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CONTENTS: This stunning, large and finely executed pencil sketch by listed artist Estella Canziani depicts a semi-nude male in classical pose, taken from life and done (as the inscription by the professor states) in 9 sittings.
The visiting professor, John Henry Frederick Bacon has inscribed the sketch at bottom right 'H.H.F. Bacon Esq, R A. (visitor)' and dated it 'June 10, 1910', following his written observation '9 sittings', the length of time it took Canziani to complete the work. As was the manner at the time, visiting professors from the Royal Academy would sign off the work of their protegées. It appears to be further signed by an examiner indistinctly beneath.
The portrait is extremely well done, as we hope our photos show. It is also a great association piece between Canziani, and Bacon, two very respected artists of their generation.
Estella (Louisa Michaela) Canziani (12 January 1887 – 23 August 1964) was a British portrait and landscape painter, an interior decorator and a travel writer and folklorist.
Born in London, Estella Canziani was the daughter of the painter Louisa Starr (1845–1909) and Enrico Canziani (1848–1931), an Italian civil engineer. She lived all her life in the family home at 3 Palace Green, in the grounds of Kensington Palace. She trained as an artist, studying first at the 'Copernicus', a Kensington school run by Sir Arthur Cope and Erskine Nicol, then at the Royal Academy schools. She exhibited at the RA London, Liverpool, Milan, Venice and France. Her most famous work was a water colour entitled The Piper of Dreams, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1915. Reproductions of the work are said to have rivalled Holman Hunt's The Light of the World in popularity.
She travelled extensively throughout Europe, particularly in Italy. Her paintings document the clothes and lifestyle of the local people living in remote villages in Northern Italy. She also worked as a book illustrator.
She published three travel books: Costumes, Traditions and Songs of Savoy (1911), Piedmont (1913) and Through the Apennines and the Lands of the Abruzzi (1928), her writings gaining her membership of the Royal Geographical Society. She published a number of articles in the journal of the Folklore Society. She also published an autobiography: Round About Three Palace Green (1939).
A large part of her collection is preserved in the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Canziani was a Quaker and member of the Royal Society of British Artists, Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, Society of Painters in Tempera, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Folklore Society. [Wikipedia]
John Henry Frederick Bacon (1868 - 24 Jan 1914) was a British painter and illustrator of genre works, history and bible scenes, and portraits. He was the second son of John Cardanall Bacon, a well-known lithographer, and showed artistic talent from a very young age. He trained at the Westminster School of Art and the Royal Academy in London. In his teens he had already acquired a reputation as an outstanding Black and White illustrator, and at the age of 18 set off on a professional tour of India and Burma.
On his return to England, in 1889, Bacon exhibited "The Village Green" and "Nevermore" at the Royal Academy and was a regular exhibitor from then on. He enjoyed great success as a painter of religious works, historical scenes; as well as portraiture and genre scenes. He was an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) and was awarded the MVO (Member of the Royal Victorian Order) for distinguished service to the King. Bacon also provided illustrations for books as well as magazines and periodicals. Bacon married in 1894 and took up residence at "Pillar House" in Harwell, Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire). He had 7 children. He died, of acute bronchitis on 24 January 1914, aged only 49. [Wikipedia]
The item is mounted and framed, but will be despatched without the glass to ensure its safety in transit.
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