LONDON.- Tomasso Brothers Fine Art, renowned specialist in important European sculpture, is pleased to once again be participating at TEFAF Fall New York, 28 October - 1 November 2017, at the Park Avenue Armory. The gallery exhibits in the historic and recently restored rooms of the second floor.
Amongst highlights on their stand will be a fine marble carved Head of Juno, dating to circa 1st - 2nd century AD. The very high quality of the carving, visible in the subtle rendering of the curls, the crisp outline of the eyes, the elegantly parted lips and in the regular arch of the brows, indicates that the head was executed by a skilled artist trained in the heart of the Empire, most likely Rome, between the first and second centuries AD, at the height of the city’s power.
Another special work to feature on their stand at TEFAF Fall New York is ‘View of the bay of Naples with Vesuvius from Posillipo’, a large landscape painting by Pietro Fabris, active in Naples 1756-1792. He played a significant role in the development of eighteenth-century Neapolitan landscape painting and enjoyed great admiration among the visiting Grand Tourists in Naples. His popularity among English visitors in particular was no doubt increased by his close relationship with Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), the British Envoy Extraordinary in Naples. Fabris is said to have sometimes added the phrase 'English painter' to his signature. While he may have had some ancestral link with the country, his efforts to maintain his relationship with England would certainly have enhanced his popularity with English patrons and his signature may have been a simple homage to his clientele.
Prior to their return to New York, Tomasso Brothers is also exhibiting at the International Antiques Biennial (BIAF) in Florence with a display paying homage to Florentine art. The Fair, to be held from 23 September to 1 October 2017 in the magnificent Palazzo Corsini, is one of the world’s greatest showcases for Italian art. The gallery will focus exclusively on the art of Florence, with all works being either by Florentine artists, or created in Florence.
An important centrepiece of the stand is a masterful bronze allegorical group circa 1695 representing Charity by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi (1656-1740). Beautifully cast, with a finely worked surface and an extremely high quality of finish, the sculpture’s complex, translucent, golden patina reveals warm, red undertones that are highly characteristic of Soldani-Benzi’s bronzes.
In Florence the gallery will also feature an exquisite Renaissance Madonna and Child composition, a polychrome stucco circa 1423-1440 attributed to Lorenzo Ghiberti (c.1378-1455), who at only 20 years of age was awarded the commission to make the bronze doors of the Florentine Baptistery, after winning a famed competition in which the losers included Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446).
