Aaron Anderson
Specialist, Head of Sale
Lot 44
Robert Frederick Blum(1857-1903)Italian Market Scene 18 x 28 1/2in (45.7 x 72.4cm)
29 July 2020, 16:00 EDT
New YorkUS$10,000 - US$15,000
Looking for a similar item?
Our American Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
Robert Frederick Blum (1857-1903)
Italian Market Scene
signed and dated 'Blum / 88.' (lower left)
pastel on paper tacked over wooden stretchers
18 x 28 1/2in (45.7 x 72.4cm)
Executed in 1888.
signed and dated 'Blum / 88.' (lower left)
pastel on paper tacked over wooden stretchers
18 x 28 1/2in (45.7 x 72.4cm)
Executed in 1888.
Footnotes
Provenance
Ms. Elizabeth Hammond, Santa Barbara, California.
Mrs. Alice Rosenfelder, gift of the above.
Mr. Otto Ross, Long Beach, California, by descent from the above, by 2003.
By descent to the present owner.
Robert Frederick Blum made numerous trips abroad, returning to Italy often and he lived there from June 1885 to November 1886. When Blum executed Italian Market Scene in 1888, he had already spent a great deal of time studying the unvarnished everyday life of the people of Italy and creating picturesque images of women engaged in local crafts and chores of the Veneto region. Furthermore, he continued to spend his time exploring and mastering the use of pastel. In the present work, Blum immerses the viewer into an Italian city market scene by giving the perspective of standing behind the young woman featured prominently to the far right wrapped in a dark red shawl. The market unfolds ahead of her and the viewer can see a man presenting his best offerings. Throughout the market, more boisterous women browse the stands and the viewer can imagine that they will likely bring their finds for the day back home to prepare for their families or the households they work for. Everyday urban life and the women that traverse through it would remain a subject that Blum would continue to revisit throughout his career. Italian Market Scene stands prominently in Blum's oeuvre as one of the artist's most accomplished works on the subject of Italy alongside his prized painting Venetian Lacemakers (Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio) completed in 1887 that won him the 1889 Bronze Medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.