Cecchini, Eugenio-Prichard (1831-96; Italian)
Cape Gris Nez (1881)
Oil on canvas, 62.0 x 86.5 cm
Presented by the Hon. C.J.Ham, 1882
National Gallery of Victoria (p.308.6-1)

NGV 1894 and 1905 both list the title of this work as “Cape Gris Nez, North Coast of France,” and call the artist Eugene Cecchini.

Sea Coast in Brittany, auctioned in the USA in January 2015, clearly shows the same stretch of coastline. Various other land/seascapes by Cecchini, who was born in Venice, have appeared at auction in recent years, including several striking views of Venice by night.

The donor, mayor of Melbourne at the time (see donor entry for details), also gave several historical works on paper to the Melbourne collection in 1882 (see e.g. Hodges Party of Maoris in a canoe 1773 {1882} SLV [DR]).

Refs.

AR 1882, p.37; NGV 1894, p.72 (IV.McArthur Gallery, no.6); NGV 1905, p.161 (IX.Pictures on loan to Country Galleries, no.11) 

For the artist, see AKL 17 (1997), p.437, and Bénézit 3, p.637 (as Cecchini-Prichard; the NGV’s painting is the sole example listed). For other works noted recently at auction, see http://www.artnet.com/artists/eugenio-cecchini-prichard/past-auction-results, and http://auctions.freemansauction.com/auction-lot-detail/EUGENIO%20CECCHINI%20PRICHARD,%20%28ITALIAN%201831-1896%29,%20SEA%20COAST%20IN/1510+++++239+/++920262 (Freeman’s auction, 29 Jan.2015, lot 239: Sea Coast in Brittany, 80 x 130.8 cm, from a private collection in Massachusetts; illustrated)