“Hen and Chicks” (1867) Antique Oil Painting by Andrea Cherubini (Italian, 1833-1905)

An exquisite interior scene depicting a mother hen as she roosts while her chicks peck about the room, four feeding on the grain in a simple white porcelain plate while several gather to drink from a pottery vessel filled with water. The interior suggests the location is perhaps the storeroom or root cellar with a shelf stacked with garlic and a covered vessel hanging on the wall over the hen. The work is signed in the lower left corner “A Cherubini 1867, Roma” and the reverse retains labels from the gallery of Schillay Fine Art, Inc. in New York and subsequently an inventory label for Faultless Starch Bonami Company. The work has been professionally conserved and remains in pristine condition.

Born in Rome in 1833, Andrea Cherubini was primarily a landscape and seascape painter, preferring to capture views of Southern Italy. A typical example would include Drawing in the nets, Sorrento offered at Christies, London in January of 2013, ultimately achieving 4375 GBP. The Benezit notes a few of his scenes as particularly interesting, including Seascape (1883), Eight Views of Capri and Views of the Island of Ischia and Surroundings. [Source: Benezit]

Artist Listings & Bibliography:

E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. III, Gründ, 2006, p. 901; this notes the sale of four paintings, each described “Hen and Chicks”; New York, 28 October 1981, 22 1/4″ x 27 1/2″ dated 1865 achieved $ 3500 USD; New York, 27 May 1983, 24 1/2″ x 29 1/2″ dated 1865 achieved $ 1500 USD; London, 30 May 1986, 24″ x 28″ dated 1873 achieved 2200 GBP; London, 12 June 1996, 24 1/2″ x 29″ dated 1873 achieved 3680 GBP

Measurements: 24″ H x 30 1/8″ W [canvas]; 31 7/8″ H x 37″ W x 3″ D [frame]

Condition Report:
Relined. Spot touch ups visible under UV examination (see images): dime-sized spot of inpainting above Hen’s tail feathers; a larger spot of flare suggesting restoration in the featureless shadows of the upper right corner. Canvas is clean and likely conserved in the last two decades. Overall excellent presentation. Housed in a contemporary frame with minor chips to giltwood and fissures to gesso, overall in very good condition.