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Dimensions: measurements 11 3/4 by 8 1/2 in. alternate measurements 29.8 by 21.5 cm
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Provenance: Goupil, New York
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York
Private Collection, Milan
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Exhibited:
Milan, Galleria Sacerdoti, Ottocento Italiano , 1981
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Literature: Piero Dini and Franesca Dini, Giovanni Boldini, 1842-1931, Catalago Ragionato, Turin, 2002, vol. I, p. 157, vol. III, p. 140, no. 241, illustrated p. 142 (as L'Amica del Marchese)
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Notes: The present work belongs to a series of small scale, intricately detailed paintings completed soon after Boldini's visit to Versailles in the spring of 1875 (Dini and Dini, vol. I, p. 157). The majestic palace inspired the artist with its overwhelming architecture and decoration of Rococco splendor. The expansive, manicured grounds and Versailles' seemingly endless number of fantastically appointed chambers provided infinite settings for the artist's courtly costume dramas played out by a large cast of noble figures, or in more intimate tête-a-têtes such as the present A Friend of the Marquis. Here the palace's highly polished parquet floors are a stage on which a beautiful woman, likely a marchioness, appears from a long corridor, her scarlet shoes reflected in the glossy surface. Her vibrant, chartreuse gown's folds, frills and bunches of fabric create a sense of movement, while its floral pattern seamlessly blends with the lush bouquet she holds. Rushing into the room, her face is turned to the marquis, suggesting surprise at finding him casually sprawled on a shiny-satin settee. While her face is obscured, her décolletage is prominently displayed--for both the marquis and the viewer. Alone, save for a white-fluffy pup and a retinue of gilded puttis and the painted figures in wall decorations, the pair is engaged in a sensually charged scene of courtly life. The narrative and aesthetic appeal of Boldini's work is immediately evident, and contemporary critics could not help but use equally florid language to describe it. In his Art Treasures of America, Edward Strahan noted that Mrs. A. T. Stewart's similar Boldini of The Park of Versailles in the Eighteenth Century was replete with "gallants making a leg to fine ladies in sedan chairs... the décolleté necks and pinchable little arms of these microscopic puppets show great mastery in flesh painting of the snuff box-lid scale" (fascimile edition, New York, 1977, vol. 1, p. 37). In this quality, Strahan notes the influence of Mariano Fortuny on his fellow Italian in his creation of a "spectacle" on a miniature scale, where each brushstroke is carefully applied to create intricately described details; this was coupled with a vibrant use of color, a keen study of light, and sense of movement. Boldini's technique also suggests the important compositional model of contemporary master and top seller Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier, whose works detailed scenes from France's past periods of wealth and prominence. Small in scale and jewel-like, Boldini's paintings appealed to new American and European collectors, and his dealer, Adolphe Goupil was eager to accommodate this ready market. Not long after the present work left Boldini's studio, it reappeared in a series of New York galleries whose patrons eagerly sought the most fashionable of European art.
