light voice. She could be playful and lighthearted, energetic and enthusiastic, but never vulgar. Berthe was ideal for the artist’s descriptive yet nervous technique, all charm and sensuality, his dazzling colours and light brush strokes, and in fact Boldini portrayed her in numerous paintings, in interiors as well as in out-of-doors settings. The painting was executed in 1874, when the artist had a lucrative contract with the art dealer Adolphe Goupil, producing small-scale pictures on panel or canvas depicting elegantly dressed men and women in preciously and often overly decorated 18 th century and Empire interiors, comfortably seated on silk settees, reading a book or playing the piano, or simply in conversation, as well as out-of-doors, enjoying a stroll in a park or resting on a bench, smelling a flower in a garden or tasting an afternoon drink at a café terrace. In these 18 th century rocaille revivals of artists such as Watteau and Fragonard, Boldini, probably to please the commercial needs of the Maison Goupil, did not hesitate to seek inspiration from Mariano Fortuny and Meissonnier, whose works illustrated scenes from France’s past periods of wealth and prominence. These scenes were highly sought after by collectors who, faced with the harsher realities of modern 19 th century society, were eager to acquire works that suggested a gentler life style, expensive clothes and fine furnishings. In this painting, however, Boldini seems to have forsaken the richly decorated wallpapers of his interiors, and chosen a barren and almost rough wall. As a result, the spectator’s eye is concentrated on the protagonist of the painting, thew beautifully sensual Berthe. Her distracted look and relaxed posture, as she sits, smoking, such details as the folds of the carpet probably caused by the sudden motion of her feet, as well as the paint brush and the pieces of torn paper abandoned on the floor, give the scene a sense of familiarity and intimacy which is unusual and suggests that this panel fwas not intended for the Goupil market. In fact, this picture is not listed in the Goupil archives among the works which his gallery handled. Other props such as the two shiny ceramic plates hanging on the wall, the heavy rocaille frame, the Japanese hat and mask and the curtain hanging high above the door frame seem to have been positioned for the occasion with a theatrical intention rather than belonging on the otherwise plain wall. 80
actual size detail 81
- Page 1:
Jean-Luc Baroni
- Page 5 and 6:
Jean-Luc Baroni Paintings Sculpture
- Page 7 and 8:
Paintings 5
- Page 9 and 10:
7
- Page 11 and 12:
9
- Page 13 and 14:
It had a late 19th century carved a
- Page 15 and 16:
13
- Page 17 and 18:
15
- Page 19 and 20:
17
- Page 21 and 22:
2. Guido Reni, The Assumption of th
- Page 23 and 24:
21
- Page 25 and 26:
23
- Page 27 and 28:
25
- Page 29 and 30:
27
- Page 31 and 32: 29
- Page 33 and 34: the same manner that Flinck might e
- Page 35 and 36: 33
- Page 37 and 38: 35
- Page 39 and 40: 37
- Page 41 and 42: 39
- Page 43 and 44: 41
- Page 45 and 46: 43
- Page 47 and 48: 45
- Page 49 and 50: 47
- Page 51 and 52: 49
- Page 53 and 54: 51
- Page 55 and 56: 53
- Page 57 and 58: 55
- Page 59 and 60: actual size detail 57
- Page 61 and 62: 59
- Page 63 and 64: 61
- Page 65 and 66: 63
- Page 67 and 68: international shows such as the 188
- Page 69 and 70: 67
- Page 71 and 72: 69
- Page 73 and 74: 71
- Page 75 and 76: 73
- Page 77 and 78: 75
- Page 79 and 80: actual size 77
- Page 81: 79
- Page 85 and 86: 83
- Page 87 and 88: 85
- Page 89 and 90: 87
- Page 91 and 92: A Unique Assembly of 101 Terracotta
- Page 93 and 94: 91
- Page 95 and 96: 3. Paul Ginian standing in front of
- Page 97 and 98: Drawings 95
- Page 99 and 100: 97
- Page 101 and 102: 99
- Page 103 and 104: studies for the aforementioned Lucc
- Page 105 and 106: 103
- Page 107 and 108: 105
- Page 109 and 110: actual size 107
- Page 111 and 112: 109
- Page 113 and 114: actual size detail 111
- Page 115 and 116: 113
- Page 117 and 118: 115
- Page 119 and 120: 117
- Page 121 and 122: a lively circle of poets, scholars
- Page 123 and 124: 121
- Page 125 and 126: 123
- Page 127 and 128: 125
- Page 129 and 130: 127
- Page 131 and 132: 129
- Page 133 and 134:
131
- Page 135 and 136:
133
- Page 137 and 138:
135
- Page 139 and 140:
actual size 137
- Page 141 and 142:
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison Palmanova
- Page 143 and 144:
141
- Page 145 and 146:
143
- Page 147 and 148:
145
- Page 149 and 150:
147
- Page 151 and 152:
149
- Page 153 and 154:
151
- Page 155 and 156:
153
- Page 157 and 158:
155
- Page 159 and 160:
actual size 157
- Page 161 and 162:
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. “Il Ritrovament
- Page 163 and 164:
included Lucas van Leyden’s supre
- Page 165 and 166:
1. No. 24 Edouard Vuillard See Cata
- Page 167 and 168:
1. 2. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. No. 35 Giov
- Page 169 and 170:
Index of Artists Allori, Alessandro
- Page 174:
Alessandro Allori Study of the Head