Harmony in Minor Key, 1973

Provenance

William F. Nelson, Holdrege, Nebraska

Godel & Co. Fine Art, New York, New York

Private collection, Laguna Niguel, California, acquired from above, 2016

Sale, Christie’s, New York, New York, April 21, 2023, lot 146, from above

Exhibited

National Academy of Design, New York, New York, 149th Annual Exhibition, February 23–March 16, 1974

Literature

Stuart P. Embury, The Art and Life of Luigi Lucioni: A Contribution Towards a Catalogue Raisonné (Holdrege, NE: Embury Publishing Company, 2006), 220, no. 73.1.

Related Works

Close Harmony (No. 1), 1950, oil on canvas, 14 x 16 inches, signed and dated lower right; Private collection

Related Rhythm, 1958, oil on canvas, 19⅛ x 21 inches; Palmer Museum of Art of The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania

Contrasting Textures, 1965, oil on canvas, 23⅛ x 28¼ inches; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

Arrangement in Blue, 1970, oil on canvas, 24 x 22 inches; Denver Art Museum, Colorado

Note: At a young age, Luigi Lucioni developed a passion for music. He attended the opera regularly (at first standing at the back of the theater before he could afford his own seat) and befriended several performers, including famed tenor Giovanni Martinelli. Lucioni also enjoyed playing the piano and he gave several of his paintings musically themed titles.