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Lot 55

Giovanni Boldini
(Italian, 1842-1931)
Study of a lady in a ball gown

19th Century European, Victorian and British Impressionist Art

28 September 2016, 14:00 BST

London, New Bond Street

Sold for £8,750 inc. premium

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Peter Rees

Director

Tel: +44 20 7468 8201

Peter.Rees@bonhams.com

Giovanni Boldini (Italian, 1842-1931)

Study of a lady in a ball gown
bears studio stamp 'Boldini', (lower right), inscribed on the reverse '1169/no. 87 b at Boldini. Emilia Boldini Cardona/1931'
black chalk on lined paper
20.5 x 15.5cm (8 1/16 x 6 1/8in).

Footnotes

Provenance
The artists's studio
(probably) a gift in the 1960s from the artist's widow, Emilia Boldini Cardona, to Enrico Piceni
Acquired directly from the above by the family of the present owner during the 1960s
Private collection, Milan

Emilia Boldini Cardona and Enrico Piceni were close friends having worked together to curate the Boldini Exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris, March-May 1963.

From about the time of The Universal Exposition of 1889 in Paris, Boldini was working on a new interpretation of the feminine form. His models and sitters were shown with a combination of dynamism, sensuality and feminism. This is most apparent in his portrait of the Concha de Ossa sisters from Chile. Of the two, the artist's favourite was Emiliana. This new portrayal of femininity is also seen in the later Contesse de Leusse portraits, where even though the sitter is shown in profile, there is a sense of movement. This was a dramatic departure from the more formal portrait of the Concha de Ossa sisters.¹

This drawing is the result of the artist's constant fascination with the female form; Boldini has captured the quiver of a living, modern and sensual feminine form. The work dates from the same period as the portrait of the Countess Zichy, which was completed in 1905.²

We are grateful to Dott.ssa Francesca Dini for confirming the attribution to Giovanni Boldini, and for her assistance in cataloguing this lot, which will be included in the first supplement of the catalogue raisonné on the artist currently in preparation. The work will be sold with a photo-certificate from Francesca Dini.

¹P. Dini and F. Dini, Giovanni Boldini, Catalogo Ragionato, Turin, 2002, vol.III, section I, no.527-529
² ibid., vol.III, section II, no.883

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