Painting

Giovanni Boldini’s Beautiful Belles

Alexandra Kiely 5 December 2023 min Read

Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) was a popular society portrait painter in turn-of-the-century France and England. His elegant portraits are still much appreciated today. He is best known for depicting gorgeous and fashionable women – mostly socialites, noble women, and actresses – in spectacular dresses.  His female portraits are full of life; his men are also striking but not usually as vibrant.

Consuelo Vanderbilt and Her Son by Giovanni Boldini
Giovanni Boldini, Consuelo Vanderbilt and Her Son, 1906, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, USA.

Boldini must have really loved fashion since most of his portraits feature evening gowns at least as prominently as the women wearing them. These dresses typically steal the show, but when you look at them closely, they seem to dissolve into near abstraction. Boldini was a master at using loose, flowing, swirling brushstrokes to indicate elegant silks and chiffons that take on a life of their own. The most recognizable feature of his style, this earned him the nickname “the Master of Swish”. He usually painted other sections of his works, such as sitters’ faces and elegant furniture, with more solidity, and this contrast only makes the fabrics that much more striking. His works are also recognizable for the subjects’ exaggerated pointed chins, bow-like red lips, elegant noses, and lithe hands and fingers held at jaunty angles.

Portrait of Rita de Acosta Lydig by Giovanni Boldini
Giovanni Boldini, Portrait of Rita de Acosta Lydig, 1911, private collection.

Early in his career back in Italy, Boldini belonged to a group of artists, called the Macchiaioli, who experimented with nontraditional subjects and styles. They had much in common with the Impressionists, who also challenged artistic tradition. Boldini later became friends with several Impressionists; however, his society portraiture did not share most Impressionist values, despite a resemblance in brushwork. Boldini’s style and clientele had much more in common with his contemporary and friend John Singer Sargent, whose portrait he painted several times.

Let’s take a look at some of Boldini’s most fashionable subjects.

Madame Eugène Doyen by Giovanni Boldini
Giovanni Boldini, Madame Eugene Doyen, 1910.
Emiliana Concha de Ossa by Giovanni Boldini
Giovanni Boldini, Emilana Concha de Ossa, 1911, private collection.
Florence Blumenthal by Giovanni Boldini
Giovanni Boldini, Florence Blumenthal, 1912, Brooklyn Museum, New York City, NY, USA.
La Marchesa Luisa Casati by Boldini
Giovanni Boldini, La Marchesa Luisa Casati, 1908, private collection.
Madame Juliard in Red by Giovanni Boldini
Giovanni Boldini, Madame Juliard in Red, 1912, private collection.
Elizabeth Wharton Drexel by Giovanni Boldini
Giovanni Boldini, Elizabeth Wharton Drexel, 1905, The Elms, Preservation Society of Newport, Newport, RI, USA.

Bibliography

1.

Raymond J. Steiner,  “Giovanni Boldini at The Sterling and Francine Clark Institute”, Art Times. March-April 2010. Accessed October 1, 2017.

3.

Bill Rau, “Spirited Masterpiece: Rita de Acosta Lydig by Giovanni Boldini”, Art Fix Daily, January 5, 2016. Accessed October 1, 2017.

4.

Natasha Wallace, Giovanni Boldini (1845-1931) Italian-French portrait painter, JSS Virtual Gallery, March 24, 2017. Accessed October 1, 2017.

6.

Charles Bonenti, “Rediscovering Giovanni Boldini”, The Berkshire Eagle, February 12, 2010. Accessed October 1, 2017.

7.

A. Cassandra Albinson, “Maximum Exposure: Modernizing the Grand Manner Portrait for the Edwardian Age” in Edwardian Opulence: British Art at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century, Ed. by Angus Trumble & Andrea Wolk Rager, New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2013. P. 80-89.

8.

“Catalogue” in Edwardian Opulence: British Art at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century, Ed. by Angus Trumble & Andrea Wolk Rager New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2013. P. 161-162.

Get your daily dose of art

Click and follow us on Google News to stay updated all the time

Recommended

Painting

Maiden or Boy? Androgyny and Misogyny in Symbolist Art

As the 19th century barreled towards the 20th, a profound reevaluation of established gender roles manifested in the confluence of burgeoning...

Martha Teverson 8 February 2024

Painting

Divine Inspiration: Angels in Art

Angels have been a source of artistic inspiration throughout history. Whether adorned with wings and halos or not, the varied appearances of angels...

Jenna Burns 26 December 2023

Painting

One Final Masterpiece: 7 Last Paintings from Great Masters

Hippocrates said that life is short, and art is long. Every great artist left behind iconic works of art that have lived long after their death. Some...

Sam Malone 11 December 2023

Painting

5 Painters from Faroe Islands You Should Know

In the middle of the North Atlantic lie 18 islands most people have never heard of. They are called Faroe, which loosely translates to sheep islands.

Theresa Kohlbeck Jakobsen 1 January 2024