Oil on canvas (lined), first half of the 18th century, unsigned, presented in an early 20th century gilt and gesso frame.

SS 29 x 19 in.; DOA 24.5 x 24.25 in.

Collection of George & Böske Antheil, Los Angeles, CA (and by descent to their niece and nephew) Born in Trenton, NJ in 1900, George Antheil was an important avant-garde composer who began his career in Europe in the 1920s. While living in Paris, counted among his friends were James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Ernest Hemingway, Eric Satie, and Igor Stravinsky. Antheil's best-known composition is Ballet Mécanique, which was conceived to be accompanied by the film of the same name by experimental filmmakers Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy and with cinematography by Man Ray.

He returned to the United States in 1936, settling with his wife in Hollywood, CA where he met success as a composer for film and television.

We wish to thank Dr. Simona Carotenuto, author of Francesco Solimena: Dall'attivatà giovanile agli anni della maturitá (1674-1710), for her assistance in cataloguing by reviewing a photograph of the painting.

The original 18th century canvas has been cut and laid on a later canvas on which there is a large patch to the verso; stable craquelure; yellowing varnish.

$6,000 - 9,000