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The exhibition follows a chronological order and traces the life and work of Boldini, from his beginnings in Ferrara, through his collaboration with the Macchiaioli artists in Florence, to his departure for Paris and London. Boldini was then consecrated as a portrait painter loved and revered by the bourgeoisie and the international aristocracy.
His portraits of wealthy women, actresses, intellectuals, divas, encountered in the mundane places of Paris at the end of the century, have captured the spirit of a dynamic and sparkling society.
Unlike his father Antonio, a painter specializing in the reproduction of antiquity, Giovanni Boldini very quickly moved away from academic conceptions to focus on making more intimate portraits by immersing them in rich settings.
In 1867, Boldini first arrived in Paris to visit the Exposition Universelle. Conquered by the charm of this city redesigned by Baron Haussmann, he moved to Pigalle and signed a contract with the art dealer Adolphe Goupil for the sale and reproduction of his works.
Boldini paints gallant scenes intended for a bourgeois clientele who are looking for works imbued with lightness.
His precious little canvases dress or undress women, as the journalist of his time Albert Flament rightly pointed out. Boldini’s heroines are unapologetic and show off their charms with or without fabric.
In 1886, Boldini transferred his studio to that of John Singer Sargent in the 17th arrondissement. He then devoted himself to his large canvases in oil or pastels.
La signora in rosa, 1916 olio su tela, 163 x 113 cm Museo Giovanni Boldini, Ferrara