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Updated 28 February 2025

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Currently not on display

Evaristo Baschenis

Bergamo, 1617 - 1677

A Still Life with Musical Instruments

Date The latter half of 1660s
Materials and Techniques Oil on canvas
Size(cm) 98 x 145
Inscriptions Signed on the edge of the spinet: EVARISTUS BASCHENIS P.
Category Paintings
Collection Number P.2015-0002

Evaristo Baschenis was active in Bergamo, northern Italy, around the middle of the seventeenth century. He became best known for still-life paintings featuring musical instruments, which are characterized by their geometric composition and preternatural stillness. While the instruments in this work may seem to be haphazardly placed, they are actually arranged in a fan-like pattern. Notice the finger traces exquisitely captured in the dust on the back of the lute. Although the externals of each item are represented objectively, the artist also manages to infuse the picture with a melancholic poetic charm. (Source: Gallery label, July 2016)

Provenance

1680, Post-mortem inventory of Francesco Moroni, Bergamo; By 1912, Count Moroni, Bergamo; By 1983, Silvano Lodi, Campione d'Italia; Sale, Christie's New York, 6 April 2006, lot 60; Otto Naumann, Ltd.; Purchased by NMWA, 2015.

Exhibition History

1983
Italian Still Life Paintings from Three Centuries, National Academy of Design, New York, 2 February 1983 - 13 March 1983, Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, 9 April–30 June 30; Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, 30 July–11 September 1983, cat, no. 24, col. repr.
1984
Natura morta italiana: Italienische Stillebenmalerei aus drei Jahrhunderten, Sammlung Silvano Lodi,  Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, München, 27 November 1984 - 22 February 1985, cat. no. 37, col.repr.
1986
Italian Still Life Painting from Three Centuries: The Silvano Lodi Collection, The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, 8 August 1986 - 21 September 1986, Shimonoseki City Art Museum; The Seibu Museum of Art, cat. no. 32
1990
La curiosità dipinta: elementi di collezionismo tra XVI e XVIII secolo, X Internazionale antiquariato, Milano, 30 March 1990 - 8 April 1990, Gallerie principe Eugenio, Torino, 18 April-5 May 1990, cat. no. III
1996
Evaristo Baschenis e la natura morta in Europa, Galleria d'arte moderna e contemporanea, Bergamo, 4 October 1996 - 12 January 1997, cat. no. 24, col. repr.
2001
Italian Still Life Painting: From the Silvano Lodi Collection, Seiji Togo Memorial Yasuda Kasai Museum of Art, Tokyo, 28 April 2001 - 26 May 2001, Niigata City Art Museum, 2 Ju.–22 Jl.; Hakodate Museum of Art, 29 Jl.-9 S.; Toyama Shimin Plaza Art Gallery, 6–28 O.; Ashikaga Museum of Art, 3 N.–9 D.; Yamagata Museum of Art, 5 Ap.–6 May 2002, n. 25
2003
Natura morta italiana: Italienische Stillleben aus vier Jahrhunderten: Sammlung Silvano Lodi, Schloss Achberg, 11 April 2003 - 12 October 2003
2022
Evaristo Baschenis 1617-1677: Le Triomphe des Instruments de Musique dans la Peinture du XVIIe Siècle, Galerie Canesso, 6 October 2022 - 10 December 2022, cover, p. 45, fig. 29, col. repr.

Bibliography

1931
Delogu, G. Pittori minori liguri, lombardi, piemontesi del seicento e del settecento. Venezia, Stamperia editrice Zanetti, 1931, p. 220.
1946
Angelini, Luigi. I Baschenis. Bergamo, Edizioni Orobiche, [1946], p. 85, plate 42.
1971
Rosci, Marco. Baschenis, Battera & Co: Produzione e mercato della natura morta del seicento in Italia. Milano, Görlich, 1971, pp. 50-51, 55, 124, no. 103, repr.
1983
Italian Still Life Paintings from Three Centuries (exh. cat.). Spike, John T., ed. National Academy of Design, New York, 2 February – 13 March 1983; Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, 9 April – 30 June 30; Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, 30 July – 11 September 1983. Florence, Centro Di, 1983, pp. 76-77, no. 24.
1984
Salerno, Luigi. La natura morta italiana, 1560-1805. Wolf, Robert Erich, trans. Roma, Ugo Bozzi Editore, 1984, p. 155, fig. 39.2
1984
Salerno, Luigi. Natura morta italiana: Italienische Stillebenmalerei aus drei Jahrhunderten, Sammlung Silvano Lodi (exh. cat.). Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, München, 27 November 1984 – 22 February 1985. Florenz, Centro Di, 1984, pp. 94-95, no. 37.
1985
Rosci, Marco. Evaristo Baschenis: Bartolomeo e Bonaventura Bettera. Bergamo, Poligrafiche Bolis, 1985, p. 82, no. 47, p. 128, no. 1, repr.
1986
Italian Still Life Painting from Three Centuries: The Silvano Lodi Collection (exh. cat.). The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama; Shimonoseki City Art Museum; The Seibu Museum of Art, eds. Nippon Television Network Corporation; The Japan Association of Art Museums, 1986, no. 32, pp. 88-89, 164.
1987
Ravelli, L. Bartolomeo Arbotoni piacentino, maestro di Evaristo Baschenis: ipotesi sulla formazione del pittore Bergamasco. Bergamo, 1987, p. 51, no. 46.
1990
La curiosità dipinta: elementi di collezionismo tra XVI e XVIII secolo (exh. cat.). Anedi, Gabriella et al., eds. Milano, EXPO, 1990, p. 35, no. III.
1996
Evaristo Baschenis e la natura morta in Europa (exh. cat.). Milano, Skira, 1996, pp. 184-187, no. 24.
2000
The Still Lifes of Evaristo Baschenis: The Music of Silence (exh. cat.). Bayer, Andrea, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 17 November 2000 – 4 March 2001. Milano, Olivares, 2000, p. 37, fig. 19 (detail), pp. 43, 51.
2001
Italian Still Life Painting: From the Silvano Lodi Collection (exh. cat.). Seiji Togo Memorial Yasuda Kasai Museum of Art, Tokyo, 28 April – 26 May 2001. Niigata City Art Museum, 2 June – 22 July 2001; Hakodate Museum of Art, Hokkaido, 29 July - 9 September 2001; Toyama Shimin Plaza Art Gallery, 6 October – 28 October 2001; Ashikaga Museum of Art 3 November – 9 December 2001; Yamagata Museum of Art, 5 April – 6 May 2002. [Tokyo], Contemporary Sculpture Center, 2001, p. 59, no. 25.
2003
Natura morta italiana: Italienische Stillleben aus vier Jahrhunderten: Sammlung Silvano Lodi (exh. cat.). Dathe, Stefanie, ed. Schloss Achberg, 11 April – 12 October 2003. Ravensburg, Landratsamt, 2003
2017
Annual Bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 50 (Apr. 2015-Mar. 2016), 2017, Kawase, Yusuke. New Acquisitions. pp. 15-17, List of New Acquisitions. p. 26, col. repr.
2022
Evaristo Baschenis 1617-1677: Le Triomphe des Instruments de Musique dans la Peinture du XVIIe Siècle (exh. cat.). De Pascale, Enrico. Paris, Galerie Canesso, 2022, cover, p. 45, fig. 29, col. repr.

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