Autograph calling card.
Small calling card format. 2 pp. In pencil.
€ 750.00
To an unidentified recipient, requesting an expert opinion on a painting, allegedly by Boltraffio, from the collection of Dr. Gross, for sale at the time. Dr. Frimmel has attributed it to Boltraffio, which Wittgenstein rejects absolutely: he considers it to be Milanese, and in somewhat doubtful state of preservation. As to the question of its price, Frimmel is said to have given an estimate of 2000 fl. if a buyer took a special fancy to it, but a truly persuasive price would be lower.
For the collection of Dr. Carl Gross, see: T. Frimmel, Geschichte der Wiener Gemäldesammlung, vol. 2 (1914), pp. 76-78. Frimmel notes that Wittgenstein purchased the painting attributed to Leonardo's student Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio in 1896 for 1150 fl. at an auction at the Gartenbaugesellschaft. The painting of a "Madonna with Child" was ascribed to "Pseudo-Boltraffio" by W. Suida in 1920. It was described as a small, highly delicate painting, charming in its colour, from the collection of Ludwig Wittgenstein of Vienna, called a variation of Leonardo's Madonna Urusoff. See: W. Suida, "Leonardo da Vinci und seine Schule in Mailand", in: Monatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft 13 (April 1920), 5.48 and plate 10, fig. 11.