Sales

In the 19th century, artists held open studio sales and sometimes sold their work through auctioneers.

Some artists made quite a show of selling paintings out of their studios in the Tenth Street Studios building on West 10th Steet in New York, which was only a few blocks from Buongiorno’s studio at 788 Broadway. Studio sales were the bohemian “happenings” of the 1800s.

Through advertisements in newspapers and other sources, I know that Buongiorno sold work through auctioneers at least two times.

Auction, 1904, New York

Buongiorno put some of his own paintings, and paintings by other Italian artists whom he represented, in an auction which was held on March 3, 1904, at the Knickerbocker Art Galleries at 7 West 29th Street in New York. Here is the report of its results (which are not impressive, unfortunately.)

Auction, 1931, Oakland, California

In 1931, Buongiorno and his nephew, D. Paul Troisi (1898-1978), staged an auction of paintings in Oakland, California.
Eden Hughes, author of the exhaustive, definitive book on California artists, Artists in California, 1786-1940, gave me (gave me, he’s a lovely, generous man) this catalogue from the show.

The Donatus Buongiorno paintings listed may be some of the very same paintings which continue to come up for auction throughout the United States. Other artists with Italian names may be peers of Buongiorno whom he and Troisi were representing in the U.S.