GUSTAVO SIMONI
Italian, 1846-1926
The Musicians
Signed and dated G. Simoni Roma 1888
Watercolor and gum arabic on paper
27 x 40½ inches (68.5 x 103cm)
Framed: 32¼ x 46½ inches (82 x 117 cm)
Gustavo Simoni was fascinated with the subject of North African musicians. In 1881, a member of the French Scientific Congress, the Vicomte de Pulligny, was visiting Tlemcen and described meeting Simoni in his memoir, Six Semaines en Algérie. They attended a local festival with Algerian musicians and dancers. Simoni produced several versions of this composition during his career. Another large scale watercolor of the subject, also titled The Musicians, is in the Shafik Gabr Collection: "Completed in Rome, this work was most definitely based on sketches [Simoni] did during his stay in Tlemcen and even though not painted in situ it conveys a remarkable sense of realism... The mannerisms and facial expressions of each of the men are sensitively portrayed and the exquisite rendering of the carpet makes this work by Simoni a tour de force" (Ahmed-Chaouki Rafif, ed., The Shafik Gabr Collection, Paris, 2012, p. 399).
Provenance
Private Collection, New York
$85,000