The Vaselli Collection

Work I

Vincent van Gogh

Dutch, 1853–1890

Van Gogh's works on paper reveal the raw energy of his hand unmediated by the weight of canvas. His village landscapes — saturated with restless line and urgent colour — occupy a unique place in the canon, and works of this intimacy and provenance remain exceptionally rare on the private market.

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Village Landscape

Colour chalk on paper • Late period, Saint-Rémy • Signed lower left “Vincent”

A rare and evocative late work on paper, Village Landscape was executed in the final period of Vincent van Gogh’s life and depicts the village of Saint-Rémy in a composition of remarkable freedom and atmospheric sensitivity. Rendered entirely in colour chalk, the scene unfolds in warm yellows, soft greens, and pale blues, with thatched-roof houses, trees, and rising terrain suggested through animated, expressive passages of line. The handling is loose yet purposeful, conveying both the structure of the landscape and the emotional charge so characteristic of Van Gogh’s final body of work.

Particularly significant is the work’s rarity as a colour chalk study, a medium that allowed Van Gogh exceptional immediacy and spontaneity. The surface retains a vivid sense of the artist’s hand, with free linear accents and softly modulated passages creating a luminous, almost visionary interpretation of the Provençal village. As such, the sheet offers an intimate and highly personal expression of Van Gogh’s late landscape language at Saint-Rémy, shortly before his death.

The work is signed lower left in the artist’s characteristic first-name signature, “Vincent,” consistent with his mature practice. Presented in a substantial carved gilt baroque frame, it combines the delicacy and rarity of a late work on paper with a striking and richly decorative presentation.

Works II, III & IV

Pablo Picasso

Spanish, 1881–1973

Three Picasso works feature in the Vaselli Collection, spanning the full arc of his career: Devil and Girl, a vivid figurative lithograph depicting a reclining figure in red and black, signed in the lower right; a Portrait of a Woman from his celebrated Blue Period (c. 1902), whose reverse carries a hand-inscribed label reading “Picasso 1902” directly confirming the date; and a bold figurative composition from his later abstract period. Together they represent a remarkable depth of holding for a single private collection.

Pablo Picasso — Devil and Girl, lithograph with colour, signed Picasso, stepped gilt frame

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Devil and Girl

Lithograph with colour • Signed lower right “Picasso” • Deep stepped gilt frame

A vivid figurative composition presenting a reclining female figure rendered in bold red and black — voluptuous, energetic, and physically assertive — alongside a male figure drawn in spare outline at the right, watching. The contrast between the filled, coloured female form and the ghostly male contour carries the erotic tension characteristic of Picasso’s treatment of the mythological and the carnal. Signed “Picasso” at the lower right in the artist’s characteristic hand. Presented in a deep stepped gilt frame with a wide black mat that focuses all attention on the small but commanding composition.

Pablo Picasso — Two Figures, oil/mixed-media on board, gilt frame

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Close-up of Picasso signature on Two Figures

III

Three Women

Oil / mixed media on board • Later period • Signed lower edge “Picasso”

A compact, intensely worked composition presenting three abstracted female faces clustered in close proximity against a dark ground — pale cream and yellow highlights emerging from deep shadow, bound together by Picasso’s characteristic bold black outlines and red and earth-tone accents. The forms overlap and compress into a dense, haunting arrangement that recalls his cubist figural groups. The confident signature at the lower edge attests to the vigour of Picasso’s mature hand. Presented in a wide ornate gilt frame with black fabric surround.

Pablo Picasso — Portrait of a Woman, Blue Period, c. 1902, ornate oval frame

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Reverse of the Picasso Blue Period canvas showing aged backing and label

Close-up of reverse label inscribed Picasso 1902

Thumbnails: reverse of this canvas with provenance label

Portrait of a Woman — Blue Period

Pastel & gouache on paper • Blue Period, c. 1902 • Ornate oval gilt frame

A commanding female portrait executed in Picasso's celebrated Blue Period — a phase (1901–1904) defined by melancholic subjects, compressed palettes, and an elongated figural language drawn from El Greco and Toulouse-Lautrec. The subject is rendered with vivid orange-red hair set against a warm golden ground, her garment indicated in green and the background animated by circular blue forms. The reverse of this canvas carries an original hand-inscribed period label reading “Picasso 1902,” directly confirming the date. The label, aged backing paper, and wooden stretcher construction are consistent in wear and patina with a canvas of this period. Presented in a distinctive ornate oval gilt frame with an embossed linen-covered mat.

Works V, VI & VII

Salvador Dalí

Spanish, 1904–1989

Three signed Dalí works feature in the Vaselli Collection: a surrealist skull composition; a deeply observed portrait drawing signed and dated 1961; and Fem, a masterful continuous-line nude study in the tradition of Dalí’s erotic draughtsmanship. All three bear his distinctive cursive signature, and together they represent an exceptional concentration of Dalí works on paper within a single private collection.

Salvador Dalí — Skull with Two Profiles, drawing in gilt frame

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Close-up of Dalí signature on skull drawing

Skull with Two Profiles

Charcoal / ink on paper • Signed “Dalí” upper right

A tightly rendered skull whose eye sockets are resolved as two facing profiles — a classic double-image device Dalí employed throughout his career to marry mortality with femininity. The work is executed in monochrome on a dark ground, with the skull rendered in chalky white against black. Dalí's signature appears at the upper right of the composition. The surrealist conceit is controlled and the draughtsmanship assured. Presented in a wide gilt frame with dark mat.

Salvador Dalí — Self Portrait Study, pencil on paper, 1961, framed

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Self Portrait Study

Pencil on paper • Signed “Dalí” and dated 1961

A compelling self portrait of Dalí himself, head cradled in both hands, rendered with searching realism and expressive hatching. The composition is intimate in scale and unsettling in its psychological directness — consistent with Dalí’s sustained interest in portraiture as a vehicle for psychological scrutiny. Signed and dated 1961 at the lower centre of the sheet. Presented in a warm gilt frame on natural tan paper with a black mat surround.

Salvador Dalí — Fem, continuous ink line drawing on paper, signed Dalí, gilt frame

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VII

Femme-feuille

Original ink on paper • Continuous line drawing • Signed “Dalí” lower right

A superb original ink drawing of Femme-feuille, a study related to one of the most celebrated compositions in Dalí’s oeuvre. Executed with remarkable confidence and economy, the work presents a masterful continuous-line rear-view nude, her loosely cascading curls and sensuous form rendered in a single, unbroken sweep of ink. With no shading or visible correction, the drawing demonstrates Dalí’s extraordinary ability to evoke volume, poise, and erotic charge through line alone.

Both intimate and assured, this study reveals the artist’s fluency as a draftsman and the elegance of his most refined linear inventions. Dalí’s signature appears at lower right in his characteristic flourishing cursive. The work is presented in a wide stepped gilt frame with a black mat.

Work VIII

Amedeo Modigliani

Italian, 1884–1920

The Vaselli Collection includes a single Modigliani portrait, held privately for generations and acquired directly from the artist by Count Vaselli. The piece has never entered the public market, and its emergence is consequently of exceptional significance to scholars and collectors alike.

Amedeo Modigliani — Untitled Portrait, gouache on paper, framed

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Modigliani — surface and inscription detail

VIII

Untitled (Portrait)

Gouache on paper / fibre board • 15.75 × 14.25 in. • Signed lower right

This intimate Modigliani portrait is a striking example of the artist’s unmistakable visual language: an elongated face, almond-shaped eyes, delicate linear features, and a restrained, warm-toned palette set against a dark ground. The work possesses the quiet psychological intensity and refined simplicity that define Modigliani’s most compelling portraits. Executed in gouache on paper, it carries both immediacy and elegance, with a deeply personal presence that is further enhanced by its long private history.

Held privately for generations, the piece is now being presented for sale for the first time in the modern market. According to its family provenance, it was acquired directly from the artist by Count Vaselli and has remained outside public circulation ever since. Because of this uninterrupted private ownership, the work has not yet been included in the catalogue raisonné, making its emergence especially noteworthy.

Presented in a large ornate carved gilt frame.

“The style of the portrait and the materials used are typical for the artist and his era. My conclusion is that it is an original piece by Amedeo Modigliani.”

— Antonio Loro, Ph.D. · August 26, 2014

About This Collection

The Vaselli Collection is a museum-grade private holding assembled across three generations of the Vaselli family, beginning with Count Romolo Vaselli — declared by TIME Magazine in its January 27, 1958 issue as “the man who built modern Rome” and “the richest Roman of them all, worth some 100 billion lire ($160 million).” As the owner and cultural steward of Rome’s legendary Hotel de Russie, Count Vaselli created more than a luxury establishment — he fostered a creative sanctuary where artists, musicians, and intellectuals gathered, exchanged ideas, and, at times, gifted works to one another. These weren’t commercial transactions; they were exchanges between friends.

Count Vaselli personally knew and acquired works directly from Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Amedeo Modigliani, and Vincent van Gogh. Picasso himself stayed at the Hotel de Russie during his February 1917 visit to Rome to work on ballet with Jean Cocteau and Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. The Collection passed from Rome to Costa Rica in 1978, and ultimately to central Texas, where it has remained in private custodianship and is now displayed at the Trois Museum.

The entire Vaselli Collection was exhibited at the Perot Museum, Dallas, in 2015, and is currently displayed at the Trois Museum in central Texas. New owners may pursue raisonné catalogue inclusions and perform additional forensic testing on-site.

Artists

Van Gogh · Picasso (incl. Blue Period, c. 1902) · Dalí · Modigliani · Renoir

Number of Works

9 authenticated works on paper, canvas, and board

Origin

Hotel de Russie, Rome — direct from artist to patron

Provenance

Count Romolo Vaselli → Giovanni Vaselli → Charles Trois (current custodian)

Provenance Documentation

Sworn statement of Maria Frau Vaselli, December 12, 2013 · TIME Magazine, Jan. 27, 1958

Exhibition History

Perot Museum, Dallas (2015) · Trois Museum, Central Texas (current)

Current Location

Trois Museum, Middle of Texas — available for in-person viewing

Status

Available for private acquisition

The Story Behind the Collection

Count Romolo Vaselli — The 8th King of Rome

TIME Magazine, in its January 27, 1958 issue, declared Count Romolo Vaselli “the man who rebuilt modern Rome,” transforming the city from a war-torn capital into a vibrant cultural epicenter. As owner and curator of Rome’s legendary Hotel de Russie — frequented by Sergei Diaghilev, Igor Stravinsky, Jean Cocteau, and Pablo Picasso — Count Vaselli created more than a luxury establishment: he fostered a creative sanctuary where art, music, and intellectual discourse flourished.

“Italians call him the man who built modern Rome. Stocky, stingy and strongwilled, Romolo Vaselli, 75, has turned the Eternal City from a decaying, pest-ridden capital of 500,000 into a marble and concrete metropolis with a population (1,800,000) surpassing that of Augustus’ golden days. He has also made himself, as city tax records certify, the richest Roman of them all, worth some 100 billion lire ($160 million).” — TIME Magazine, January 27, 1958

The Artist’s Patron

Count Vaselli personally knew and acquired works directly from Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Amedeo Modigliani, and Vincent van Gogh. These weren’t commercial transactions — they were gifts exchanged between patron and artist when such relationships were still possible.

Hotel de Russie: A Cultural Crossroads

The Hotel was frequented by Diaghilev, Stravinsky, Cocteau, and Picasso himself, who stayed there during his February 1917 visit to work on the Ballets Russes in Rome. It was a meeting place where art and intellectual discourse flourished across the golden decades of European modernism.

The Journey to Texas

After Count Vaselli’s passing in 2009 at age 87, the collection passed to his grandson Giovanni Vaselli and family. The family migrated from Italy to Costa Rica in 1978, and finally to Texas in 1995, bringing with them this extraordinary cultural treasure. Today the collection resides in the middle of Texas at the Trois Museum.

Direct Chain of Custody

Count Romolo Vaselli → Giovanni Vaselli → Charles Trois (Current Custodian)

Supporting Record

Provenance Documentation

The following materials establish a complete and uncontested chain of ownership from artist to patron to current custodian. All documents are available for review by qualified collectors, institutions, and their legal representatives.

1920s–1950s

Original Acquisition — Hotel de Russie, Rome

Count Romolo Vaselli, owner of Rome’s legendary Hotel de Russie, acquires works directly from Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Amedeo Modigliani, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Vincent van Gogh through personal friendship and patronage at the height of European modernism.
1956

Family Transfer — Vaselli Estate

Count Romolo Vaselli transferred the Collection to his grandson, Giovanni Vaselli, as restitution for assets lost during Mario Vaselli’s widely reported bankruptcy settlement, as covered in TIME Magazine, January 27, 1958.
1958

TIME Magazine Recognition

Count Romolo Vaselli is declared “the man who built modern Rome” and “the 8th King of Rome” in TIME’s January 27, 1958 issue, documenting his cultural standing and wealth during the period when the artworks were in his possession.
1978

Collection Moves to Costa Rica

The Collection traveled with Giovanni Vaselli and his family from Italy to Costa Rica, continuing its passage under consistent family custodianship.
1995

Arrival in Texas — Current Custodianship

The Vaselli family relocated from Costa Rica to Texas, bringing the collection to its current home. Charles Trois acquired the Collection through marriage to the Vaselli family in 2012.
2013

Sworn Provenance Statement — Maria Frau Vaselli

On December 12, 2013, Maria Frau Vaselli (“Mama Vaselli”), wife of Giovanni Vaselli and daughter-in-law of Count Romolo Vaselli, executed a formal sworn statement establishing the complete provenance of the Vaselli Art Collection, including the direct chain of custody, family tree, and verified transfer of ownership to Charles Trois.
2014

Forensic Authentication — Antonio Loro, Ph.D.

Antonio Loro, Ph.D. — Fine Art Conservator and Appraiser, Emeritus Member of the Appraisers Association of America — conducted a comprehensive forensic examination of the primary Modigliani work employing scalpel analysis, long-wave UV light, and microscopy. His conclusion: the work is an original by Amedeo Modigliani.
2015

Exhibition — Perot Museum, Dallas

Works from the Collection were exhibited at the Perot Museum, Dallas, Texas, as part of a broader institutional showing.
Current

On Display — Trois Museum, Central Texas

The Collection is currently displayed at the Trois Museum in the middle of Texas and is now being offered for private acquisition to qualified collectors and institutions. In-person viewings are available by appointment.

Cornerstone Document

Sworn Statement of Maria Frau Vaselli (2013)

On December 12, 2013, Maria Frau Vaselli (known as “Mama Vaselli”), wife of Giovanni Vaselli and daughter-in-law of Count Romolo Vaselli, executed a formal sworn statement before legal authorities establishing the complete provenance of the Vaselli Art Collection. This legally binding affidavit documents:

✓ The direct acquisition of artworks by Count Romolo Vaselli from the artists themselves
✓ The inheritance chain from Count Vaselli to his grandson Giovanni Vaselli
✓ The verified transfer of ownership to Charles Trois through marriage in 2012
✓ Complete Vaselli family tree and historical lineage
✓ Legal verification of uncontested ownership and clear title to the entire Collection

This sworn statement serves as the cornerstone document establishing clear chain of custody. Full documentation is available to qualified parties upon request.

TIME Magazine — “Romulus & Son”

January 27, 1958

Historical profile of Count Romolo Vaselli published in TIME, describing him as “the man who built modern Rome” and the wealthiest Roman of his era — worth $160 million. Foundational context for the Vaselli family record and the provenance of this Collection.

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Vaselli Provenance — Family Video Statement

Countess Maria Vaselli · On Camera

Countess Maria Vaselli discusses the family’s history, Count Romolo Vaselli’s role as patron and collector, and the provenance of the collection from its Roman origins through the present day.

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Trois Museum — Full Collection Overview

Trois Museum, Central Texas

The complete Trois Museum collection presentation, including video tours of all three museum rooms, individual piece documentation, and the full Vaselli provenance narrative with family archive materials.

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Exhibition Record

The Vaselli Collection at the Perot Museum

The Vaselli Collection was exhibited at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Texas — one of the nation's premier science and culture institutions. These photographs document the collection as it appeared on the museum floor, displayed alongside the museum's permanent holdings and attended by collectors, curators, and invited guests.