(Turin 1871–1958 Rome)
Balla Auto, 1938, titled, dated and dedicated All’amico carissimo Baschieri, pastels and tempera on paperboard applied on cardboard, 59.5 x 41.5 cm, framed

We are grateful to Elena Gigli for confirming the authenticity of this work and her assistance with cataloguing it.

Provenance:
Giuseppe Baschieri Salvadori Collection, Rome (a gift from the artist)
European Private Collection

Exhibited:
Rome, Balla. Inventore, Mago Profeta, curated by Elena Gigli, Gruppo Azimut, 1 – 31 October 2013, exh. cat. s.n.p.

Literature:
E. Balla, Con Balla, Edizioni Multhipla, Milan 1986, vol. III, p. 126, 228–229.

The self-portrait entitled BALLA AUTO at bottom left was given to his friend Doctor Giuseppe Baschieri Salvadori in 1938, as can be seen in the autograph dedication at the bottom of the work. The painter’s daughter, Elica Balla, thus writes in her 1986 memoirs dedicated to her father: “my father painted another self-portrait in 1938 in a blue jacket; this work in tempera and pastel was for his friend Baschieri and consists entirely of vibrant touches”. Five years later, in the middle of the Second World War, Balla portrayed his friend Baschieri on a panel framed with wooden strips taken from fruit boxes, given the scarcity during the war period. His daughter Elica speaks about this too in 1986: “despite everything, my father kept working, and painted a head of Signor Baschieri, an old acquaintance who had come back to introduce us to a gentleman who wanted to buy some paintings [...]. Baschieri was a nervous man with an expressive face, and was therefore very interesting for a portrait artist like my father. He painted a very lively and expressive portrait of him. On the reverse of the painting he wrote by his own hand: Seven poses – very little for such a difficult face. In 1938, my father also gave Signor Baschieri a unique self-portrait in tempera which he had painted especially for him. My father liked him, and gave it to him, I believe, for having facilitated the sale of some of his paintings” (vol. III, pp. 228–229).

This work was found during research for my thesis on Giacomo Balla’s portraits and self-portraits. It was displayed as an unpublished work in the exhibition organised by Azimut Society, Balla –Inventore Mago Profeta, in its Roman headquarters in 2013.
Elena Gigli. Head of the Gigli Archives for the Works of G. Balla.