People: boy or girl

This is a printed reproduction of a drawing owned by the Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria.  (1)

Title:  Mauro Gandolfi sitting at a table, his head resting on his right

Artist:  Gaetano Gandolfi, 1734-1802, Bologna, Italy

Date:  c. 1770s

Material of original:  “trois crayons,” black chalk and stumping, heightened with white and red chalk on beige paper  (Stumping is using a cylinder of rolled paper to blend the chalk or pencil marks.)

Size of reproduction:  8” x 11.25”, about the same size as the original

 

Painter Gaetano Gandolfi drew pictures of his children.  This is his oldest son Mauro, born in 1764, Bologna, Italy.  A note on the drawing says it is Mauro.

Or is it?  An expert, Mimi Cazort, thinks it could be the artist’s daughter Marta, b. 1771.  Take a look at this other drawing, owned by the Morgan Library and Museum, NYC.  Portrait of the Artist’s Daughter Marta was made about 1778.  (2)

But then again, here’s another drawing by Gaetano that was auctioned by Sotheby’s in 2008 for 109,250 GBP, about $140,000.  Portrait of a Young Boy looks familiar.  (3)

It seems these are the same kid, same hair, same shirt.  So is it Marta or Mauro?  The Gandolfis were a family of artists.  Mauro became a professor of painting and made prints.  Here is a self portrait he made at age 21.  This painting is in the National Gallery of Bologna.  I can see a resemblance.  Maybe.  (4)

Mauro Gandolfi (1764-1834, 70 years) was born and died in Bologna.  He moved to Paris and worked as an engraver.  He visited New York City and Philadelphia in 1816.  Mauro was part of a family of artists, mostly painters, and he became a professor at his alma mater, the Academy of Fine Arts, Bologna.

His father Gaetano Gandolfi (1734-1802) was born and died in the region of Bologna, Italy.  He painted in the Baroque and Neoclassic eras.  He visited England.  His seven sons were also painters, as was his brother and grandson.

There are more drawings of his children if you search.

Sources:

1. Albertina Museum website, http://sammlungenonline.albertina.at/?query=Inventarnummer=[1871]&showtype=record
2. Morgan Library and Museum website, https://www.themorgan.org/drawings/item/141770
3. Sotheby’s website, http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/old-master-drawings-l08040/lot.123.html
4. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauro_Gandolfi