Ferruccio Piovano (1890-1981) - La Chiesa di Giaveno

# Ferruccio Piovano

## *The Giaveno Church*

**Oil on cardboard, cm 30 × 40**
**Signed at bottom left and dated 1965**
**With frame**
**Estimate: € 200 – 300**

### The artist

Ferruccio Piovano, born in Cambiano in 1890 and who passed away in Turin in 1980/1981, is a Piedmontese painter active in the 20th century, particularly tied to the representation of landscapes and places in the Italian territory. His production includes urban views, Piedmont and Liguria landscapes, architectural glimpses and scenes of daily life, approached with a figurative painting and with special attention to the rendering of atmosphere and light.

Market documentation confirms a significant presence of Piovano in the Italian auction circuit. Indeed, numerous works by the artist have passed through important auction houses, including Sant'Agostino, Finarte and other outfits specialized in Italian painting of the 19th and 20th centuries.

### *The Giaveno Church*: the Piedmont landscape

Created in **1965**, *The Giaveno Church* belongs to the artist's mature production and testifies to his interest in the Piedmont landscape, interpreted not only as a simple view, but as a recognisable place strongly linked to the memory of the territory.

Choosing an architectural subject such as a church allows Piovano to build a composition in which **architecture and landscape meet**, transforming a real place into a painting scene of intimate and everyday character. Giaveno, with its historical heritage and the natural context at the foot of the Cottian Alps, offers a subject particularly congenial to the artist's sensibility.

Piovano's painting tends to keep the real data recognizable, without foregoing a free painterly interpretation. It is precisely this balance between **observation of the place and personal sensibility** that characterizes many of his views.

### The technique and style

The work is done **oil on cardboard**, a support frequently used by Piovano for his views and for works of small format. The surface allows agile and immediate painting, particularly suited to recording light and atmospheric variations.

The date **1965**, placed next to the signature at bottom left, constitutes an important documentary element and locates the execution of the work within the late phase of the artist's production.

The choice of the format **30 × 40 cm** is also coherent with numerous other Piovano works on the market. Among these are *Genova Boccadasse*, from 1964, also 30 × 40 cm and executed in oil on cardboard, as well as several Piedmont and Liguria views of similar dimensions.

### An artwork documented on the market

Particularly significant is the fact that **the same work, *The Giaveno Church*, 1965, cm 30 × 40, signed at bottom left and dated**, was catalogued by Trend Casa d'Aste in the auction of October 2, 2024. On that occasion the painting was offered with an estimate of **€700–900** and a starting bid of €150.

This precedent is of particular interest for the present lot, because it documents not only the artwork's presence on the market, but also a previous valuation markedly higher than the current estimate of €200–300.

Piovano's market also shows some continuity: a *Veduta di paese* (View of a village) of 35 × 40 cm, with provenance Galleria Pirra of Turin and Studio d'Arte Cibrario, was offered with an estimate of €450–600; other works by the artist, such as *Cascina presso Sassi* of 1954, have recently been estimated at €450–600.

### Collectible value and conclusions
*The Giaveno Church* represents an interesting testimony of Piedmontese painting of the second half of the 20th century and of Ferruccio Piovano's particular attention to **landscape and identifiable local places**.

Several elements make the lot particularly interesting: the **artist's signature**, the **precise dating to 1965**, the compact format easily placed in a private collection, the **frame** and, above all, the presence of a **precedent auction catalog of the same work**, with an estimate of €700–900 in 2024.

The current estimate of **€200–300** thus sits in an accessible range for a work by Piovano, offering the collector the opportunity to acquire a Piedmontese view by an author documented in the Italian market with an interesting historical-commercial reference already on record.