4. Portrait of the Madame Juillard
in Red, 1912
Here are the Boldini trademarks
at their most extravagant and dashing.
A beautiful, sophisticated, fashionable
young woman is seated elegantly
on a beautiful sofa. The brilliant
dress is an explosion of sweeping
brushstrokes moving vigorously down
the canvas. The hands are tapering
and delicate. The exquisite little
pointed shoes are sparkling accents.
And the stylish head is rendered
with a minimum of touches of the
brush. Note how the rich, dark background
provides an anchor to the shimmering
action in the foreground. This is
fashionable portraiture at its ultimate
zenith. It has never been done quite
like this—before or since!
Click painting to enlarge.
Oil
on canvas, 71 x 37 inches (180 x
94 cm).
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iovanni Boldini (1842-1931) occupies a unique
and glamorous position in the history of portraiture.
Extraordinarily successful as a painter of European
high society, his dazzling bravura style, combined
with brilliant precision, has made him one of
the most admired and studied artists of all
time. In fact, he occupies a position in that
fabled "triumvirate of titans" at
the very pinnacle of portrait painting in the
golden era at the close of the nineteenth century
and the beginning of the twentieth. The names
of John Singer Sargent, Boldini and Sorolla
(the great Spanish master) are invariably linked
when artists discuss this period. While this
remarkable trio shared numerous characteristics,
Boldini's work was distinguished by his slashing,
rapier-like brushstrokes. Boldini was, like
the other two, a consummate draftsman as well
as a master painter of carefully observed tonal
values. But these qualities were often overpowered
by the explosive brush attack.