MIA N. WEINER

brush and brown and red-brown ink wash.( 221 x 293mm). hinged to a mount that is inscribed: G.B. Boissieue.

This unusual, warm and rich brush drawing, executed without use of pen and ink nor any underdrawing, is not typical of Bison; but neither is it unique. Bison often relocated to different towns in the north of Italy from Bergamo to the region of his birth, near Udine. The hillside aspect of these attached buildings is illustrative of one of the towns in which the artist worked after leaving Venice. It is also the kind of motif that might be incorporated into a large scenic panel for interior room decoration, one kind of decorative scheme for which Bison was known. One drawing which is very similar technically and also features a few buildings up a flight of stairs and includes a figure, is entitled Paesaggio nordico con chiesa. It is signed. It is reproduced in Cento Disegni del Bison, curated by Aldo Rizzi, for an exhibition in 1963 in Udine and published as the first in the series Cataloghi de Mostre d'Arte. Several other drawings illustrated there are also notably comparable: #13, Rovine con leone e due figure, and #26, Casa con scalinata, arco e macchiete, although both use pen & ink as well as brush and wash.

Bison was an elegant and extremely proficient draughtsman. He was quick to transform his thoughts into charming visual imagery. Though successful for much of his itinerate life, his later years were neither easy nor comfortable.