Study of a Reclining Woman

c. 1900

Attributed to Giovanni Boldini (1842–1931) Studies of Women: Cabaret Dancers, Horsewoman, and Female Profiles Circa 1900 Ink wash and brown wash on paper, 28.5 x 19.5 cm Unsigned I...

Italian School, late 16th century Head of a Man and Écorché Studies of Arms Red chalk on laid paper, 21 x 11 cm Provenance: Collection of Michael Jaffé CBE (1923–1997), English art historian and Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Private collection, France This drawing, attributed to the Italian School of the late 16th century, demonstrates the influence of Michelangelo’s approach to anatomy and expression. The sheet combines two distinct studies: an anatomical rendering of arms in the écorché technique, focusing on the musculature and skeletal details, and a head of a man, drawn with careful attention to light and shadow. The use of red chalk lends the work warmth and immediacy, qualities often associated with Renaissance studies of the human form. The écorché studies reflect the Renaissance fascination with anatomy as both an artistic and scientific pursuit. The detailed depiction of the musculature suggests the artist’s interest in understanding the mechanics of the body, a practice heavily influenced by Michelangelo’s drawings...

The drawing is an “Academic study”, as we can notice by the deep attention given to lights and shadows (emphasized by the use of both black and white chalk) and by the plastic pose o...

Antoniucci Volti (French, 1915-1989) Untitled, 1969 Ink on paper 11 x 14 3/4 in. (each panel) Signed: Volti Sculptor, painter, and printmaker Antoniucci Volti was born in Albano, Italy, in 1915. His family lived in there until 1920 when the family moved to France to stay. Volti studied at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Nice from 1928 to 1920. By 1932 the young artist had won a gold medal for two polychrome bas-reliefs before going to Paris, where he entered the studio of Jean Boucher at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris at the age of only fifteen. After serving in the Second World War, when he was interned as a prisoner of war in Bavaria, he returned in poor health to Paris, only to find his studio destroyed. From 1947 he showed work at various Paris Salons and, in 1954 and 1955 at the Brussels and Antwerp Biennales. In 1957 a retrospective of his work was organized at the Museum Rodin in Paris. He died in Paris in 1989 Works by Volti are in leading museums such as the Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris. Antoniucci Volti is one of the most important Late Modern sculptors...