(Zurich 1899–1965 Gualtieri, Italy)
Gatto bianco con paesaggio, c. 1961–1962, signed, 50 x 40 cm, oil on canvas, framed

This work is accompanied by a photo certificate of authenticity issued by Sergio Negri

Provenance:
Galleria Bonaparte, Milan (stamp on the reverse and on the certificate)
Galleria Il Castello, Milan (stamp on the certificate)
European Private Collection

Exhibition:
Orzinuovi (Brescia), Antonio Ligabue “inedito”, Centro Culturale, 26 August – 16 October 1983, exh. cat. no. CXXIX with ill. (titled: Gatto)

Literature:
S. Negri, Antonio Ligabue. Catalogo Generale dei Dipinti, Electa Mondadori, Milan, 2002, p. 366, no. 1952–1962 469, with ill.
A. Tota, M. Dall’Acqua, Tutto Ligabue. Catalogo ragionato dei dipinti, parma 2005, vol. II, p. 366, no. 590, with ill. (titled “Gatto” and dated 1961)

Note:
Ligabue personally knows and carefully studies the cats that live in the farmhouses and fields of the Bassa Padana region. The painting, essentially a portrait of a domestic cat whose size almost completely fills the canvas, is executed with the detailed care of a Goothic miniaturist, which was highly appreciated by the artist’s collectors. The figure of the feline, with meticulously described fur, is framed by vegetation that stands out against a blue sky lightly veiled with clouds. With satisfaction, the painter also includes an extremly realistic fly in the composition. (T. S. L.)