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Barbaro 2

Giovanni Barbaro 2

Moroccan street scene, watercolour on paper, pasted to acid board, c1900. Signed Giovanni Barbaro.

Dimensions : 255mm x 617mm.

The Citadel, signed by Giovanni Barbaro, c1900. Watercolour on paper, framed under glass.

Dimensions : 250mm x 610mm.

Giovanni Barbaro's signature on The Citadel watercolour.

Figures and camels outside the walls, signed by Giovanni Barbaro, c1890. Watercolour on paper, framed under glass. Dimensions : Frame : 502mm x 340mm. Image : 368mm x 205mm.

Giovanni Barbaro's signature on the above watercolour.

"Inundation of Nile" titled in Barbaro's own handscript verso, with date 1889, signed Giovanni Barbaro lower rh corner.

Dimensions : Frame : 435mm x 868mm. Image : 310mm x 742mm.

A spectacular haunting sunset scene which ranks high in Barbaro's works.

Sig. on "Inundation of Nile" lower rh corner.

"Inundation of Nile" in Barbaro's own handscript verso.

Below is a collection of four paintings known as The Bedouin Series which appear to have been painted at the same time and bear signatures in a slightly lighter handscript than in the usual manner.

Bedouin by a temple near Nile at sunset, signed Giovanni Barbaro, c1900. (Previously catalogued as Bedouin by an oasis).

Dimensions : Frame : 400mm x 755mm x 22mm. Image : 240mm x 600mm.

Another spectacular Barbaro sunset study.

A Bedouin camp, watercolour on paper, signed Giovanni Barbaro, c1900.

Dimensions : Frame : 400mm x 755mm x 22mm. Image : 240mm x 600mm.

Signed lower rh corner.

Barbaro's signature on the above Bedouin Camp.

Camel and rider by the Nile, watercolour on paper, signed Giovanni Barbaro, c1900.

Dimensions : Frame : 400mm x 755mm x 22mm. Image : 240mm x 600mm.

Signed lower rh corner.

Detail of the camel and rider.

Bedouin and camels by the river and mosque, watercolour on paper, signed Giovanni Barbaro, c1900.

Same location as "Camel and Rider" above.

Dimensions : Frame : 400mm x 755mm x 22mm. Image : 240mm x 600mm.

Detail from the Bedouin and camels by the river and mosque.

Additional works in the same manner with same signature :

"Opposite Damietta", watercolour on paper, signed Giovanni Barbaro, c1900. Inscribed verso.

Dimensions : Frame : 410mm x 587mm x 20mm. Image : 203mm x 380mm.

"Fez, Morocco", watercolour on paper, signed Giovanni Barbaro, c1900. (Unusual location in Morocco). Inscribed verso.

Dimensions : Frame : 406mm x 586mm x 20mm. Image : 200mm x 378mm.

Watercolours on paper, Arab street scenes. c1901.

Signed Giovanni Barbaro.

Egyptian Street Scene (1), watercolour on paper, signed Giovanni Barbaro. c1900. Framed and glazed.

Dimensions : Frame : 825mm x 405mm x 30mm. Image : 710mm x 290mm.

Egyptian Street Scene (2), watercolour on paper, signed Giovanni Barbaro. c1900. Framed and glazed.

Dimensions : Frame : 825mm x 405mm x 30mm. Image : 710mm x 290mm.

Egyptian Street Scene (3), watercolour on paper, signed Giovanni Barbaro, c1900. Framed and glazed.

Dimensions : Frame : 845mm x 435mm x 25mm. Image : 715mm x 305mm.

Egyptian Street Scene with Water-carrier, watercolour on paper pasted to acid-board, signed Giovanni Barbaro. c1900.

Dimensions : Image : 728mm x 318mm.

The water-carrier in detail, Bhistiwalla.

Classic desert scene, watercolour on paper pasted to board. Figures with camels in a desert with ruined columns and palm trees.

Dimensions : 305mm x 745mm. Signed Giovanni Barbaro. c1900.

Camel and Rider in Desert Landscape, watercolour on paper, signed Giovanni Barbaro. c1900.

Dimensions : Frame : 306mm x 481mm x 14mm. Image : 175mm x 350mm.

Signature on the above painting (lower rh corner).

Examples of works signed G. Barbaro.

In an Orange Grove c1900. This very attractive watercolour on paper work c1900 is an unusual study for Barbaro and is probably Amy (Barbaro) in her younger years, signed G. Barbaro.

Dimensions 279mm x 381mm.

Image courtesy of Clerkenwell Fine Art.

Clerkenwell Fine Art also provided the following biography :

Arthur Dudley was a sought after watercolour painter, extremely popular with the Edwardian public. He lived in London and Bath, exhibiting at the R.A., R.I., R.B.A. and elsewhere with a firm following from the people of his day. His chosen pseudonym, Giovanni Barbaro, under which he exhibited, is an appellation redolent of youth, artistry and Mediterranean sensuality which suited the exotic subject matter of his paintings.

Like many artists at the turn of the century, Barbaro turned to the vibrant colours and sensuality of the warm south for inspiration. This exquisite watercolour is a superb example - a celebration of Mediterranean beauty and very much in the spirit of the aesthetic movement and "art for art's sake" which his contemporaries Albert Moore, Lord Leighton and others were championing.

The following colour postcards, published by Stewart & Woolf, London, E.C., Series No. 559, c1909, feature the same model as in the above "In an Orange Grove" watercolour painting and in several other of Giovanni's works over the years. Until proved otherwise, I suspect that this is his wife Amy Barbaro.