Estimated Price:

   £   

Realised Price:

   £   

What is this symbol? This symbol indicates that this auction hose has verified this price result.

Log in or subscribe to view price data

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION

ITALIAN, 1842-1931
THE HAMMOCK

measurements
5 1/2 by 7 1/4 in.

alternate measurements
14 by 18.5 cm

signed Boldini (lower left)

oil on panel

PROVENANCE

Boussod, Valadon et Cie, Paris and New York (by 1902)
Mrs. Edward N. Herzog, New York (and sold: Parke-Bernet, New York, March 29, 1939, lot 286)
M. Knoedler & Co., Ltd., New York
Winifred West Morriss (and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 3, 2000, lot 210, illustrated)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

LITERATURE

Piero Dini, Francesca Dini, Giovanni Boldini 1842-1931, catalogo ragionato, Torino, 2002, vol. III, pp. 95-96, no. 154, illustrated

NOTE

Boldini's style changed so dramatically from his youthful works executed in Paris in the early 1870s to his large scale society portraits from the turn of the century --that he easily could be considered to have possessed two distinct artistic personalities. Influenced by the Macchiaioli movement of his native Italy, Boldini arrived in Paris in 1871 with an interest in using vibrant colors and a keen study of light. Most of his Paris paintings from the early to mid 1870s, reveal the strong influence of Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier (see lots 93 and 244). Small in scale and jewel-like, these paintings appealed to new American and European collectors, and Boldini's dealer, Adolphe Goupil was eager to accommodate this ready market.

The Hammock was most likely painted between 1872 and 1874 as it corresponds in subject, technique and scale to other known paintings by Boldini from this period. The model resembles Berthe, who appeared in most of Boldini's early Paris compositions. Here, he shows her asleep in a hammock on a warm summer day; her colorful parasol placed nearby to shade her from the sun. The idea of a beautifully dressed woman depicted out-of-doors follows in the tradition of Monet's Women in the Garden, and portraits of his wife, Camille, as well as Renoir's Lise. Here, we see Boldini at a crossroads: follow in the tradition of the critically acclaimed and popular Meissonier or fall under the spell of the renegade Impressionist group. He appears to have combined the best of both worlds in a successful integration of the old and new.