SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Born in Milan, Gian Emilio Malerba trained at Brera under Giuseppe Mentessi and Cesare Tallone. He designed advertising posters before helping establish the Novecento group in 1922. His painting increasingly favoured firmly constructed volumes and a solid treatment of the figure.
Maschere (1922), held by Rome’s Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, brings together three women and a Harlequin in an interior. This oil painting suspends the scene through close framing and the compact presence of its figures, associated with magical realism. On a different scale, the Female Head at the Castello Sforzesco, dating from around 1917–1920, combines graphite and watercolour on a postcard. The economically drawn face appears in three-quarter view with a melancholy expression; its small support measures just 91 by 135 millimetres.
This profile brings together identity references for Gian Emilio Malerba and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Piguet
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.
Oil on panel
Portrait de jeune fille
huile sur panneau
Catalogue period : 2025-11-27 — 2025-12-10
Published result : 800 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 800–1200
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Composition fleurie
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2023-03-02 — 2023-03-15
Published result : 750 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 500–700
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Composition fleurie
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2023-03-02 — 2023-03-15
Published result : 750 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 500–700
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
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