), London, Sotheby's, 5 December 2012, lot 44, for £133,250;

Where acquired by the present collector.

A. Morassi, Guardi. Antonio e Francesco Guardi, Venice 1973, vol. I, p. 443, no. 710, vol. II, reproduced fig. 667;

L. Rossi Bortolatto, L'opera completa di Francesco Guardi, Milan 1974, pp. 118 and 120, no. 508, reproduced;

A Morassi, Guardi. I dipinti, Venice 1993, vol. I, p. 443, no. 710, vol. II, reproduced fig. 667;

T. Vecchi, in Francesco Guardi. Vedute Capricci Feste, A. Bettagno (ed.), exh. cat., Venice 1993, p. 158, under no. 55.

Praised by Antonio Morassi as an 'Esemplare squisito, dal tocco immediato. Uno tra i capricci più notevoli di questo genere', ¹ this accomplished capriccio was painted by Francesco Guardi at the height of his powers. It forms part of a small groups of paintings and one drawing which feature the same ruined Roman arch. The source for the design is most probably the pen-and-ink drawing formerly in the Boerner collection in Düsseldorf,² which in turn seems to have served as a preliminary study for a capriccio of horizontal format formerly in the Momigliano collection in Milan.³

Two other related capricci of vertical format are known, both on canvas and also of notable quality: one in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan,⁴ and the other in a private collection, sold, alongside its pendant, from the collection of Jaime Ortiz-Patiño, at Sotheby's, New York, in May 1992 for $495,000.⁵

Note on Provenance

Alfred Lindon (born Lindenbaum) was a successful jeweller and pearl merchant who settled first in London and later in Paris, where he assembled an important private art collection ranging from Old Master paintings to Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works. During the Second World War, a substantial portion of his collection was seized by the Nazi authorities following the occupation of Paris. The present painting was among the works recovered after the war and was restituted to Lindon before February 1947, one year before his death.

¹ 'An exquisite example, with real freshness of touch. One of the most noteworthy capricci of this type'; Morassi 1993, vol. I, p. 443.

² A. Morassi, Guardi. I disegni., Venice 1993, p. 164, no. 486, reproduced fig. 480.

³ https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/71490/Guardi%20Francesco%2C%20Capriccio%20con%20rovine%20classiche%20e%20figure%20in%20riva%20al%20mare

⁴ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francesco_guardi,_capriccio_architettonica_con_rovine_romane_e_laguna,_1775_circa.JPG

⁵ 'Property from the Collection of Jaime Ortiz-Patiño', New York, Sotheby's, 22 May 1992, lot 47.