Giovanni Segantini (Italian, 1858-1899) Ritratto della sorellastra Irene (Portrait of Irene, stepsister of the artist) Oil on panel 12-7/8 x 9-1/4 inches (32.7 x 23.5 cm) Inscribed verso: Opera di Giovanni Segantini / prima maniera Property from the Dr. Sheldon G. and Irma H. Gilgore Collection of Italian Art 1850-1925 PROVENANCE: Morger Collection, Rüschlikon, Zurich; Davos Collection, until 1959; Christie's Geneva, April 24, 1970; Interart Cultural Exchange, New York; Acquired from the above. EXHIBITED: Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland, "Giovanni Segantini," May 5-June 24, 1956; The Gilgore Collection, Naples, Florida, "The Winds of Change, The Milanese Avant-Garde 1860-1900," 2003, no. 36. LITERATURE: F. Servaes, Giovanni Segantini. Sein Leben und Sein Werk, Vienna, 1902, no. 12; G. Nicodemi, Segantini, Milan, 1956; F. Arcangeli and M. C. Gozzoli, L'Opera Completa di Segantini, Milan, 1973, no. 49; A.-P. Quinsac, Segantini: Catalogo generale, vol. I, Milan, 1982, p. 107, no. 141, illustrated. Painted early in his career, the present portrait depicts Giovanni Segantini's step-sister Irene (Domenica Maria Aloisa), with whom at a young age the artist lived in Milan after the death of his parents in 1865–66. Painted a decade after leaving her guardianship, Segantini's expressionistic composition points to memories of their troubled relationship and her cruelty to him and anticipates the artist's later Symbolist works exploring "dangerous" female figures. While he painted few portraits (and the present work may be a study or incomplete), Segantini believed in their ability to reveal human nature (Winds of Change, exh. cat., p. 104). HID12401132022 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland, "Giovanni Segantini," May 5-June 24, 1956; The Gilgore Collection, Naples, Florida, "The Winds of Change, The Milanese Avant-Garde 1860-1900," 2003, no. 36.

Morger Collection, Rüschlikon, Zurich; Davos Collection, until 1959; Christie's Geneva, April 24, 1970; Interart Cultural Exchange, New York; Acquired from the above.

Chalky accumulation in upper right corner due to frame. Pinpoint accretion under figure's right eye.
Under UV: varnish fluoresces green. Scattered retouching to figure's hair and background above. Area of fluorescence in highlights to right of figure's left eye.
Framed Dimensions 23.125 X 20 Inches