Who Was Irene?

I always get a little funny feeling in my stomach when I see old photographs or portraits for sale in various antique selling venues.
Someone's family decided that the often unnamed people in photos do not warrant keeping the pictures around.  And who can blame them? Pictures of people and we do not know who they are?  This is the stuff of estate sales.

But then--what about paintings or portraits or drawings of mysterious people? Often for sale and let's face it--This Lady Antique Dealer has several of them on her walls at home and in the shop.

This drawing of Irene is very bittersweet to me.  This pencil drawing on thin paper and framed and matted is signed by the artist Luigi Corbellini, an Italian American artist who dates from 1901-1968.  Inscribed on the lower left "To My Amour Irene".

Who is Irene?  Didn't Irene have family that would have treasured a drawing by a good listed artist who was in love with Irene?  I guess not.  Lucky me to pick this up recently at auction.

She is beautiful and by week's end will be for sale for $295 at the Odana Antiques and Art shop in Madison Wisconsin.

Julius' Ducks

You never know what you will uncover when clearing out an estate property--sometimes the quietest finds can be the most interesting.  I uncovered a few treasures while cleaning out my aunt's flat last spring.

My great grandfather  Julius was an interesting character--a company executive, a house designer and builder, a watercolorist, a rose and dahlia grower, a decoy carver and painter and a duck hunter.  If truth be told--DUCK HUNTER would be in capital letters.

Dear Julius is going to be a subject of a feature article forthcoming in a national sportsman's magazine.  So I will not give any hints and leave the story unfolding to a nice decoy collector who is writing the article.

I sure wish I could spend an afternoon with my Great Grampa.