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Howling dog (recto)

Maker

(artist)
1686-1755

Title

Howling dog (recto)

Date of Production

(circa) 1730 - 1750

Medium

black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash (recto), graphite (verso) on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 10.3 cm
Width: 15.8 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.418

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Simonini, an artist born in Parma but active in Venice, specialised in painting cavalry scenes, and this dog may be a study for one such composition. Simonini’s name at lower right was added by an anonymous collector, who probably lived in Venice in the 1770s-1780s. There are around two hundred drawings inscribed with artists’ names in this collector’s distinctive handwriting. His proximity to many of these artists, mainly contemporary Venetians, likely explains his remarkably accurate attributions, which have prompted the name by which he is known: the ‘Reliable Venetian Hand’.

Provenance

Reliable Venetian Hand, Venice (1760s-1780s) (his inscription on recto, not in Lugt); Benjamin West, London (1738-1820), L.419; Thomas Dimsdale, London (1758-1823), L.2426; Sotheby's (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d. (£1); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Reading Drawings, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 21/01/2017-04/06/2017

Disegni di una Collezione Veneziana del Settecento, Istituto di Storia dell'Arte, Venice, 1966

Literature

Disegni di una collezione veneziana del settecento, Istituto di Stora dell'Arte della Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, 1966
p. 72
Illus. no. 83

Inscriptions

Inscription: Recto: lower right edge, brown ink, Reliable Venetian Hand: Francesco Simonini Parmegiano..

Inscription: Recto: upper right, graphite: Sm [?].

Collector's mark: Recto: lower left corner, blindstamped: Benjamin West (L.419).

Collector's mark: Verso: lower left corner, stamped in black: Thomas Dimsdale (L.2426).

Collector's mark: Verso: lower right, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

Stamp: Removed, remounted with the drawing, stamped in black and purple, customs stamp probably from 1966 exhibition in Venice: c y / MERCI / DOGANA ITALIANA / VISTATE / 11904 [at the centre of the stamp is a Roman head with a city on top].

Watermark: none.

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