Boldini: Pleasures and Days

25 March 2022

Portrait de Miss Bell (detail; c. 1903), Giovanni Boldini. Photo:
© Musei di Nervi, Raccolte Frugone

With more than 150 works, this exhibition at the Petit Palais in Paris (29 March–24 July) looks at the career of Giovanni Boldini – the Italian ‘Master of Swish’ who captured Parisian high society with inimitable brio. Born in Ferrara in 1842, Boldini spent much of his life in Paris – and this first major survey of Boldini in France for some 60 years focuses above all on the lavish vision of the Belle Époque that Boldini realised, with paintings such as Party Scene at the Moulin Rouge (c. 1889) neatly capturing the commotion and excitement of the era. The show considers his close friendships with fellow artists such as Edgar Degas, writers such as Marcel Proust and couturiers such as Jacques Doucet, while also providing an insight into the artist’s stylistic range; highlights include his richly colourful and unabashedly brushy Portrait of Miss Bell (1903) and the moodier Promenade in the woods (c. 1909). Find out more from the Petit Palais website.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

Boldini, Scène de fête au Moulin Rouge (c. 1889) Oil on Canvas. Courtesy Musée d’Orsay. Photo: © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt

Scène de fête au Moulin Rouge (c. 1889), Giovanni Boldini. Photo: © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/Patrice Schmidt

G.Boldini, Portrait de la princesse Marthe-Lucile Bibesco (c. 1911 ) Oil on canvas. Photo: © Private Collection.

Portrait de la princesse Marthe-Lucile Bibesco (c. 1911 ), Giovanni Boldini. Photo: © Private Collection.

G. Boldini, Jours tranquilles ou Jeune Femme au crochet, (c. 1875) Oil on canvas. Courtesy of The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown. Photo: © Clark Art Institute.

Jours tranquilles ou Jeune Femme au crochet (c. 1875), Giovanni Baldini. Courtesy of The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute

G. Boldini, Portrait de Lawrence Alexander (c.1902) Oil on Canvas. Courtesy Private Collection of Larry Ellison. Photo: © Private Collection, Larry Ellison

Portrait de Lawrence Alexander (c.1902), Giovanni Baldini. Courtesy Private Collection of Larry Ellison