LIONELLO BALESTRIERI Cetona 1872 - Naples 1958 Self-portrait Oil on cardboard, 35.5X27 cm Provenance: Milan, Galleria Pesaro (second label on verso) Milan, Galleria Geri Milan, private collection Exhibition: Galleria Geri, Sale Studio Balestrieri, Milan 1965 no. 626 This work depicts an intense self-portrait of Lionello Balestrieri, realised through quick, nervous brushstrokes. The magnetic gaze stares at the viewer with a sincere air. He began his studies at the Academy in Rome, finished them at the Academy in Naples, where he was Domenico Morelli's favourite pupil and moved to Paris at the age of twenty. His love for music inspired many of his works: in 1899 he painted Beethoven, a painting that was presented at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, was a great success and was later purchased by the Rivoltella Museum, where it is still kept today. Reference bibliography: R Pantini, L'arte a Parigi nel 1900, Florence 1901, ad vocem