Giovanni Boldini (Ferrara 1842-1931 Paris)
Lot 124 PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR

Giovanni Boldini (Ferrara 1842-1931 Paris)

A man seated in a church

Closed24 January 2017

Price Realised

USD 46,250

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Giovanni Boldini (Ferrara 1842-1931 Paris)
A man seated in a church
with inscription '12. uomo in chiesa' (crossed out) and 'n° 121 atelier Boldini./ Emilia Boldini. - Cardona/ 1921' (verso)
watercolor
17 5/8 x 17¾ in. (44.8 x 45 cm.)

The artist's widow, Emilia Cardona Boldini; The artist's studio stamp (L. 272b).
Paris, Galerie Jean Charpentier, 30 June 1936, lot 39 (where bought by Wildenstein).
with Wildenstein, Paris.
Baron Maurice de Rothschild and by descent; Christie's, New York, 1 November 1995, lot 1.
with Colnaghi, London (cat. 1996, no. 48), where acquired by the present owner.

Specialist note

An intimate portrait by Giovanni Boldini, this energetic watercolor presents the sitter in a church’s interior, dominated on the background by a shimmering stained glass window. It has been suggested it could represent the caricaturist Georges Gourçat, known as Sem (1863-1934), who was a good friend of Boldini.

Caught in a relaxed attitude, while resting his cheek on his right hand, the figure’s pose recalls that of Boldini’s Portrait of Degas (Museo Boldini, Ferrara; Giovanni Boldini, exh. cat. Paris, 1991, no. 88, ill.) and the so-called Corsage Rose in a private collection (op. cit., no. 68, ill.). Listed among the properties left by the artist in his studio and carefully catalogued by his wife, Emilia Cardona Boldini, this luminous sheet entered shortly after the collection of Maurice de Rothschild (1881-1957), a friend and a passionate collector of Boldini’s work.