Lot 300A: § Vilmo Gibello (1916 -2013) Italian school, still life with cat,

§ Vilmo Gibello (1916 -2013) Italian school, still life with cat, signed and dated 97, oil on canvas

Gibello was born in Piedmont Italy , he studied in Rome and Paris, held his first solo exhibition in Vienna in 1948, and was active into old age . In 1966 he was commissioned by the Sunday Times in London, along with artist Edward Pirotta, to produce blackamoor figures. Art experts of the day were asked to establish an attribution while the figures were on show at Knight Frank and Rutley's saleroom in London, the general consensus was that they were genuine 18th C carvings. The Times revelled in the hoax but had to reveal the truth before the sale and interest in buying had already been expressed h:27 w:36 in.