Bidspirit auction | Sveva Caetani

Sveva Caetani - Sveva Caetani original painting ”Ganesha Study” Watercolour and gouache on paper. Framed behind glass.. Original Painting from Sveva Caetani ”Ganesha Study”. Watercolour and gouache on paper, framed behind glass.  This painting's current Fair Market Value of $4,500 is based on the only other public record of a Caetani original watercolour being sold, which was in 2008 when Caetani’s ”Andromach's Brothers”, created in 1972, was auctioned for $3,738.  We anticipate a new, record price for a Sveva Caetani painting to be established at this auction as this is a very rare collecting opportunity of a highly sought-after work of art.  Art historian Adriana A. Davies, CM, Cav. d’Italia, PhD states that: ”Sveva’s mastery of the watercolour medium is complete and the scale of some of the works challenges the limitations of the medium. The Recapitulation series demonstrates the evolution of Sveva’s artistic style that is both representational and symbolic. I firmly believe that she belongs not only in the canon of Canadian artists (particularly in the under-represented area of women artists) but also world art. What is her achievement? In visual terms, she has left a compelling body of work that is both challenging and uplifting. In psychological terms, she goes through a “dark night of the soul” and achieves what was, for her, a state of enlightenment. She uses all of her knowledge of commentators on the human condition throughout the ages as signs and guide posts through her journey. She also draws on her extensive knowledge of the visual arts and, on occasion, paints an homage to someone that she found particularly inspiring. Recapitulation is thus a masterwork in both visual art and the written word.”   https://thebcreview.ca/2024/06/17/2201-caetani-davies/ ”“I am an old woman, mad about painting, ” Sveva Caetani once said. She was actively engaged in arts and cultural communities in the North Okanagan and surrounded by a close-knit group of friends, several of them artists, teachers, philosophers, and eccentrics, themselves.  Sveva Caetani passed away on April 27, 1994. As one of the last surviving members of the Caetani family, Sveva received a half-page obituary notice in The London Times. Sveva Caetani bequeathed the Caetani House and grounds to the City of Vernon and the citizens of the North Okanagan, with the express wish that they be utilized for the benefit of the residents of Vernon to serve as a cultural facility for artistic, cultural and critical exploration and expression.””A Long Lineage of Italian Royalty Descending from Italian royalty, Sveva Caetani represented the last of an ancient line that traced its roots back over 1,200 years and included two medieval popes and noted politicians, academics, artists, writers, and musicians. Sveva’s father, Duke Leone Caetani di Sermoneta held 16 noble titles and was a parliamentarian and an academic who compiled the eleven volume Annals of Islam. He is still recognized today as one of the most influential and knowledgeable scholars of secular Islam.   Partly in response to the rise of fascism in early 20th century Italy, Leone Caetani relocated his family to the North Okanagan in 1921. He had been to British Columbia to go bear hunting in the Kootenays in 1890s as part of a trip across North America. Intrigued by the Canadian wilderness, he published an account of his travels in the book, Selkirks. Leaving Italy abruptly and under somewhat mysterious circumstances in August 1921, the small family arrived in Vernon, BC, a village of 3,650 people in the Canadian West. The family of Leone Caetani, Ofelia Fabiani and their four-year-old daughter, Sveva, brought with them 33 trunks, a cook, a valet, and the family secretary and companion, Miss Jüül. A Life of International Luxury As a young child, Sveva lived a life of wealth and privilege. Frequent excursions to Europe included shopping for haute couture clothing with her mother in Paris, having trunks designed for her family by Louis Vuitton, visits to the extensive family holdings in Italy, and swimming and sunbathing in Monte Carlo. She took private art lessons from the artist Andre Petroff. The family was frequently attended by Sveva’s governesses and tutors, and always traveled with her mother’s lifelong companion, Miss Jüül, who would continue to live with Sveva until her own death in 1973. The economic crash of 1929 decimated most of the family’s considerable fortunes. Though by no means destitute, their life of international travel and leisure came to an end. No longer able to afford private tutors, Sveva was sent to Crofton House, a private academy for girls in Vancouver, at age thirteen, but returned home partway through her second year there with a case of measles. It was during this time that her father become ill with cancer.  A Life in Exile Leone passed away on Christmas Day, 1935. Following his death, seventeen-year-old Sveva Caetani’s life changed considerably.