2/18/2021 8:22:54 AM
Giovanni Boldini: The Master of ?Swish'
Giovanni Boldini, Portrait of a Lady, oil on panel, c.1897
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Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) is mainly known for his bravura portraits of society women (in the vein of John Singer Sargent’s fashion portraits, though the two have very distinct styles) but his work as an artist is, in fact, wildly diverse and shows a remarkable range of technical skill. Intriguingly, the portrait work he is best known for is probably his least interesting work, as it tends to lean towards sensationalism at the expense of sincerity. Some are so exaggerated that it gives the impression that he couldn’t draw, though he was, in fact, a consummate draftsman.
Giovanni Boldini, Portrait of Marthe Regnier, oil on canvas, 1905
A contemporary of his, Ashton Rollins Willard, was accurate in his analysis that “The essential quality in his talent is the quality which makes the success of a clever caricaturist – an abnormally acute perception of what gives individuality to a face or figure. The caricaturist deliberately makes the quality ridiculous. Boldini advances to the dividing line between caricature and sober portraiture, and halts on the very frontier with just enough of a leaning toward the safe side to save his own self-respect and that of his sitter.” (Willard, History of Modern Italian Art.) It was this work which earned him the title “Master of Swish” in a Time magazine article written a few years after his death.
Giovanni Boldini, Return of the Fishing Boats, Etretat, oil on panel, 1879
However, his career contains far more than just the portraits he became famous (and wealthy) for. He shows expertise in a wide variety of mediums, including pastel, watercolor, and pencil, and was interested in every kind of subject, from still life to location drawing to carefully composed ‘genre’ scenes. Born in Ferrara, he began his studies at the Academy of Fine arts in Venice in 1862. While it’s reported he was not a particularly diligent student, he became involved with the avant-garde group of landscape painters, the Macchiaioli, and through them developed a strong skill set in landscape painting as well as some life-long friendships. After finishing his art studies, he left Italy to work first in London and then in Paris, where he developed his career as a portraitist. He was good friends with Edgar Degas and very much a part of the fashionable Parisian art scene after he moved there permanently in 1872.
Giovanni Boldini, Portrait of John Singer Sargent, Oil on panel, 1890
He was friends with John Singer Sargent as well, painting his portrait twice. Their careers are fascinating to compare, as they both made their fame and fortune as society portraitists and both had a love for doing plein-air and watercolor studies on their own time. But while Sargent remained stylistically remarkably consistent throughout his career, Boldini seems to shift through many different styles. Part of this may be because he started his studies in the more artistically conservative Italy before making the move to Paris, whereas Sargent would have started there, but Boldini also seems to show a certain fluidity of temperament that makes him more quick to adopt and discard various styles. Definitely the influence of friends such as Sargent, Degas, or his friend from his Macchiaioli days, Telemaco Signorini, can be seen in various parts of his career. Taken as a whole, his body of work is remarkably varied and proficient, and shows an accomplished technician who was was insatiably curious.
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