[uleman]

My wife and I would like to find any information we can about this painting. It is oil on canvas in the original frame and depicts an early 20th century Parisian street scene. Other than that, we have no idea what we have.
Thanks for any help.

[linnealand]

How did you acquire this painting?

Would you mind posting at least a couple of close up images of the painting?

Are there any unique qualities we should know about that do not read through the photographs?

What is its size?

[uleman]

This painting is 25-1/2 by 18-1/2 inches.
It is oil on canvas.
It was originally purchased by my wife's great uncle and given to her father over sixty years ago.
The uncle was a prominent Beverly Hills accountant to the celebrities of the thirties and forties.
We believe he purchased it on one of his many trips to Europe.
If you would be more specific as to the type of photos you require, I shall be glad to accommodate you.
Thanks,

[uleman]

Here are some close ups of the painting.
They have been reduced from very large jpeg files, so if you want further definition, I can send larger images.

[uleman]

More

[linnealand]

the signature is quite an encryption, isn't it? I've used my best guesses as to what is written through database searches online, but nothing has come up. Unfortunately, the "studio d'arte" stamp is also illegible. However, I can only assume that there are people who could be able to identify it by its shape.

if what you're looking for is the painting's monetary value, you will need to take it to an appraiser. Unfortunately, I don't believe there is anyone here who can appraise it for you.

there is another devoted member here who can sometimes find more information on artists that I can. He will probably pass through sooner or later. Have you come to a consensus about the artist's name?

I know quite a bit about art, but from an artist's perspective. If you really are desperate to find more information if possible, there's no harm in posting two or three close up shots of the painting. I can't read the details of the painting from your first photograph. I am more curious to see how the people have been painted. Again, this is just for me to see the quality of the work. I cannot give you its value. I'm hoping for your sake that it's above a nice tourist level painting, but I'm not so convinced of that at this point. Your only other hope would be that this painter created a name for himself through other styles of work. That's what my gut is telling me.

[linnealand]

I'm glad you posted the pictures. Thank you. I'm sharing my instincts here, but I would be happy to be proven wrong. I do think this painting was done quickly with intent to sell as a mode of regular income. There is little doubt in my mind that there are many others rather similar to this one by the same artist. Any extra monetary value would be more based on age than unique content. However, what could augment its value would also relate to how that particular part of Paris has changed.

the possibility that this painter did create a name for himself through more challenging or controversial paintings is still possible. However, as a piece in itself, it just isn't a van gogh. Style wise, it reads more like an impression of an impressionist painting.

I'm assuming the painting was bought new. If you can recall the time in which it was bought, it would be better. The impressionist era was basically considered to be over by the 1930's, or the tail-tail end if best.

all of this taken into consideration, it's still a pretty painting. I assume its value as a family heirloom also makes it worthy of staying with you. If you were to sell it, you would get money for it. Of course, the longer you sit on it, the more it will be worth.

as a side thought, the frame is not particularly helpful to the painting, but if it is original, you should probably keep them together.

if you decide to get it appraised out of curiosity but you're not interested in selling it at this time, you can see about getting a verbal appraisal rather than a written one to save some money.

as I wrote earlier, I would be more than happy to be proven wrong. If you do find more information, please come back to share it! I would love to know more either way.

[merkuxio]

The artist is Antonio De Vity born in 1901
I recently received one of his paintings as a gift from my grandmother who purchased it on a trip to Italy. So I was doing some research as well. There are some paintings on eBay of his for sale ranging from 400-900 dollars.

Hope this helps

David

[floathouse]

A. (birth name 'Antonio', but preferred to be called 'Antoine' De Vity, (his last name is pronounced "Dee Vit TEE" although living in Paris, had a studio in Naples, Italy where his paintings were manufactured by a group of apprentices. Which is the same well established practice used by many notable artists back to the time of Leonardo. There are thousands of De Vity paintings, all sold as 'original', while being mass produced by a string of 'apprentice' or cottage' artists. I am an authority on the subject, as I had went to Naples to get an export license from the Studio de'Art in 1976 to export 'original' A. De Vity 'originals oil paintings'. The reason I got that far into the inside circle of the trade at the time, is that I was married to the daughter of the retired 'head' of the Naplitano 'Mafioso'. I have a stack of photos showing me reviewing the art at the time (1976).

The above is NOT to say that De Vity did not personally paint authentic originals in Paris, because he did. I have an original 40" x 60" wet street scene in heavy impastpo, a size that Devity sometimes used for his Paris originals. Unless an expert on his personal impasto knife painting style, it is sometimes very difficult to tell a real authentic hand painted Paris original from a Naples 'apprentice original'. Because the Naples Studio De' Art was an entity partially owned by the Artist himself, he would travel to Naples periodically to make final selections of paintings to be chosen for street, shop and export sales, and sometimes finished by himself and retained by the shop, and he then hand signed all that were graded A+. So nearly all De Vity oils are signed by De Vity himself and photographed during the process of being signed by him, but about 90% of those are originally painted by his 'apprentices'. Again, the above is NOT considered unethical business practices particularly in Europe. One other comment is that sizes of apprentice work is generally 14x22 and 20x30, and is very rarely larger. Antoine worked in oversize on his personal production, and later in his career he rarely did anything in a size that would compete with the Naples studio. So most of his personal work is on average larger than 24x36. (These sizes are all approximate because originals were done to locally accepted metric sizes, and would be odd sizes in inches and feet.

I am as much of a Antoine De Vity authority as anyone, having been a master distributor in the US for his work, having met him, and after reviewing more than a four hundred of his and his studios work, I can tell you that I believe the above painting to be an authentic studio original, signed by the artist. Some of the composition and preparation, as well layout and paint may have been applied by apprentices as it carries the Studio stamp. Without a personal inspection and subjecting the work to some infrared and other non intrusive tests, I couldn't say with absolute certainty, but from what I see in the photographs, the impasto effect looks very accurate.

Please do not be confused with Ebay and Amazon prices. My suggestion is get an expert on De Vity to appraise it. (And if the expert doesn't know the difference between a 'apprentice original' and a Paris 'original', don't let them do an appraisal for you. They most assuredly will be wrong. I think your painting is well worth getting an authenticated accurate appraisal by a reputable Art Appraisal firm. Any quality Gallery can recommend several.

Please don't separate the frame from the stretched canvas. And I would caution against taking the canvas off the stretchers. That devalues the piece. One last note, De Vity was known as 'Antoine' (pronounced Ann Twon') as that is how he introduced himself to me, rather than the birth name of Antonio.

In conclusion, you have a nice piece, and please get it appraised. It is not super valuable, but it is good standard European Impressionism in its most recognizable form, and I should think it is well worth more than you would initially guess. It is actually worth more heirloom, than it is at auction. That means keep it and care for it well. Pass it down.

In conclusion, please don't think I am trying to be a 'know it all' jerk. I am trying to pass on information about a subject I do know quite a bit about, in hopes that it will help.

John