Artist of the week: Giovanni Boldini
December 31 marks the 171 year one of the most famous portrait painters of his time. His ideas are still relevant today, he imitated, admired, buy it at auction for millions
December 31, 1842 was born one of the most famous portrait painters of his time , Giovanni Boldini (Giovanni Boldini). Russian audience just discovering his name , but in Europe and America, it is quite popular , and has long been firmly taken its place among the classics of portraiture. By the way , Italian artist surname pronounced softly - Boldini , but in the domestic art- rooted tradition of writing Boldini , which we will stick .
| J. Boldin Self . 1892 Oil on canvas Source : wikipaintings.org |
in 1933 the magazine " Time " article dedicated a retrospective exhibition of the artist in New York , not without reason, called him " a master of chic » (Master of Swish) ( pun : swish - it's also swish , rustle , rustle ; and portray like flying skirts of women's dresses Boldini was a master ) , and emulate this skill it one hundred and fifty years sought by many artists, including our contemporaries . He recognized by the professional community .
Giovanni Giusto Filippo Maria ( Giovanni Giusto Filippo Maria ) Boldini was born in Ferrara , he was the eighth of 13 children of the artist Antonio Boldini mainly engaged in religious paintings . So often children playground family Boldini served churches and cathedrals in which their father worked , and no wonder that the first experiments in the art for Giovanni became copies of works of masters of the Italian Renaissance , which he used to see from infancy. Best of all he gets to draw people . There is evidence that as a teenager Giovanni considered a good portraitist , and his earliest independent works (portraits ) date from the mid 1850s, when the artist was 14-15 years .
Strictly speaking , life and work Boldini generally can not be divided into a period of apprenticeship and the time when he wrote independent works ( mainly portraits ) on order. He studied and worked in parallel. He was not yet 20 years old, when people recognized him as a good portrait painter , and began to make his first orders .
Despite this early recognition seems Boldini examined for the ability to go beyond family business and dabbled in the military field , but not too well : in 1861 he was dismissed from military service due to a low growth - only 1 meter and 54 centimeters .
After fiasco army Giovanni decided to continue what he does best , and in 1862 traveled to Florence - study painting . In the Florentine Academy of Arts Boldini studied for six years , not confined , however, in the academic walls. It is known , for example, that he attended classes and Scuola del nudo - educational institution specializing in Stude nudes (although first used these skills already in their very old age ).
| J. Boldin Portrait of Adelaide Bunty in white dress. 1866 Oil on board . 43 × 23 Modern Art Gallery Pitti Palace , Florence Source : wikipaintings.org |  J. Boldin on the terrace . 1870 Oil on canvas. 29,8 × 17,4 Sotheby's. 11/08/2013 . Lot 49 Estimate: 000-400 300 000 dollars Result: 365,000 dollars Source : sothebys.com |
in addition, it is quite actively communicated with Giovanni Fattori and other artists makkyayolistami , representatives of one of the last great Italian artistic movements of the late XIX century. Makkyayolizm - painting technique color spot (macchia - spot , in Italian ) - originated in Florence in the middle of the XIX century. Theoretically ( and chronologically ) it precedes experimentation Impressionist and related divisionism . Makkyayolisty argued that the artist should depict only what the eye perceives - spots of color , light and shadow, without changing the reality. Can not say that Boldini fully shared their ideas , but drawing color spot - an important stylistic element in his work , the impact of its undeniably felt in early landscapes painted in Florence, and of course, its elements can not be overlooked in the famous portraits of society ladies .
After the Florentine Academy Boldini lived, worked and went on to study (primarily from his fellow artists ) in France, England , Holland, Germany . At 1867 m , for example, he first visited Paris , where he attended the World's Fair and met Edouard Manet and Alfred Sisley and even befriended Edgar Degas .
And in 1869 he worked in Boldini London, where he finally felt that such a portrait fame : he was nicknamed Little Italian ( the nickname for the artist - the absolute sign of recognition by the public ), and wishing to have a portrait of his brush is literally written into the queue. " Extraordinary " portraits awarded only the most important person , and his artist friends (Frederic Leighton, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent ) , with whom he met while working in England. Besides fame and new friends , and England gave him new opportunities for self-education : Boldini enthusiastically studied the experience of not only his contemporaries Sargent and Whistler (though experts see in his work and the influence of the London period Edouard Manet ) , but the English portraitists XVII - XVIII centuries, primarily by Thomas Gainsborough .
 J. Boldin Les domes ( Versailles) . 1870 Oil on board . 501 × 33 Sotheby's. 08.11.2012 . Lot 1 Estimate: 000-150 100 000 dollars Result: 194 500 dollars Source : sothebys. com |  J. Boldin Portrait of Giuseppe Verdi . 1886 Oil on canvas Private collection Source : wikipaintings.org |
in 1872 Giovanni Boldini settled in Paris , and in 1874 became the first regular exhibitor Independent Salon . Reputation -found in London, helped him to quickly join in the artistic circles of Paris. Permanent exhibition in the Salon , contact with famous people of his time only added to his popularity in the Parisian world. Orders for portraits inexhaustible , but as is often the case , the glory quickly evolved into fashion. Get a portrait painted by Boldini soon became a matter of prestige , and in this sense he could " compete " except that with another famous portraitist of the era , classic American and European painting and his friend Sargent and probably with Paul Helleu - portrait painter , depicting almost all the most famous representatives of his time , including the same Sargent and Marcel Proust .
yet its main zakazchitsu remained society ladies whose images made Boldini fashionable artist , but not a single step closer to its author professional recognition .
doors to the world of art Boldini discovered written in 1886 portrait of Giuseppe Verdi - himself, perhaps a famous person in the entire Europe at that time . It is thanks to this portrait of Boldini talked about as a master of realistic painting . Verdi , inspired by the work of the artist and the portrait , and the picture itself , became only speak of him as a serious wizard. From this time the artist began to receive orders not only the portraits socialite , but also their husbands and relatives - the largest political and public figures. Between 1890 and 1910 Boldini created a series of brilliant portraits of famous public figures and people in the arts and theater .
 J. Boldin Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt. 1880 Cardboard, pastel Source : jssgallery. org | J. Boldin Portrait of Count Robert de Montesquiou . 1897 Oil on canvas. 115,5 × 82,5 Musee d'Orsay, Paris Source : musee-orsay . fr |
He was a friend of Degas and is familiar with Sarah Bernhardt , Auguste Renoir , Edouard Manet, Claude Monet and other major representatives Belle Époque - the heyday of European culture between 1890 and 1914 , when it was built the Eiffel Tower, created art nouveau style , developed cinema etc. , in Russian culture those twenty-five years is called the Silver Age .
About appreciation creativity Boldini artistic community evidenced by the fact that he was twice awarded the Grand Prix World Exhibition in Paris ( in 1889 and 1900 years) and became a knight of the Legion of Honor .
Creativity Boldini thematically rather than chronologically, can be divided into several separate , but sometimes developing parallel parts. The most numerous were certainly portraits painted to order. Boldini created a huge gallery of portraits of members of senior and upper middle class in Europe . Secular , mostly portraits of women today are the very popular and well-known part of his legacy . However , despite its commercial component , these works were for creative solutions , coloristic problems , which staged Boldini followed by Sargent , Whistler and many other artists of his time, solves the problem of image of black on black, white on white , etc .
Apart from the beautiful ladies and men portrayed Boldini . Their portraits are written in a different manner , they are strikingly different from the sparkling , in the " flying " colors , female images . Portraits of men simple, elegant , designed in the same vein, the color palette and skillfully executed in the best traditions of realism , " scenic dandyism " named in the men's style Boldini portrait art M. Herman .
 J. Boldin Fireworks . Approx. 1875 Oil on canvas Source : pictorem.com | J. Boldin The Marquise Luisa Casati with a greyhound . 1908 Oil on canvas Source : jssgallery.org |
traditionally, experts do not consider secular , or otherwise fashionable, highly artistic art . Umberto Eco in his book "History of ugliness " portraits Boldini placed in the chapter on kitsch , including their website one of the creators of the template on which many secular portraitists working today. But with some reservations . The distinction between " highly artistic " and " interesting" identified another Schopenhauer , understanding by the latest art, acting on the feelings of consumers, but at the same time imitating high art. Later this idea evolved into the idea of contrasting high ( elite ) art mass culture , on the one hand (masscult), and petty (midcult - salon art , midkult ) - on the other. High Art - forward movement culture midkult uses its opening for commercial purposes, on the one hand , bringing to an increasing number of high judges , on the other - devaluing it by mass reproduction innovative artistic techniques , mass culture serves to meet the needs of the mass market , more inclined to mundane , traditional views that have beautifully .
Women's portraits Boldini - a vivid example midkulta . The upper part of these portraits is written according to the canons of sense of naturalism , especially the body - face, neck : Boldini carefully prescribes radiant skin , glossy lips parted , dreamy look , etc. However, the lower part of the work - dress pattern - he writes in a very different manner : contours lose clarity, complex shades stratified into separate strokes , turning objects into clusters of colors that seem to merge in a flash of light , so that this part of his portraits are reminiscent of the aesthetics of impressionism and expressionism even . Customer ( zakazchitsa ) of the portrait and in the eyes of society , and in his own eyes looks connoisseur high ( good ) art - such as Impressionism, but contentedly admiring own image , made in the traditional manner .
| J. Boldin Portrait of Henri de Toulouse -Lautrec Pastel on paper . 63,5 × 41,6 Norton Simon Art Fund Pasadena Source : jssgallery. org | J. Boldin Portrait of John Singer Sargent. 1890 Oil on board . 27 × 22 Private collection Source : jssgallery.org |
not the last place in the works Boldini occupied and work done for yourself or for people from his inner circle - for example , genre scenes and numerous portraits of Sargent , Toulouse- Lautrec , self-portraits , etc. in these portraits he freely in the composition , poses, and even the manner of materials , calmer , not as " brilliant ", but much more lyrical . And of course , landscapes. Boldini was a great landscape painter , one stroke of the pen or brush stroke able to convey the inner dynamics of space , the nature of which , as you know, is never absolutely calm .
| J. Boldin View of Venice . Approx. 1895 Oil on canvas Private collection Source : jssgallery.org Permanent link to: © artinvestment.ru, 2024 Attention! All materials of the site and database of auction results ARTinvestment.RU, including illustrated reference information about the works sold at auctions, are intended for use exclusively for informational, scientific, educational and cultural purposes in accordance with Art. 1274 of the Civil Code. Use for commercial purposes or in violation of the rules established by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is not allowed. ARTinvestment.RU is not responsible for the content of materials submitted by third parties. In case of violation of the rights of third parties, the site administration reserves the right to remove them from the site and from the database on the basis of an application from an authorized body. Новости - Hot newsОткрыты 478-е торги AI Аукциона 01.05.2023Неизвестный известный Серж Иванов. 1893–1983 06.03.2023Открыты 469-е торги AI Аукциона 27.02.2023Открыты 429-е торги AI Аукциона 12.05.2022The king walks in any weather. Personal exhibition of artist Andrew Munz AI in the gallery "XXI century. Contemporary Russian art" 17.08.2020A common story: Artsy. Part 1 13.08.2020Open 342-е the Auction and 28-й curator's auction "XXI century" 11.08.2020Artist of the week: Leonid Purygin 10.08.2020Cross-trades in the summer of 2020. ArtTactic Report 06.08.2020  Услуги ARTinvestmentАрт-консалтинг Индивидуальные консультации от опытных искусствоведов по любым вопросам в сфере искусства Составление Инвестиционного Портфеля Подбор предметов искусства для инвестирования под любую инвестиционную стратегию Индивидуальная оценка Наши эксперты проведут профессиональную оценку вашего предмета искусства, учитывая его состояние, авторство, историю и другие факторы 500+
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