Costantino Proietto Paintings of Bad Kreuznach, Germany and Cattolica, Italy - 2015
In late 2012, I wrote about a newly discovered oil painting by artist Costantino Proietto (1910-1979).
On the back, the red felt-tipped inscription read “Bad Kreuznach”,
which is an ancient town in Germany. In 1964, the artist had sold the
painting to Ms. Marion Fortune, an American working in Germany at that 
time.
Her heir, Ms. Shelly Jenkins had recently received the painting and
had planned to keep it. In early 2014, Ms. Jenkins changed her mind and
sold the painting to me.
Upon its arrival, I gently cleaned the painting and then added a new
custom frame. Otherwise, it looked as it did when Tino painted it,
fifty years ago. Still, there was mystery surrounding the painting.
With its depiction of a river scene and prominent buildings, I assumed
that someone would know more about the setting. As I have learned, if I
put C.Proietto images out for the 
world to see, someone will write and help me identify a particular scene.
In July of 2014, Ms. Petra Tursky-Hartmann of Frankfurt, Germany wrote
to me regarding the location featured in my newly acquired C.Proietto
painting. At that time, she wrote, “The two pictures show a place called ‘Little Venice on the Ellerbach’
in Bad Kreuznach (I’m born in Bad Kreuznach). The painting shows the
place where the small river ‘Ellerbach’ is flowing into the larger
‘Nahe’ river. It is an historical place, where the skinners lived
during the last century. Due to several floods, they were allowed to
fix there balconies high over the river. Because of the heavy smell
from their work, it was not the best place to go. Still, many poor
people had lived there for hundreds of years. Today, animal processing
is no longer allowed, but these kinds of balconies still hang over the river ‘Ellerbach’.
In the early 1960s, Bad Kreuznach was a very big American Army base;
nearly 10.000 soldiers were there. So maybe, Mr. Proietto was there
for an exhibition, sold paintings and then painted “Little Venice” in
Bad Kreuznach. Maybe not … Who knows? One more mystery.”
Ms. Tursky-Hartmann then explained that her mother may have purchased her own Costantino Proietto original oil painting while on her honeymoon in 1960, when she was twenty-eight years old. She went on to say, “Maybe,
the artist had an exhibition in Bad Kreuznach at that time (1960-1964)
and my mother bought the picture of Eden Teraza to remember her
honeymoon? (This is pure speculation, but then, the date inscribed, ‘14360’ would fit).”
In a subsequent email, Ms.
Tursky-Hartmann provided details that are more accurate about her
mother’s C.Proietto original oil painting. Its title is "Cattolica - Terraza Cafe Eden Roco Italia". “Yesterday, I visited my mother in Spabrücken, close to Bad Kreuznach, where she lives with my sister.
I told my mother about your email. She was interested to hear what I read to her, as I translated your email.
My Mother
told us, that she started to work in 1952 and went to Italy for
holidays during the late 1950s. At that time, she was working as a clerk
for the local Court in Bad Kreuznach. In 1959, she accompanied my father to Riccione and Cattolica, where they stayed in the Hotel Moderno.
During her earlier tours, she travelled by bus, with a group. She always
had an interest in Italien Culture. In the 1950s, many Germans
travelled to Riccione-Cattolica and Rimini. She liked, that the
osterias and hotels were close to the sea and that dining and drinks
were very cheap, and that the climate was warm.
It was not so easy for Germans to travel through 
Europe
after World War II. However, Italiens, she said, had no problems with
the Germans, because of Mussolini’s friendship with Hitler. She said
that the Germans could have good parties at Rimini.
Once, while in Cattolica, at the Terraza Cafe Eden Roco, she said she saw ‘a painter’ - maybe C.Proietto. There were several painters close to the beach offering there paintings. She remembers that ‘this painter’
painted three pictures on three easels at the same time and with very
high speed. With the same colours, he painted each picture.
Selecting one, she liked this picture very much from the first moment.
She then bought the picture from the artist for 400 German Marks. The
painter rolled the picture in a stovepipe, because she was travelling
by bus with a very small suitcase. When back in Bad Kreuznach, she went
to the Bechter Gallery, where they put the frame around it.
When I asked her about the year, she did not remember exactly. However,
the inscription on the backside of the picture indicates ‘Pro 14360’. If this is true, the picture was finished in March 1960. I was born on June 5, 1960. Therefore, in spring or summer of 
1960,
she was definitely not in Italy for holidays. My younger sister was
born on November 17, 1961, so maybe Mama was in Italy in early spring
1961.
In the photograph, you can see that the Proietto is hanging in our
living room on November 17, 1962. That was during the family
celebration of my younger sister’s first birthday. Mama then said that
it is not important, exactly when she bought the picture. More
important is, that she has the picture to remember her most beautiful
moments of freedom, for her Grandmother was very strong!”
After
mentally digesting everything that Ms. Tursky-Hartmann had written
about her mother’s C.Proietto painting, I stopped to think about
another C.Proietto I had purchased a year earlier. It too was of a
seascape, featuring a prominent pergolato, with a shoreline receding
into the distance. Until then, I had no clue as to its location. In his
earlier works, Tino Proietto used only his signature to authenticate his own work. Later, in the 1960s and beyond, he applied a wax seal to the corner of a sticker, which authenticated each new painting.
After reviewing the details of the Tursky-Hartmann C.Proietto, I
recognized certain elements contained within it. For instance, the
distinctive latticework wall and the potted plants were almost
identical to the ones in my mystery 
painting.
If Costantino Proietto stood near the shore at Terraza Cafe Eden Roco,
painting the same scene from three different angles, the result would
be a tryptic, showing the broader scene.
Although painted later than mine, the Tursky-Hartmann painting would
form the left panel of the tryptic. The author’s painting would form
the right panel. Where, I wondered, would I find the middle panel? I
surmised that it would show the scene, looking straight out to sea. As
happens so often with C.Proietto paintings, they provide some answers
to aspects of the mystery. Likewise, each new C.Proietto painting brings new questions with it.
With his self-designation as a “kunstmaler”
(meaning production painter, in German), it could only have been
Costantino Proietto at Terraza Cafe Eden Roco simultaneously creating
three paintings. Why paint only one masterpiece when, as the “master of
impasto”, you can paint three at a time? That would be the consummate
artist, Tino Proietto, in his mid-century prime.
I offer my thanks to both Ms. Petra Tursky-Hartmann and her mother.
First, they identified the location of the Marion Fortune C.Proietto as
“Little Venice” in Bad Kreuznach. Then, they went on to explain the
history of both known Costantino Proietto "Terraza Cafe Eden Roco" paintings, being theirs and my own.
By James McGillis at 06:48 PM | Fine Art | Comments (0) | Link
As
with each C.Proietto I have ever seen, this is a timeless and beautiful
painting. As a collector of the artist’s work, I pictured it hanging
on my wall. After I made an offer to purchase the Jenkins Family
C.Proietto, Shelly Jenkins wrote back, saying, “We were so thrilled
when we heard that Marian Fortune willed the painting to us. We did not
get much opportunity to visit with her during her lifetime and her
thought was memorable”. Although Shelly Jenkins would not sell her