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  Montanara of Gressoney

  Aspire Auctions, Inc.

Aspire Auctions is pleased to offer a beautiful marble sculpture by the Italian fin-de-siècle artist, Pietro Canonica (1869-1959), who had a very long and distinguished career as a sculptor.  His work is found in Rome, Russia, Turkey, India, and England and range from small delicate busts of women and children to large monumental equestrian statues of war heroes. The piece being offered by Aspire Auctions is entitled Montanara of Gressoney and dates to 1897. The bust depicts a young Walser woman in native dress. The Walser peoples are Germanic in origin and live in the northern most regions of the Italian Alps.  As is typical of Canonica’s work, the marble bust is beautifully and delicately carved, and leaves the viewer wondering about the woman and her melancholy expression. A plaster version of  this work from the same year, is in the collection of The Villa Borghese in Rome where the Pietro Canonica Museum is housed.  The auction estimate for the sculpture is  $15,000 - $25,000, it is lot #120.  This lot and the rest of the December auction catalogue may be viewed at www.aspireauctions.com.