(Reggio Emilia 1838–1920)
“Una catastrofe”, signed, dated Chierici Gaetano 1887, oil on canvas, 77 x 115 cm, framed, (Rei)

Provenance:
sale, S. Kende, Vienna 25 April 1921, lot 23;
thence Private Collection Germany.

Compare:
Monducci, Elio (ed.), Gaetano Chierici: 1838–1920. Mostra antologica, Reggio Emilia, Palazzo Magnani, 15 February-31 March 1986. Reggio Emilia, Tipolitografia Emiliana, 1986, ill. 160, 161.

We are grateful to Dr. Andrea Baboni for confirming the authenticity on basis of a photograph.

Künstlerhaus label 1889, 994 confirmed by Mag. Paul Rachler.

The painter Gaetano Chierici was born in Reggio Emilia. He gained popularity among his contemporaries for his humorous genre paintings, which mostly featured children or animals as their protagonists. His extremely fine technique makes the scenes seem almost hyper-realistic and is combined with a humorous, sometimes ironic, narrative. This extraordinary pairing earned him several medals at international art exhibitions: after initial successes in Genoa and Italy (from 1868), he also exhibited his work in Vienna from 1875 onwards.
The painting shown here is dated 1887 and thus represents the earliest version of this theme, which the artist produced in several slight variations and showed at various international exhibitions. Our lot was seen at the Wiener Künstlerhaus in 1889 and was highlighted in the Wiener Salonblatt dated 31 March 1889:

“Gaetano Chierici also shows a charming, humorous scene from happy childhood days, but ‘a catastrophe’ has occurred. A pack of geese have freed themselves and are moving towards the little girl, left behind in the kitchen by her mother, with a cacophony of honks. She is trapped and terrified, fully stretching out her bare legs to protect herself from the fear-inspiring geese. Half a dozen kittens, slumbering quietly behind the stove, rush to the other side when startled by the noise, serving to increase the levels of confusion and horror. (...) The work is made doubly humorous in that it issues a funny yet efficient reproach. Once upon a time, a great stir was caused by a drawing called ‘The Lion is Loose’, a comical pencil drawing depicting the panic and excitement of an entire fair, caused by a lion springing from its menagerie. Chierici’s ‘Catastrophe’ is much more successful. It is natural for a lion, even a fairground lion, to spread fear, but it is not easy to create something more humorous than being chased into a corner by a pack of geese. Chierici’s cause and effect are the same and make the situation even more amusing.”