This year, with the French fair going annual, they followed hard on each others’ heels. Paris had hardly taken down its stands before Florence opened its doors (from September 23-October 1).
Around 80 exhibitors are spread throughout the rooms on the first and second floors of the Palazzo showing their wares in amongst the painted ceilings and marble surrounds. The majority of the exhibitors are Italian, although the overseas input includes some notable London dealers.
Pictured here is a view of the venue and a selection of works that caught ATG's eye on a tour round the event.
The Palazzo Corsini
Appropriately for a fair staged in the cradle of the Renaissance, the Florence Biennale leans firmly towards Italian art. Old Masters, early sculpture and some interesting 19th century works are leavened with slices of contemporary art, antique furnishings and objects such as maiolica or Trapani work.
Two main attractions are the fair’s venue and its setting. It is staged in the Palazzo Corsini, an imposing 17th century building that overlooks the river Arno.
Antonacci Lapiccirella
This spherical continuous profile portrait of Mussolini from 1933 by Bertelli is on the stand of Francesca Antonacci and Damiano Lapiccirella from Rome priced at €22,000. The 13 x 10in (33 x 26cm) model was produced in ceramic, wood and marble (there is a version in the Imperial War Museum) but the dealers know of no other example in bronze. The dealers had already sold half a dozen pieces by the first weekend of the fair.
Michel Descours
Featured on the stand of Michel Descours from Lyon, France, is this 2ft 5in x 2ft (73 x 60cm) oil on canvas of c.1854-5 by the English artist Robert Alexander Hillingford. It depicts an Italian shepherd on the Pontine marshes lying on a rustic platform, with his flock of sheep and dog in the background and is priced at €38,000.
Wildt
The distinctive work of the Italian sculptor Adolfo Wildt (1868-1931) features on more than one stand at the Florence Biennale. Pictured here is Il Filo (The Thread of Life), a green patinated bronze relief of 1929 measuring 2ft 6in x 2ft 2in (76 x 66cm) which is on the stand of Scultura Italiana di Dario Mottola from Milan and priced at €550,000.
Morelli
Dominating the back wall of the stand of Sandro Morelli from Florence is this massive 5ft x 9ft 10in (1.5 x 3m) oil on canvas by local Florentine artist Ruggero Focardi (1864-1934). Titled Domenica Campagnola (Sunday in the Countryside), it shows country workers engaged in a game of cards. To one side, in the mid distance, are the owners of the estate while their son is pictured in the centre of the group of card players participating in the game.
Padovani
An eye-catching piece on the stand of Walter Padovani from Milan was this very well-preserved 13in (32cm) diameter Tuscan circular covered box made in Siena c.1450. Constructed from wood covered in gilded and painted pastiglia, it is moulded in relief with roundels of animals while the inside is covered in what is thought to be the original decorated paper. Two other similar examples are in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
