Norman Rockwell, [attr.], obraz olejny na płótnie, 80×60 cm, sygnatura p/d Norman Rockwell; wkrótce dostępny w sprzedaży

Norman Rockwell Perceval Rockwell był amerykańskim artystą – malarzem i ilustratorem. Jego prace przedstawiające amerykańską kulturę okazały się na ponad 300 okładkach magazynu „Saturday Evening Post”, dla którego pracował przez 47 lat.

Wskazany na etykiecie katalogowej na odwrocie właściciel kolekcji Herber Monteniu posiadał wiele obrazów. Podobna etykietę widzimy na obrazie Wilfredo Lamy [1902-1982] – sprzedanym na aukcji za 15 tys. dolarów. Ciekawych rzeczy dowiemy się natomiast z opisu Andreasa Rothschilda III, stryjecznego wnuka Herberta Monteniu, kuratora wystawy dzieł z kolekcji, który można znaleźć pod adresem https://andreasrothchildiii.com/, zacytowanego poniżej w oryginale:

„My great uncle, the French-Peruvian art collector Herbert Monteniu, had the foresight and the financial means to emigrate from France to Peru after WW1. His personal secretary Andreas Roschild (the name Rothschild is unpronounceable in Spanish) later became his business partner, a longtime member of the Peruvian Cámera de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies), of which Monteniu was president for decades. Monteniu’s mansion, named Santa Rosa for its rose-colored facade and the patron saint of Lima and pictured below (present day), was in walking distance from the Paseo de los Héroes Navales, the most prestigious avenue in Perú.

Among the provenance is an invitation from Peru’s First Lady, Francisca Benavides Diez Canseco, to a dinner in celebration of the new Ecuadorian President, José María Velasco Ibarra in 1934-35. Her brother was Augusto Benavides Diez-Canseco, marshal and twice president of Perú. In this prestigious invitation, my great uncle is addressed as “first lieutenant,” which is a military title only used in the Navy in Peru, in which he served only nominally due to his tremendous wealth and influence. Thus aligning the interests of The French Rothschild-Ephrussi fortunes, now transferred to the New World, with the military powers that would end the presidency of Augusto Bernardino Leguía y Salcedo in 1930.

At that time, Monteniu was already one of the richest men in South America, and as the communist world’s wealthiest art collector, with direct connections to Paris and its art business, he proved a key power player in Perú’s political landscape. The likely date of the invitation, due to the names mentioned on it, is 1934 and proves he was already well-established in Peru years before the occupation of France.

These priceless works of art represent the Rothschild Collection, the legacy of my family for more than three generations. The focus is religious archetypes, both sacred and profane, among them Titian’s greatest work, the portrait of his beloved daughter Lavinia as Mary Magdalene in her mother Cecilia’s maternity shawl, twenty years after her death in 1530 in childbirth.

Images may not be duplicated without my explicit permission.

Andreas Rothschild III, curator”