Giovanni Battista Guadagnini is the best luthier during the four decades following the death of Stradivari and of Guarneri del Gesu. His apprenticeship is undocumented and he was still recently considered as self-taught. He was born in a village near Cremona where his father Lorenzo was not a farmer but a subcontractor craftsman to Stradivari.
This new hypothesis is consistent with the fact that the structure of the instruments made by Giovanni Battista is very close to the Stradivarius. Probably advised by keen users, Guadagnini practices a continuous improvement as Stradivari had done. Slight changes in shape bring an intense sound that pleases music lovers of his time and of today and his reddish-brown varnish is one of the very best of all time.
Guadagnini's career takes place successively in four cities, simply because he endeavors to keep a direct or indirect relationship with the best violinists. He follows Ferrari from Piacenza to Milan and then to Parma where he is protected by the chief minister of Duke Philip of Bourbon. Political changes led him in 1771 to Turin where he probably wanted to get closer to Pugnani.
He finds in Turin the very young Count Cozio who seeks to build an exclusive trade on the instruments of the quartet. At first Cozio promotes Guadagnini as the ultimate successor to Stradivari. This qualifier is consistent with the hypothesis that Guadagnini had learned his trade with the old master. His instruments made in Turin are identified by the label "Joannes Baptista Guadagnini Cremonensis fecit Taurini. alumnus Antoni Stradivari", to be however considered with caution because it also appears on posthumous pieces.
Guadagnini's production is prolific during his Turin period. A 1778 violin that once belonged to the quartet pedagogue Dorothy DeLay was sold for $ 1.39M including premium by Tarisio on October 17, 2013 over an estimate of $ 800K. On February 22 online from New York, the same auction house sells from the same estimate at lot 157 a violin dated 1779, also in excellent condition.
SOLD for $ 1.25M including premium
This new hypothesis is consistent with the fact that the structure of the instruments made by Giovanni Battista is very close to the Stradivarius. Probably advised by keen users, Guadagnini practices a continuous improvement as Stradivari had done. Slight changes in shape bring an intense sound that pleases music lovers of his time and of today and his reddish-brown varnish is one of the very best of all time.
Guadagnini's career takes place successively in four cities, simply because he endeavors to keep a direct or indirect relationship with the best violinists. He follows Ferrari from Piacenza to Milan and then to Parma where he is protected by the chief minister of Duke Philip of Bourbon. Political changes led him in 1771 to Turin where he probably wanted to get closer to Pugnani.
He finds in Turin the very young Count Cozio who seeks to build an exclusive trade on the instruments of the quartet. At first Cozio promotes Guadagnini as the ultimate successor to Stradivari. This qualifier is consistent with the hypothesis that Guadagnini had learned his trade with the old master. His instruments made in Turin are identified by the label "Joannes Baptista Guadagnini Cremonensis fecit Taurini. alumnus Antoni Stradivari", to be however considered with caution because it also appears on posthumous pieces.
Guadagnini's production is prolific during his Turin period. A 1778 violin that once belonged to the quartet pedagogue Dorothy DeLay was sold for $ 1.39M including premium by Tarisio on October 17, 2013 over an estimate of $ 800K. On February 22 online from New York, the same auction house sells from the same estimate at lot 157 a violin dated 1779, also in excellent condition.
SOLD for $ 1.25M including premium
Our top lot is almost at the high estimate and in extension! #AuctionUpdate https://t.co/D230EclBTJ pic.twitter.com/MsAMm1LtI6
— Tarisio (@TarisioAuctions) February 22, 2018
Bidding opens now! All lots in our February 2018 New York sale open for bidding at 11am EST.
— Tarisio (@TarisioAuctions) February 6, 2018
Bid online here: https://t.co/ilsAuWJLdO pic.twitter.com/5P787hLWAR
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