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CONTENTS
10
12
26
40
1673
Du Pr, Harrell
1673 Stradivari,
the Du Pr, Harrell violoncello
60
1686
Kochanski, Rosenheim
1686 Stradivari,
the Kochanski, Rosenheim violin
70
1694
Muir-Mackenzie
1694 Stradivari,
the Muir-Mackenzie violin
80
1705
Baron Von Der Leyen, Klaveness
90
1715
Titian
1715 Stradivari,
the Titian violin
98
1717
Piatti
1717 Stradivari,
the Piatti violin
1728
Kubelk, von Vecsey
112
1735
Parlow, Viotti
122
1736
Lafont
132
15001750
141
Acknowledgements
143
Contributors
146
102
(Antonio Stradivari)
1011
16701730
Titian
(Titian)
(Alfredo
Carlo Piatti) (Jacqueline du Pr)
The name Antonio Stradivari is synonymous with the greatest musical instruments
ever produced. This October and November, Christies is proud to present a landmark
exhibition in Shanghai and Hong Kong of instruments for private sale, comprising
outstanding examples by the Cremonese master and his contemporary Giuseppe
Bartolomeo Guarneri, known as del Ges.
Drawn from a single important European collection, The Art of Music represents the
most significant opportunity in a lifetime to acquire some of the greatest violins and
cellos still in private hands. Dating from the 1670s to the 1730s, the golden age of
Italian making, each piece is exquisite aurally and aesthetically.
The exhibition traces the history of violin making through the 17th and early 18th
centuries, contextualising Stradivari and Guarneris work in the broader cultural and
artistic developments of the time. It explores the novel design and manufacturing
processes employed by the two innovators and explains why these instruments
with their unrivalled sonic qualities have continued to inspire painters, musicians,
sculptors, photographers, collectors and music-loving audiences over five centuries.
To complement the exhibition, Christies is honoured to have been loaned the prized
Titian Stradivari. Named after the eponymous painter due to its gloriously rich
red varnish, the Titian is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful violins still
in private ownership. Its presence is tacit recognition of the quality of the other
instruments being displayed, many of them associated with some of the worlds
leading musicians from Pawe Kochaski to Jacqueline du Pr.
It is a reminder that outstanding musical instruments in addition to delighting the
ear delight the eye as masterpieces of fine art. We look forward to welcoming you
to Shanghai and Hong Kong to experience The Art of Music.
11
12
THE VIOLIN
AN EARLY HISTORY
13
By Andrew Dipper
14901520
(Boethius)
1492 1 Arithmetica Geometria et Musica
By Joannem et Gregorium
de Gregoriis
1
(Emmanuel Winternitz)
2
violino
Carlo Bonetti
1505
15051577
3
(Andrea Amati) 3
()
(previous)
NMM 3351. Violoncello, The King
by Andrea Amati, Cremona, mid-16th century
Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984
National Music Museum
A Musician480524
De Musica
(right)
A Musician, from De Musica by Boethius
(480524) (vellum), Italian School, (14th century)
Biblioteca Nazionale, Naples, Italy
Bridgeman Images
14
15
16
THE VIOLIN
AN EARLY HISTORY
By Andrew Dipper
The origin of the violin is obscure but can be traced in illustrations found in the printed
books of the early Italian Renaissance. Between 1490 and 1520 serious studies were
begun to translate Greek and Arabic works on music into Hebrew and thence Latin. One
of the first of these was Arithmetica Geometria et Musica by Boethius, published in 1492. 1
In these books, ground rules for the relationship between music and mathematics
were first propounded and it is with these rules that the first bowed instruments
resembling violins emerge. It is significant that the very first book illustrations of
violin-like instruments are of the lira da braccio, an instrument used at European
courts for the performance of poetry and of which, according to Emmanuel
Winternitz, Leonardo was a leading exponent. 2
The name violino in Italian implies a small viol and it is thought that the invention of
the violin was driven by the need to produce an instrument smaller than the viola
da braccia for use in the new dance styles of the Italian Renaissance. This may
have been one leg of its development but the genius of the Cremona makers
spearheaded by Andrea Amati (15051577) 3 and reaching its zenith in the work
of both Antonio Stradivari and the Guarneri family surpassed this.
Although recognised as the inventor of the violin, Andrea Amatis greater achievement
was the invention of the string ensemble that underlies the development of the
modern symphony orchestra. This consisted not merely in the downsizing of the
previously existing lira da braccio into a more portable object but the novel concept
of creating a complete self-sustaining family of instruments of varied sizes whose
tones would meld to make an orchestra of sound.
17
1530
Colle de Nerf
15371595
The King
(National Music Museum) 4
1600
1559
NMM 3351
The King
Witten-Rawlins1984
18
Many things were necessary for their manufacture (including high-grade steel
tools) but Amatis process must have also included a significant understanding of
the nature of sound, combined with a knowledge of the strength of materials and
the correct relationship of all the parts together so that the forces of traction of the
strings were equally balanced by their novel construction. This would have been
impossible with the techniques of the medieval period.
19
15811015
38
5
5
King
(NMM33511564
)1566
Berger
(Antonio 15371607)
(Hieronymus15511630)
(Nicol15961684)
(Hieronymus II16491740)
(Gasparo
Bertolotti15421609)
151072
151989
Attributed to Francois Clouet (c. 151072)
Portrait of Catherine de Medici (151989)
Muse de la Ville de Paris, Muse Carnavalet,
Paris, France / Bridgeman Images
(Girolamo Virchi)
1600
1581
Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx
Ballet comique de la reine
1581 (engraving), French School, (16th century)
Bibliothque de l'Opra Garnier, Paris, France
Bridgeman Images
20
NMM 3351
The King
Witten-Rawlins1984
The meteoric rise in popularity of the violin from its probable introduction in France
during the reign of Henry II to its wholesale use by 1600 at various European courts
is largely due to Catherine de Medici, Henrys queen and the fashion maven of
the period whose tastes influenced the entire continent. In 1551, Charles de Coss
(the Marchal de Brissac) was sent as governor to French-occupied Piedmont,
where he formed his own violin band from local talent and, on his return to Paris
in 1559, introduced it to the court. Its subsequent adoption by Catherine for court
ballets and entertainments paved the way for the violins dominance over the
common wind, plucked and bowed instruments of the day. By 1555, Catherines
own court ballets and masques were overseen by Italians Pompeo Diabono and
Balthazar Beaujoyeulx, the latter named by his contemporaries as the best violinist
in all of Christendom. Both these masters of music aided in the magnificent
entertainments of the Valois dynasty including the famous Ballet Comique de la
Reine held on 15 October 1581, where a complete orchestra of 38 Amati violins,
violas and small bass were used. Catherines son, Charles IX of France, also
established his own academy of music that included violinists. 5
From this time on, the Amati family of Cremona held the primary position as
instrument makers in Europe; an exception was the notably successful Austrian
Jacob Stainer (c. 161783). Andrea Amatis work is marked by selection of the finest
materials, great elegance in execution, soft clear amber, translucent varnish and an
in-depth use of acoustic and geometrical principles in design. He was succeeded
by his sons Antonio (c. 15371607) and Hieronymus (c. 15511630). The Brothers
Amati, as they were known, instituted numerous design changes in the violin that
were needed because of the increased size of performance spaces then in use.
They were followed by Hieronymus son Nicol (15961684), who further refined
the choice of materials and varnish, to produce instruments with fabulous wood,
exquisite beauty and radiance of varnish, and superb sculpting of edge work,
scrolls and sound holes. The last of the dynasty was Hieronymus II (16491740),
who produced instruments of considerable merit.
21
1000
12001300
1300
(Ruggieri)
(16441737)
1700 ()
1680
1690
G
1680
(Cardinal
Pietro Francesco Orsini1724 529)
(Francesco) (Omobono)
1700 1737
22
15001600
16001700
16001800
The city of Brescia was an early competitor to Cremonese makers but Brescian
instruments were built using very different techniques, usually as single bespoke
models whose construction echoed the medieval techniques of the lute makers
of Fssen, Germany. Brescian work is exemplified in the instruments of Gasparo
Bertolotti (15421609), commonly called Gasparo da Sal. He used locally sourced wood
and acoustic design that, in the first years, tended to favour a better sound for the richer,
lower-pitched viola than the violin. The work of Girolamo Virchi (a contemporary and
friend of da Sal) is noteworthy for its polychrome decoration and carving.
The plagues of the 1600s decimated the principal makers of the Brescian school, leaving
the Cremonese and Nicol Amati as leaders in the field. Nicol became the teacher
of the next generation of violin makers that included the Stradivari, the Guarneri and
Ruggieri families. It is believed that Nicol taught Antonio Stradivari (16441737) but, as
yet, no definitive evidence has been put forward. Early Stradivari instruments do share
characteristics with those of Nicol though with subtle differences in the purfling inlay
and finishing of the f-holes. Antonios violins were beautifully designed and, until
1700 (the start of what is called Stradivaris Golden Period), followed the Amati
model. The early violins were made for local consumption and, by the 1680s, Stradivaris
atelier was producing lutes, guitars and harps as well as violins.
Stradivaris experimentation with the form and size of all the instruments of the violin
family is notable, especially in the cellos. One of his first experiments on the Amati
model was to narrow the lower bouts of the violin, which led to the so-called long
pattern instruments but these were abandoned after 1690 in favour of larger and
more robust models. Stradivari increased the volume of the sound-box during his
working life and the later G form violins push the limits of the instruments structural
and acoustic capabilities. His skill was recognised by and reflected in the status of his
clients, who by the 1680s included Cardinal Pietro Francesco Orsini (elected Pope
on 29 May 1724) and the heads of numerous European royal houses. The success of
the Stradivari workshop and the involvement of his sons Francesco and Omobono
ensured its dominance from 1700 until Stradivaris death in 1737.
23
500
1727
(16981744)
(Franois Tourte)
(Eugne Sartory)
1760
18001900
500
24
After 1727, when the Stradivaris production declined because of Antonios age, the
void was filled by the instruments of Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri del Ges
(16981744). Del Ges succeeded in bringing the violin to a completely different
level of acoustic power. His construction method was really a spin-off from the Amati
school: the instruments are small and lower in the rib than Stradivari, which gives
them a sound that has been described by performers as dry as an almond. His broad
arching of the plates and longer f-holes give them more powerful and stellar possibility
in performance, particularly when they are teamed up with strong artists and the best
of the French bows by archetiers such as F. Tourte and E. Sartory.
After these Cremonese masters died, violin making in Italy declined as the main
centres of production shifted to Vienna, London and Paris. Here the instrument
underwent various small modifications until the 1760s, when the fashion for canting
the necks backwards and the adoption of full ebony fittings and better strings gave
them more power. Until the French Revolution there were many choices of violin styles
in Europe from the German models of the Mittenwald and Nuremberg schools to
the robust models of the Viennese and the clever work of the English copyists.
By 1800, the French school of Franois Pique (17581822) and Nicolas Lupot
(17581824) had redefined the model of the violin into the copyist frame that we
see today. This process was followed by European manufactories that churned out
violins by the hundreds of thousands in the late 1800s and early 1900s a model
that, in the 21st century, has seen China become a significant mass producer and
exporter of the instrument.
What remains extraordinary however, when looking back over its history, is how little
the violin has altered in basic architecture during its near-500 years of development.
It is this that points to a quality of perfection in the original Cremonese concept one
that, in a modern world of continual change and redesign on the electronic frontiers
of culture, remains unsurpassed.
25
26
27
By Stewart Pollens
() 6
(1684 ) (Girolamo
II1649) 1630
(garzone) (
gevana)1641168615
Giacomo RailichGiorgio StaiberGirolamo
Segher Segher
(previous)
Reproduction of original drawing
illustrating the geometry of Stradivari's
sound-hole design
(16291667)
16571658
(right)
Gabriel Metsu (16291667)
A Woman seated at a Table
and a Man tuning a Violin, c. 16571658
National Gallery, London
culture-images/Lebrecht
28
29
30
Though there were trade guilds in Cremona dating back to the Middle Ages, violin
making the art which has earned the northern Italian city its indelible place in cultural
history was controlled by a few tightly knit families rather than by a guild. The earliest
whose work has come down to us was the family of Andrea Amati (c. 15051577),
whose professional life coincides with the first pictorial representations of the violin *.
His father, called Master Gottardo, was also an artisan and probably a maker of
lutes, viols and lire da braccio (considered to be the immediate predecessor of the
violin); one by Andrea Amati is listed in an inventory of musical instruments owned
by the Medici court in Florence. 6 Amatis sons Antonio (c. 15351607) and Girolamo I
(15611630) followed in their fathers footsteps.
In 1596, Girolamo and his second wife, Laura, gave birth to a son, Nicol. Nicol lived
a long and productive life (he died in 1684) and one of his sons, Girolamo II (b. 1649),
continued the family craft. But in 1630 plague swept through Lombardy, taking the
elder Girolamo. Nicol appears to have been the only master violin maker in Cremona
to survive that outbreak; were it not for this, it is possible that the craft of violin making
in Cremona would have come to an end.
(15961684)
Jacques Joseph Lecurieux (18011867)
Italian luthier Nicol Amati (15961684)
Music Division, The New York Public Library
for the Performing Arts, Astor
Lenox and Tilden Foundations
The census books for every parish in Cremona list not only the family members
in each house but also the other occupants, including apprentices (under the
designation garzone, or shop boy) and female servants (often termed gevana). We
know that between 1641 and 1686 Nicol Amati housed a total of 15 employees,
including apprentices and workers from outside the family. These assistants often had
German surnames, such as Giacomo Railich, Giorgio Staiber and Girolamo Segher.
Though Segher is listed in the census books as hailing from Padua, it is possible that
the others emigrated from the Tyrol, particularly from the region around Fssen,
where many instrument makers and woodcarvers were trained and worked.
31
, 1716
Image of original
Stradivari label, 1716
1641
(Giacomo Gennaro) (1623
1698) 15Casalbuttano
716411647 1650
Battesimi S. Giorgio
216221654Carlo Chiesa
Duane Rosengard
Guarneri del
Ges: A Biographical History
Giuseppe Guarneri del Ges
219987
7
(Pietro)
(Joseph filius Andre) (Giuseppe Giovanni
Battista) ( )
(16981744)
IHS(del Ges) ( Jacobus
Januarius ) 16411646
(Ruggieri)
(Francesco Ruggieri; 16201698)
Sabastiano
( 1644
1737) 1667
1698
8
S. AgataDiocesano
166080
S. Matteo16801737
8
32
, 1735
Image of original
Guarneri label, 1735
Nicol Amatis apprentices are a roll-call of great makers. In 1641, Andrea Guarneri and
Giacomo Gennaro first appear in Amatis census returns. Guarneri (16231698) was
born about 15km from Cremona in the small town of Casalbuttano and was to sire
Cremonas next great violin-making dynasty. 7 He worked for Amati between 1641 and
1647, returning in 1650 for another three years.
Guarneris offspring included his sons Pietro (Peter of Mantua) and Giuseppe Giovanni
Battista, later known as Joseph filius Andre (Joseph, son of Andrea), as well as
grandsons Pietro (Peter of Venice) and Bartolomeo Giuseppe (16981744). The greatest
of all the Guarneri, he was known as Giuseppe Guarneri, or simply as del Ges, due to
the figure of the cross and the initials IHS printed on his labels. Giacomo Gennaro (also
known as Jacobus Januarius, dates unknown) worked for Nicol Amati between 1641
and 1646 and went on to become a master in his own right. Giovanni Battista Rogeri
(c. 1662 after 1705), who came to Cremona from Bologna and worked for Nicol
Amati between 1661 and 1663, subsequently settled in Brescia, where he became a
prominent violin maker. The Ruggieri were a prominent family of violin makers active
in Cremona that had no apparent tie with the Amati. Francesco Ruggieri (16201698),
from the small town of S. Bernado, moved to Cremona and initially settled in the parish
of S. Sabastiano, just outside the old city walls.
Antonio Stradivari (c. 16441737) is not listed as an apprentice of Amati in the census
returns. In fact the earliest record of him in Cremona is church correspondence
concerning the posting of his marriage banns in 1667. Antonios own census returns
and other documents indicate that he did not employ non-family members as shop
assistants or apprentices, though his sons Francesco and Omobono are known to
have assisted him. According to the census records, the only non-family members to
live in his household were a number of young female domestic servants who served
intermittently beginning in 1698, the year Stradivaris first wife died. 8
33
1670
1698
3,000
Philip Kass
Nicol Amati: His life
and Times15
21997158Philip
Kass
Crowded Out
The Strad
1101314 199910
1047
9
17159
10 1737
(Barbara Franchi
)
11
(Nicol Paganini)
ChiesaRosengardGuarneri
del Ges210
10
11
19
34
Despite, or perhaps because of Antonio Stradivaris meteoric rise, by the end of the
17th century the old, established violin houses of the Amati, Ruggieri and Guarneri
families were in decline and experiencing financial difficulties, and by the early years
of the 18th century were in virtual ruin. As early as the 1670s, the Amati were selling
or taking out loans against their property. In 1698 they borrowed 3,000 lire using the
family home as collateral and were later forced to forfeit part of the house after failing
to make interest payments on the loan. When several of Girolamo IIs loans came
due and a judgment was brought against him for non-payment, he apparently fled
Cremona and did not return until 1715. 9
Vincenzo Ruggieris will, written in 1719, provides meagre dowries for his unmarried
daughters, and a codicil refers to difficult times, perhaps an allusion to the
burdensome taxation and general economic decline described above. 10 The Guarneri
family also fell into debt and in 1737 was forced to sell part of the family house in order
to repay a loan. The same year, Barbara Franchi (wife of Joseph filius Andre) died
and the Guarneri family had to borrow money to pay her funeral expenses. 11
10
11
Ibid., p. 19.
This is in sharp contrast to Antonio Stradivaris financial state. In the course of a long
career his talents and industry put him in a position to make substantial loans to
members of the community, to purchase a lucrative business partnership for his
youngest son and to provide dowries, annuities and bequests for his other offspring.
Because of their elegant construction, Stradivaris instruments were immediately
sought by European nobility including the kings of Spain, Poland and England, the
Medici in Florence and other titled individuals. In the early 19th century, del Gess
violins came to prominence primarily due to their association with virtuoso violinist
Nicol Paganini. The violins of these two makers have come to represent opposite
poles of the tonal spectrum: Stradivaris are characterised by refinement and brilliance,
while the typical Guarneri violin has a darker, earthier sound.
35
( 2:3
5:4)
(
12)1690
(
12)1690
(18621922)
1893
Edgar Bundy (18621922)
Antonio Stradivari, 1893
Private Collection
Bridgeman Images
36
1700
Italian School
Guarneri del Ges, c. 1700
Public Domain
Guarneri del Ges is commonly thought to have made a large and a small model (the
distinction in length being just a few millimeters) but many of both models appear to
have identical rib structures and thus were apparently made on the same form the
differences in their gross dimensions being due to greater or lesser overhang of the
37
(
)
901730
(16441737
Kochanski, Rosenheim
1686Antonius
Stradivarius Cremonensis / Faciebat Anno 1686
P-606
1435.6
Antonio Stradivari (16441737)
A Violin, Known as the Kochanski,
Rosenheim, Cremona, 1686
Labelled Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis /
Faciebat Anno 1686 and bearing
the catalogue number P-606
Length of back 14 in., 35.6 cm.
38
top and back plates. In his late instruments, Guarneri del Ges experimented with
longer and more open f-holes, which lowered the air resonance of his violins and
produced the darker sound for which those violins are noted.
Stradivaris violins are generally considered to be the more finely crafted of the
two makers though in the 1730s, as he approached his nineties, Stradivaris work
became a little coarse while the Guarneri del Gess of the period are highly
refined. It is only in the last few years of del Gess life that his work roughens and
yet those instruments are considered among his greatest achievements highly
prized for the uniquely shaped f-holes and heavily worked scrolls that boldly
trespass the staid boundaries of the Cremonese school.
(16981744)
Lafont, Brodsky
1736Joseph Guarnerius fecit /
Cremone anno 1736
13 35
Giuseppe Bartolomeo Guarneri,
del Ges (16981744)
A Violin, Known as the Lafont,
Brodsky, Cremona c. 1736
Labelled Joseph Guarnerius fecit /
Cremone anno 1736
Length of back: 13 in. (35 cm.)
THE VIOLIN
IN VISUAL ART
41
By Emma Capron
(Stradivari) (Guarneri)
(Benvenuto Cellini)
(Ingres) (Delacroix)
(Matisse) (Paul Klee)
1523
16471721
(previous)
Jan van der Vaardt (16471721)
Violin and bow hanging on a door
Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, UK
Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth
Reproduced by permission of Chatsworth
Settlement Trustees | Bridgeman Images
14751546
1529
(right)
Gaudenzio Ferrari (c. 14751546)
Madonna with Saints or
Madonna of the Oranges, 1529
Church of San Cristoforo,
Vercelli, Italy | Ghigo Roli
Bridgeman Images
42
43
44
THE VIOLIN
IN VISUAL ART
By Emma Capron
For five centuries, the violin has captured the imagination of painters like no
other instrument in the history of Western art. A feat of craftsmanship that, with
Stradivari and Guarneri, reached the status of a work of art in itself, the violin is an
object of unrivalled visual appeal: its sinuous curves, balanced shapes, serpentine
lines, rich tonalities, smooth surface and reflective finish have made it an instrument
not only to be played but also to be seen and depicted. From the high Renaissance to
the modern era, artists have played the violin and played with it: the famed sculptor
and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini entered the service of Pope Clement VII as a violin
player before becoming papal sculptor; Ingres, Delacroix and Matisse were all noted
amateurs; an accomplished violin player, the abstract master Paul Klee hesitated to
embrace the career of professional musician before opting for painting instead.
Ubiquitous in musical styles from the baroque to jazz, the violin also became an
omnipresent feature of European visual culture. Through their varied depictions of
the violin, artists consciously referenced, fuelled and renewed the age-old debate
on the paragone: the competition between the arts of music and painting, as
well as between the senses of sight and hearing. Painters also sought to evoke
the ambiguous social nature of the instrument: it is both the companion of street
performers, bohemians and revellers as well as the item of choice in elegant
gatherings and aristocratic salons. This ambivalence echoed a medieval concern
with music that followed the violin into the early modern era: an instrument at once
celestial (graced with the acoustic abilities to praise God) but also potentially devilish,
leading to lust and intoxication. It is this rich, multifaceted image of the violin that
artists have rendered throughout the centuries, each stamping the instrument with
their own personal sensibilities.
(15931652)
16251630
Georges de la Tour, (15931652)
The Beggars Brawl, c. 16251630
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles USA |
Bridgeman Images
The violin was invented during the first half of the 16th century by luthiers active
in Cremona, Milan, Brescia and Venice in northern Italy, a region renowned for its
mastery of woodworking techniques. The first textual mention of the instrument
appears in the accounts of the duchy of Savoy in 1523: for trumpets and violins
45
()
1535
()
()
(George de la Tour)
(16251630)
(Gerrit Van
Honthorst) (1623 )
14751546
46
16101668
1629
Jan Miense Molenaer (16101668)
Two Boys and a Girl making Music, 1629
Photo Art Media/Heritage Images,
Scala, Florence
15921656
1623
Gerard van Honthorst (15921656)
The Merry Fiddler, 1623
Photo Fine Art/Alamy
from Vercelli. The first visual record of the violin occurs a few years later, in 1529,
in an altarpiece for the church of San Cristoforo in the same town of Vercelli:
The Madonna of the Oranges painted by Gaudenzio Ferrari. Beneath the Virgins
throne are seated two music-making angels (a customary feature in sacre
conversazioni of the time), one of them holding an early example of the violin. In
1535, Ferrari frescoed the cupola of the cathedral of Saronno near Milan with an
entire concert of angels, featuring a vast array of stringed instruments including all
the members of the violin family.
Despite its original inclusion in Ferraris religious scenes, the violin at its inception
was hardly considered a heavenly instrument. Favoured as an accompaniment to
village dances and popular in taverns, its extractions are lowly. Small and portable,
it swiftly became the characteristic instrument of street performers and beggars.
In his treatise titled Epitom musical from 1556, the musician Philibert Jambe de
Fer condemned it: The violin is very different from the viola. We call viola [the
instrument] used by gentlemen, merchants and other men of virtue to pass time.
The other kind is called violin and it is the one commonly used for unruly dances.
A number of 17th-century visual accounts of the instrument, especially from
North of the Alps, testify to this reviled status. To the right of George de la Tours
remarkably expressive The Beggars Brawl (c. 16251630; Los Angeles, Getty
Museum), a dishevelled violin player offers his toothy grin and unfocused gaze to
the viewer, visibly enjoying the fight unfolding next to him. In The Merry Fiddler by
Gerard van Honthorst (1623; Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), an inebriated, extravagantly
dressed musician holding a violin and a glass of wine theatrically peers out of a
window and engages the viewer to partake in his revelry. In Jan Miense Molenaers
Two Boys and a Girl Making Music (1629; London, National Gallery), the violin, along
with other makeshift instruments, contributes to the childrens joyful cacophony.
47
1607 (Monteverdi)
1636
(Marin Mersenne)
(Caravaggio)
(1595)
(15951596 )
(1612)
(Rudolph Wittkover)
()
(15711610)
1595
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (15711610)
The Musicians, c. 1595
The Metropolitan Museum
of Art | Art Resource | Scala, Florence
48
49
50
However, at the turn of the 17th century, the violin began moving away from these
humble beginnings and entered more elevated cenacles. The rise of baroque music
was key to that development. Especially, the violin grew to be considered the ideal
accompaniment to singing. In 1607, Monteverdi prescribed its use in his opera
Orfeo and, by 1636, the French theoretician Marin Mersenne had consecrated
the violin the king of instruments in his treatise Harmonie Universelle. Images
in turn reflected that change in taste. In this respect, Caravaggios early musical
paintings such as The Musicians (c. 1595; New York, Metropolitan Museum) and
The Lute Player (15951596; Saint-Petersburg, Hermitage Museum) both of which
include dramatically foreshortened Italian violins in the foreground are not only
masterpieces of Western art but also epitomise the violins rise in favour among
the sophisticated patrons and vanguard musical connoisseurs who commissioned
these works: Roman cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte and nobleman Vincenzo
Giustiniani. Caravaggios acute naturalism, typical of the Northern Italian school,
was also particularly well suited to emphasise the remarkable craftsmanship of
contemporary musical instruments.
(15651647)
1612
Orazio Gentileschi (15651647)
Young Woman with a Violin, c. 1612
Detroit Institute of Arts, USA | Gift of Mrs Edsel
B. Ford | Bridgeman Images
51
(Francesco Guardi)
1782()
(Pietro Longhi)(1741)
(Charles Baudelaire)
(15971660)
52
(17121793)
53
(Niccol Paganini)
(Jean-Dominique
Auguste Ingres) (1819)
(Eugne Delacroix)
(Marc
Chagall)
(19231924
(Braque) (Picasso)
1912 (
) (Jan Kubelik)
Kubelik, von Vecsey (1728 x)
(Giacomo Balla)
(1912)
(17801867)
1819
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (17801867)
Portrait of Niccol Paganini, 1819
Public Domain
(18321883)
1862()
Edouard Manet (18321883)
The Old Musician, 1862 (detail)
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA
Bridgeman Images
54
55
56
with The Old Musician (1862; Washington DC, National Gallery of Art), he placed an
ageing, obsolete violin player at the heart of the picture as the archetypal marginal
figure and the painters alter ego. Portrayals of Niccol Paganini, arguably the
greatest virtuoso of all time, also testify to this new view of the artist. Paganini was
reputed to have sold his soul to the devil in return for his astonishing skills. While the
neoclassical painter Jean-Dominique Auguste Ingres attempted to tame Paganinis
impetuosity in his fine and polished portrait drawing (1819; Paris, Muse du Louvre),
his romantic counterpart Eugne Delacroix exploited to its fullest the Faustian
legend surrounding the virtuoso, depicting the musicians thin, sepulchral and
entranced silhouette emerging from threatening darkness (1831; Washington, Phillips
Collection). Delacroixs swift brushstrokes seems to echo the glissandi, pizzicati,
double stops and harmonic effects that were characteristic of the player. The
bohemian violinist later found another incarnation in the figure of the wandering
Jew, poetically depicted by Marc Chagall in the oneiric Green Violinist (19231924;
New York, Guggenheim Museum).
(19282005)
1962
Arman (Armand Fernandez, 19282005)
Colre de violins, 1962
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
photo: J. Geleyns
ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2015
(18821963)
1912
Georges Braque (18821963)
Mozart Kubelick, 1912
Private Collection | Bridgeman Images
ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2015
In the modernist age, the violin became for the avant-garde a privileged vehicle
for all sorts of formal explorations. The instruments distinctive shape was a
haunting leitmotif in Braque and Picassos cubist compositions: dismantled
and deconstructed, the evocative power of the violins familiar lines resisted
complete abstraction. Incidentally, in Violins: Mozart Kubelick from 1912 (New York,
Metropolitan Museum), Braque paid tribute to the Czech violinist Jan Kubelk, the
former owner of the 1728 Kubelk, von Vecsey violin in the present catalogue
(page 112). Fascinated by kinetic photography and optical effects, the futurist artist
Giacomo Balla chose the violin as a privileged subject to explore the possibilities
of rendering motion through paint, in his hypnotic The Hand of the Violinist
(1912; London, Estorick collection). Exploiting the anthropomorphic qualities of
the instrument, the surrealist artist Man Ray projected his erotic fantasies onto
the violins voluptuous curves with his iconic photograph from 1924, Le Violon
dIngres, in which he painted the f-holes of the stringed instrument on the back
57
(Salvador Dal)
(1939 )
(Arman)
(1962)
(18901976)
1924
Man Ray (18901976)
Le Violin dIngres, 1924
BI, ADAGP, Paris/Scala, Florence
Man Ray Trust/ADAGP,
Paris and DACS, London 2015
58
(19041989)
1940
Salvador Dal (19041989)
Daddy Longlegs of the evening Hope!, 1940
Salvador Dal Museum, St. Petersburg,
Florida, USA | Bridgeman Images
Salvador Dal, Fundacin Gala-Salvador Dal, DACS, 2015
59
60
1673
DU PRE, HARRELL
1673 STRADIVARI
THE DU PRE, HARRELL
VIOLONCELLO
61
1673
DU PRE, HARRELL
1673 du Pr
65 27
1961William E.
1700
1961215
Jacques Francais
Holland)
1983 713
1961
(David Tecchler;
16661748)
1965
1673 Stradivari
Sara Pacey
76
81
1983
Jacques Franais
(Lynn Harrell)
du
1720
Pr 1697 C astelbarco
2006
Magg
(Nina Kotova)
62
(16441737)
Du Pre, Harrell 1673
Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis / Faciebat Anno 1673
30 (76.9)
63
64
1673 STRADIVARI
THE DU PRE, HARRELL
VIOLONCELLO
Documents
William E. Hill and Sons,
London, February 15, 1961
Jacques Franais,
New York, 13 July 1983
Provenance
W.E. Hill & Sons
Jacqueline du Pr
Sara Pacey (loaned to) 1965
Lynn Harrell
Nina Kotova
Current owner
65
(19451987)
(William Pleeth)
16
(Daniel Barenboim)
Courtauld Trust 1673 1961
1964 1971
19731987
du
Pr Stradivari
(1944)
1944
12 Lev Aronson
1961
1971
Jacqueline du Pr
G.MacDomnic/Lebrecht Music & Arts
66
67
68
Lynn Harrell
Suzie Maeder/Lebrecht
1686
KOCHANSKI, ROSENHEIM
1686 STRADIVARI
THE KOCHANSKI,
ROSENHEIM VIOLIN
71
1686
KOCHANSKI, ROSENHEIM
Ex-Kochaski, Rosenheim
1686
1690
1660
166_
35.6
Stradivari6
16.911.6 20.9
1686
Willy
Rosenheim
(Paul Kochaski)
1679 Hellier1685
Guyot1686 Rosgonyl
(Bornstein)1967Sylvia Cleaver
Ex-Kochaski, Rosenheim
H.K. Goodkind
Iconography
of Antonio Stradivari
1972210211( )
727759
E.N. Doring
How Many Strads
194556
W.H.A.F. A.E. Hill
Antonio Stradivari, His Life & Work
190238
The Strad190612
Willy Rosenheim
Sylvia Cleaver
72
(16441737)
Ex-Kochaski, Rosenheim 1686
Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis / Faciebat Anno 1686
P606
14(35.6)
73
74
1686 STRADIVARI
THE KOCHANSKI,
ROSENHEIM VIOLIN
Documents
Certificates, William E. Hill and Sons,
London, 15 November 1898
Rembert Wurlitzer Inc.,
New York, 28 November 1967
John and Arthur Beare Ltd.,
London, 15 December 1967
Letter, Charles Beare,
London, 13 November 1967
Literature
H.K. Goodkind, Iconography of
Antonio Stradivari, Larchmont, NY,
1972, il. pp. 210, 211, pp. 727, 759
E.N. Doring, How Many Strads,
Chicago, 1945 p. 56
W.H., A.F. and A.E. Hill, Antonio
Stradivari, His Life & Work,
London 1902 p. 38
The Strad, London, December 1906
Provenance
Willy Rosenheim
Paul Kochaski
Einstein Family
Bornstein
Sylvia Cleaver
Current owner
75
(1887-1934)
1887
(Emil Mynarski) 189814
(18871982)1900
1911 (Zosia Kohn)
1913
(Igor Stravinsky; 18821971)
1916
(Sergei
Prokofiev; 18911953)1924
193446
Pawe Kochaski
Lebrecht Music & Arts
76
77
78
Pawe Kochaski
Tully Potter Collection
79
80
1694
MUIR-MACKENZIE
1694 STRADIVARI
THE MUIR-MACKENZIE
VIOLIN
81
1694
MUIR-MACKENZIE
1694 Muir-MacKenzie
320
Doring Muir-Mackenzie
Muir-MacKenzie
Cooper
(Fritz Siegel)
1692 Bennett
Maria Grevesmhl1996
1693 Harrison1694
Benecke
Antoniusu
1690
Muir-MacKenzie
Charles Wilmotte
16901699
& Sons
360365
(Robert Crawford)1716
80
Messiah
Gand, Charles-Eugene
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTIF des
Instruments de Stradivarius et
Guarnerius del Ges. Spa: Les Amis de la
Musique1994 (1870)
W.H.A.F. A.E. Hill
Antonio
Stradivari, His Life & Work
190248
H.K. Goodkind
Iconography of
Antoinio Stradivari 1644-1737
1972254 211 ( )
728756
E.N. Doring
How Many Strads,
Chicago1945 8384
W. Henley
Antonio Stradivari
196129
R. Hargrave
The Strad
1985
Charles Wilmotte
C.G. Meier
W.E. Hill & Sons
Van de Weghe
W.E. Hills & Sons
Muir-Mackenzie
Arthur Swinburne
Puttick & Simpson ( )
Cooper
M. Mouton
Maria Grevesmhl
82
(16441737)
Muir-MacKenzie 1686
Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis / Faciebat Anno 1694
14 3/ 16 (36.2)
83
84
1694 STRADIVARI
THE MUIR-MACKENZIE VIOLIN
Documents
Certificate, William E. Hill and Sons,
London, 12 April 1902
Provenance letter, William E.
Hill and Sons, London, 12 April 1902
Certificate, Alfred Vidoudez,
Geneva, 30 September 1947
Certificate, Etienne Vatelot,
Paris, 18 May 1970
Literature
Gand, Charles-Eugene. CATALOGUE
DESCRIPTIF des Instruments de
Stradivarius et Guarnerius del Ges. Spa:
Les Amis de la Musique, 1994 (1870)
W.H., A.F., and A.E. Hill, Antonio Stradivari,
His Life & Work, London 1902 p. 48
H.K. Goodkind, Iconography
of Antonio Stradivari 1644-1737,
Larchmont, NY, 1972,
il. p. 254, 211, pp. 728, 756
E.N. Doring, How Many Strads,
Chicago, 1945 pp. 83-84
W. Henley, Antonio Stradivari,
Sussex, 1961, p.29
R. Hargrave, The Strad,
London, 1985
Provenance
Charles Wilmotte
Charles Francois Gand
C.G. Meier
William E. Hill and Sons
Robert Crawford
David Laurie
Mr. van de Weghe
William E. Hill and Sons
Lady Muir-Mackenzie
Mrs Arthur Swinburne
Cooper
M. Mouton
Fritz Siegal
Maria Grevesmhl
Current owner
85
(19181989)
Fritz Siegal
Carnegie Mellon University
86
87
88
89
90
1705
1705 STRADIVARI
THE BARON VON DER LEYEN,
KLAVENESS VIOLIN
91
1705
35.516.7
20.7
Klaveness
H.K. Goodkind
Iconography of Antonio
Stradivari 164417371972
352( )
730753
E.N. Doring
How Many Strads
1945127
W. Henley
Antonio Stradivari
196145
35.4
1705Joest
1707Hammer
92
(16441737)
Baron von der Leyen, Klaveness 1705
Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis / Faciebat Anno 1705
8773
13 15/16 (35.4)
93
94
95
96
1705 STRADIVARI
THE BARON VON DER LEYEN,
KLAVENESS VIOLIN
Documents
Certificate, Rembert Wurlitzer Inc.,
New York, 27 December 1969
Literature
H.K. Goodkind, Iconography
of Antonio Stradivari 16441737,
Larchmont, NY, 1972,
il. p. 352, pp. 730, 753
E.N. Doring, How Many Strads,
Chicago, 1945 p. 127
W. Henley, Antonio Stradivari,
Sussex, 1961, p.45
Provenance
Baron Friedrich Heinrich von der Leyen
Anton Fredrik Klaveness
Emile Herrmann
Maulsby Kimball
Rudolph Wurlitzer Co.
Rembert Wurlitzer Inc.
Harold Kohon
Current owner
97
98
1715
TITIAN
1715 STRADIVARI
THE TITIAN VIOLIN
99
1715
TITIAN
(16441737)
Titian 1715
Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis / Faciebat Anno 1715
13 7/ 8 (35.2)
Albert Caressa
(Tiziano Vecelli) Titian
Titian (Simone
Sacconi)
33,000 (1918
2014)
2000
Gand, Charles-Eugene
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTIF des
Instruments de Stradivarius et
Guarnerius del Ges , Spa: Les Amis
de la Musique19941870
H.K. Goodkind
Iconography of
Antonio Stradivari 1644-1737
1972446-447
733762
E.N. Doring
How Many Strads
1945191193
194
C. Beare
Capolavori di Antonio
Stradivari1987
8687
C. BeareB.Carlson
Antonio Stradivari, The Cremona
Exhibition of 1987
199324204319
205209309
S. Zygmuntowicz
The Strad20092
W. D. Orcutt
The Stradivari
Memorial 16441737
1977The Strad19968
A. Caressa
Violons Par Antonius
Stradivarius
()
(previous)
Cho-Liang Lin
Sophie Zhai
Comte dvry
Comte de Sauzay
Gand & Bernardel Frres
Willam Baker
Caressa & Fransais
Jos de Ygartua
Caressa & Francais
Erich Lachmann
(Efrem Zimbalist)
Rudolph Wurlitzer Co.
Felix M. Warburg
Samuel Mehlamn
Joseph Irwin Miller
100
1715 STRADIVARI
THE TITIAN VIOLIN
Instrument kindly on loan for display purposes. Not for sale.
Documents
Literature
Gand, Charles-Eugene. CATALOGUE
DESCRIPTIF des Instruments de
Stradivarius et Guarnerius del Ges. Spa:
Les Amis de la Musique,
1994 (1870)
H.K. Goodkind, Iconography of Antonio
Stradivari 1644-1737, Larchmont, NY, 1972,
il. pp. 446447, pp. 733, 762
E.N. Doring, How Many Strads, Chicago,
1945 il. pp. 191, 193, il. p.194
C. Beare, Capolavori di Antonio
Stradivari, Milan 1987, il. pp. 86-87
C. Beare and B. Carlson, Antonio
Stradivari, The Cremona Exhibition of
1987, London, 1993, pp. 24, 204 319, il. pp.
205209 and 309
S. Zygmuntowicz, The Strad, London,
February 2009
W. D. Orcutt, The Stradviari Memorial
16441737, New York 1977, The Strad,
August 1996
A. Caressa, Violons Par Antonius
Stradivarius, Paris
Provenance
Comte dvry
Comte de Sauzay
Gand & Bernardel Frres
Willam Baker
Caressa & Francais
Jos de Ygartua
Caressa & Francais
Erich Lachmann
Efrem Zimbalist
Rudolph Wurlitzer Co.
Felix M. Warburg
Samuel Mehlamn
Joseph Irwin Miller
Current owner
This violin owes its name to the Parisian dealer Albert Caressa, who likened the
instruments rich red varnish to the red pigments favoured by 16th-century Venetian
painter Tiziano Vecelli, called Titian. This is a work that was produced during Stradivaris
Golden Period but differs from many of this time in its more diminutive back length.
This supports the argument that Stradivari did not confine himself to a singular idea of
geometry but would construct works to fit the needs of a specific player. It was one of
the most favoured Stradivari instruments of the restorer Simone Sacconi, who held it in
high esteem for the beautiful and classic execution of its workmanship.
It is commonly held that the first owner was the Comte Dvry. It then passed to another
French nobleman, Comte de Sauzay son-in-law of Pierre Baillot (1771-1842), the
celebrated violinist and founding member of the Paris Conservatoire. Via the Parisian
firm of Gand & Bernardel Frres, the violin was sold to the Bostonian William Baker
before returning to Paris in about 1916 to the dealers Caressa & Francais, who brokered
it at least twice the last instance taking it back to the US, where Russian soloist Efrem
Zimbalist (18891985) purchased it for the reported sum of $33,000. At the time, the
acquisition made news in the belief that it was the highest price ever paid for a violin.
From Zimbalist the violin changed hands via the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, which
sold it to Felix M. Warburg, patron of violinist Wolfe Wolfinsohn and the Stradivari Quartet;
it served as Wolfinsohns primary instrument for almost 40 years. In 1965, the Titian was
sold through Rembert Wurlitzer to Samuel Mehlman and then again to the collector
and art patron J. Irwin Miller. A scion of American banking, industry and philanthropy,
Miller was an amateur violinist whose connoisseurship and passions extended to the
collecting of Modern and Impressionist painting and American post-war art, as well as
the support and patronage of post-war modern architecture. Following the death of
Miller in 2000, the violin remained in the Miller family until recently, when it was made
accessible to the soloist Cho-Liang Lin.
101
102
1717
PIATTI
1717 STRADIVARI
THE PIATTI VIOLIN
103
1717
PIATTI
1717
73
Rudolph Wurlitzer Co
.1931224
Rudolph Wurlitzer Co.
1931224
William E. Hill and Sons
193139
William E. Hill and Sons
193139
Max Mller and Zoon
1986624
1707
Piatti
1714
The Dolphin
W.H.A.F.A.E. Hill
Antonio Stradivari, His Life & Work
1902
H.K. Goodkind
Iconography
of Antonio Stradivari
972 486()
733758
E.N. Doring
How Many Strads
1945212()
213214
W. Henley
Antonio Stradivari
196165
The Strad198512
Lyon & Healy
Collection of Rare
Old Violins1945
T. Ingles
Four Centuries
1986319152
(John Betts)
Rowland Watkin Wynn
George Ashley
Emmington
Arthur Betts
Henderson
Simon Andrew Forster
104
(16441737)
Piatti 1705
Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis / Faciebat Anno 1717
7663
13 15/16 (35.4)
105
106
1717 STRADIVARI
THE PIATTI VIOLIN
Documents
Certificate, Rudolph Wurlitzer Co.,
New York, 24 February 1931
Letter, Rudolph Wurlitzer Co.,
New York, 24 February 1931
Certificate, William E. Hill and Sons,
London, 9 March 1931
Provenance letter, William E. Hill
and Sons, London, 9 March 1931
Certificate, Max Mller and Zoon,
Amsterdam, 24 June 1986
Literature
W.H., A.F., and A.E. Hill, Antonio Stradivari,
His Life & Work, London 1902
H.K. Goodkind, Iconography of Antonio
Stradivari 16441737, Larchmont,
NY, 1972, il. p. 486, pp. 733, 758
E.N. Doring, How Many Strads, Chicago,
1945 il. p. 212, pp. 213214
W. Henley, Antonio Stradivari,
Sussex, 1961, p.65
The Strad, Il. December 1985
Lyon & Healy, Collection of Rare Old
Violins, Chicago, 1949 p. il. 212, pp. 213214
T. Ingles, Four Centuries of Violin Making:
Fine Instruments from the Sothebys
Archive, Boston 2006, pp and il. 540541
E.N. Doring, Violins & Violinists, April 1938
Sothebys Musical Instruments sale
catalogue, London 19 March 1986, Lot 152
Provenance
John Betts
Sir Rowland Watkin Wynn
George Ashley
Emmington
Arthur Betts
Henderson
Simon Andrew Forster
Alfredo Carlo Piatti
John Pawle
Gabriele Wietrowitz
Nathan E. Posner
Dr Eugenio Sturchio
John W. Coggeshall
Alfred O. Corbin
107
(18221901)
1822
Gaetano Zanetti
Vincenzo Merighi15
(Franz Liszt)
108
109
110
111
112
1728
113
1728
Ambache
1722 1722
1730
(Peter
Biddulph)
Joseph Guarneri)
1728 Kubelik
35.5
16.7 20.3
M. Krancsevics
1905
4.4 (
(Franz von
Vecsey)
1910
(Maggini)
Peter Biddulph
2014 128
1974 117()
Ilona de Regczy
N. Ambache
1975 415()
Ilona de Regczy
N. Ambache
1977 1129()
John Dilworth
Ambache
1997 613()
Juan Mann
Ilona de Regczy
1956 91()
Jan Kubelik
Herrn L. von Vecsey()
Ludwig von Vecsey
1910422()
John Topham
2005 48
Ilona de
1727
RegczyDe
Dancla
Regczy 1975
80
N.
Ambache
John Topham
(Carlo
Bergonzi)
1732
1740
17291743
19752
1322136
Krancsevics
Jan Kubelk
Ludwig von Vecsey
Ilona de Regczy
N. Ambache
114
(16981744)
Von Vecsey, Kubelik 1728
Joseph Guarnerius Andreas Nepos / fecit Cremonae Anno 1728
13 15/16 (35.5)
115
116
Literature
Sale Catalogue, Sothebys Fine Musical
Instruments, London, 13 February 1975,
Lot 221, p. 36
Provenance
M. Krancsevics
Jan Kubelk
Ludwig von Vecsey
Ilona de Regczy
Dr N. Ambache
Current owner
117
(18931935)
1883
19101920
12D
1935
42
(18801940)
(Jan Kubelik) 1880
(Karel Weber)
(Karel Ondek)
18
(1901)
19011902
1903Anna Julie Marie Szll von Besseny
19101728 (
Kubelik, von Vecsey)
(Nellie Melba)
(Gounod)
1940
118
119
120
Jan Kubelk
Public Domain
Born in 1893, violinist and composer Franz von Vecsey was a child prodigy at the turn
of the century in Budapest before becoming one of Europes leading violinists in
the 1910s and 1920s. He was the re-dedicatee of Jean Sibeliuss Violin Concerto in
D minor at the age of 12. After the First World War, von Vecsey tired of touring and
decided to dedicate himself to conducting. He became seriously ill with
a pulmonary embolism in 1935 and died aged 42.
121
122
1735
PARLOW, VIOTTI
123
1735
PARLOW, VIOTTI
1730 1735
Emile Herrmann
(#1499)
William E. Hill & Sons
J&A Beare Ltd
William E. Hill
35.0
4.2
1737King Joseph
Piere Baillot
Pillet-Will
Henry Luc
Caressa & Francais
Hamma & Co.
Max Pringsheim
Wilhelm Hermann Hammig
Bjrnson
Theodore Marchetti
Frederick E Haenel
Joseph Hull
J&A Beare Ltd
124
(16981744)
Viotti, Kathleen Parlow 1736
Joseph Guarnerius fecit / Cremone anno 1736
13 3/ 4 (35)
125
126
Documents
Certificates, Emile Herrmann, (certificate
#1499), Berlin and New York
William E. Hill & Sons, London
J&A Bewe Ltd, London
Literature
W.H., A.F., and A.E. Hill,
The Violin-Makers of the Guarneri Family
(16261762), London, 1932, pp. 84, 101
B. Henderson, The Strad,
London, July 1910,
The Strad, January London, 1964
G. Singer and A. Lim, The Emile
Herrmann Collection,
New York, 2017, Vol II
Provenance
Giovanni Battista Viotti
Piere Baillot
Count Pillet-Will
Dr. Henry Luc
Caressa & Francais
Hamma & Co.
Max Pringsheim
Wilhelm Hermann Hammig
Bjrnson family
Kathleen Parlow
Theodore Marchetti
Frederick E Haenel
Joseph Hull
J&A Beare Ltd
Current owner
127
(17551824)
1755 (Alfonso dal
Pozzo della Cisterna) 17731780
1800
1735Parlow, Viotti1811
1813
182433
(18901963)
1890
(Mischa Elman)
(Leopold Auer)
45
Einar BjrnsonBjrnson2,000
1929
1940
195910
1963819
128
129
130
Kathleen Parlow
Public Domain
Born in 1755 in Piedmont, Italy, Viotti was taken into the household of Alfonso dal
Pozzo della Cisterna in Turin in order to receive a musical education. He served at
the Savoia court in Turin from 1773 to 1780 before touring as a soloist. He was an
instant hit in Paris, served at Versailles and founded an opera house called Thtre
de Monsieur in 1788. The French Revolution made Viottis royal connections
dangerous however and he moved to London in 1792. He was a great success
in the capital until England went to war with revolutionary France and he was
suspected of being a Jacobin. He seems to have initially gone to Hamburg, then
returned to live secretly in the English countryside, establishing a wine business.
Around 1800 he acquired the 1735 Guarneri del Ges violin now called the Parlow,
Viotti. He became a British citizen in 1811 and in 1813 founded the Philharmonic
Society of London. After a brief spell in Paris as director of the Acadmie Royale
de Musique, Viotti died in London on 3 March 1824.
131
132
1736
LAFONT
133
1736
LAFONT
1736 Lafont 1735
Parlow, Viotti
Berhmte Geigen
18961221
Celebrated Violins
and Their Owners
The Strad19993
R. Millant
J.B.Vuillaume: Sa
Vie et Son Ouevre
197212069
Lafont
35
Parlow
1735
DEgville1732King Joseph
Lafon t
Lafont
DEgville
King Joseph
1726 Stretton
134
(16981744)
Lafont, Brodsky 1735
Joseph Guarnerius fecit / Cremone anno 1735
13 3/ 4 (35)
135
136
Documents
Certificate, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume,
Paris, 27 November 1857
Certificate, William E. Hill and Sons,
London, 30 May 1940
Provenance letter, William E. Hill
and Sons, London, 30 May 1940
Literature
Berhmte Geigen, 21 December 1896
Celebrated Violins and Their Owners,
The Strad, March 1999
R. Millant, J.B.Vuillaume: Sa Vie et Son
Ouevre, London 1972, p.120, p. 69
Provenance
Charles Philippe Lafont
J.P. Thibout
Charles Davis
James Goding
Jeane de Proumansky
Alfred Brodsky
William E. Hill and Sons
Anton Maaskoff
Dr. Simon Ramo
Bein & Fushi
Current owner
137
(17811839)
1781
(Rodolphe Kreutzer) (Pierre Rode)
1792
1808
1815
1839
(18511929)
1851
18661868
1873188112
4
(Johannes Brahms)
(Edvard Grieg) 1897
1736Lafont
18911894
1929
(1971 )
1971 831
(Zakhar Bron)
1114
1517
138
139
140
Lafont
Vadim Repin playing
the Lafont violin
Born in Siberia on 31 August 1971, Vadim Repin started playing violin at the age of
five and studied with Zakhar Bron when he was teaching privately in Novosibirsk.
Aged 11 he debuted in Moscow and St Petersburg, at 14 in Tokyo, Munich, Berlin
and Helsinki, and at 15 in New York. At 17 he became the youngest winner of
the most prestigious violin competition in the world, the Queen Elisabeth Music
Competition in Brussels. Repin has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna
Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and the
London Symphony Orchestra, and frequently appears at festivals around the world.
Specialising in Russian music especially the great violin concertos and French
music, as well as 20th century and contemporary repertoire, Repin has recorded a
wide selection of works and is now regarded as one the worlds leading musicians.
15001750
Titian completes
The Venus of Urbino
(14881576)
1538
View of Cremona
shutterstock.com
Antonio Stradivari
Private Collection
Look and Learn
Elgar Collection
Bridgeman Images
1644
1598
1577
1564
1538
1506
1505
1500
First performance
of The Peony Pavilion
11
1651
(15641616)
1610
2007
Emperor Zhengde
11th ruler of the
Ming Dynasty
Pictures from History
Bridgeman Images
Vermeer paints
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Start of Stradivaris
Golden Period
Stradivari dies
(Jan
Vermeer16321675)
16651666
,
1705
Bartolomeo Giuseppe
Guarneri (Del Ges) is
born
1700
Italian School
Guarneri del Ges, c. 1700
Public Domain
Chinese School
K'ang-hsi
Public Domain
1744
1750
1744
1737
1716
1700
1698
1665
1653
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Christie's would like to thank the following people for their help
in the presentation of this collection:
Contributors
Peter Biddulph
Andrew Fairfax
Richard Gagliardi
Vadim Repin
Aleksei Sobolevsky
Local Implementation
Maxwell Yao (Shanghai)
Stephenie Leung (Hong Kong)
English Editing
Maria Howard
Editorial Photography
Visko Hatfield
OPUS3ARTISTS
Sophie Zhai
Creative Direction
Lorena Durn
Chinese Editing
Vince Lung
Print Design
Michael de la Lama
Aniela Gil
Clover Stevens
Exhibition Design
Mathilde Le Coutour
Digital Design
David New
Project Management
Laura Christenberry
Julie Edelson
Sarah Rancans
Marketing Management
Caroline Koch
Pre-Press
Piers Courtney
Digital Studio London
Adam Hogg
Press
Cristiano de Lorenzo
Hannah Schweiger
Michelle Zhang
Finance Direction
Chris Forrest
CONTRIBUTORS
Andrew Dipper
Andrew Dipper
Andrew Dipper
Cristina Rivaroli
1976 2006
Emma Capron
Emma Capron
Emma Capron
2011 Stradivari
2010 Choice
Lafont
Vadim Repin playing
the Lafont violin
Stewart Pollens
(Pablo Neruda)
Heinrich Heine