Gaetano Chierici It. 1838–1920 The Mask Signed and dated "Chierici Gaetano [sic] 1871" l.l. Oil on canvas 31 x 41 in. 78.7 x 104.1 cm Property of the Estate of William F. Herman,
Georgetown, Maine Provenance: Purchased by the current owner's great grandmother in Italy ca. 1874. It has never since been for sale privately or at auction. A copy of a letter written in Italian by the artist to the current owner's great grandmother in which he refers to her purchase of "The Mask" accompanies the lot.
Gaetano Chierici: In my painting there is no inspiration of hidden meaning; there are no melancholy figures, rigid and vague in symbolism to delight the minds of the philosophers, but there is a profound affection for family, that's what inspires me.  That's why I was, and remain, a 'picture seller,' which is what they called me many years ago and which was reinforced to me by my children with the caresses and looks constantly radiating the smiles of their infancy; just as did my life's companion with the joyful surroundings that she created in my house." Chierici was one of the leading artists of the Italian School during the 19th Century. His subjects, here as everywhere, gave freshness to old themes. The Magazine of Art wrote in 1881: "We owe much to a painter who gives us homely subjects treated with sincerity and directness.  He has made poor Italian interiors his own, and paints the peasant and his children with an intimate sympathy and cordiality… Chierici has lived among his subjects, and paints people and things with a sincere and intense reality." That kind of description is rarely ascribed to a 19th Century masterpiece. But one has only to look at Chierici's images, the current one included, to realize that the artist was nothing short of a master. Every bit of this image demonstrates how hand, paint, and brush can work masterfully together with intuition to create illusion, not what we would today call photographic.This particular image proved to be extremely popular and it was reproduced several times both by the artist himself and by competent followers.Several of these images have appeared on the market, and prices realized have ranged from $2,000 to nearly $300,000. The image at Barridoff stands as unique because it was purchased in Italy by the great grandparents of the current owner, a Maine family, in the late 18th Century and has never since been offered for sale privately or at auction. Some of the above material was found at askART.com. A copy of this image dated 1874 by the artist and of similar size was sold at Sotheby's London, New Bond Street in 2015 for $198,290 (£131,000). This one is dated three years earlier,1871 and, given the date and the letter (see above), appears to be the earliest known still in private hands. Purchased by the current owner's great grandmother in Italy in 1874, it has never since been for sale privately or at auction. (In response to a request for clarification, the current Mr. Herman wrote as follows: "I've asked my sisters. To the best of our knowledge it was one of our great great or just great grandmothers who purchased the painting, either Susan. B. Farnham Williams (1828-1919) or Elizabeth Stafford Town Field (1814-1895). Based on an old photograph of Susan B. Farnham William's living room in the early 20th Century, we believe she was the purchaser."

Good condition, good appearance, old wax lining (reversible with no harm done if desired but not essential and with no bearing on the surface recto), a few very minor spots of restoration at the extremes that would be hidden by a proper frame liner, possibly an old spot or two elsewhere