Jeune fille au chignon

Giovanni Boldini was an Italian portrait painter who lived and worked in John Singer Sargent’s old studio at 41 Boulevard Berthier, Paris for most of his career. Here he would become famed for painting grand portraits with a very distinctive style of painting. His confident and dynamic brush strokes were full of spontaneity, which create a furore of movement within the fashionable clothing of otherwise calmly construed high society figures.

Friends with Edgar Degas, Paul Helleu and John Singer Sargent; Boldini’s daring with his brush not only reflected impressionistic developments in Paris, but also harked back to his youthful Macchiaioli style which was mastered during his youthful embarkations into painting in Florence.

The present lot displays frenetic lines darting throughout the background, bringing forth energy and pronouncing a creative surge from the deliberately visible panel. Meanwhile the head, shoulders and upstretched arm of the confidently captured model take the foreground, and our full attention.

We are grateful to Dott.ssa Francesca Dini for having confirmed the authenticity of the present lot.