Federico Zandomeneghi (Venice 1841-1917 Paris)

Zandomeneghi was one of the leading Italian artists, including Giuseppe de Nittis and Giovanni Boldini, who moved in Impressionist circles in Paris in the 1870s and 1880s. The present work was executed at a time when the artist enjoyed a warm friendship with Edgar Degas. This found expression in Zandomeneghi's work in a particularly close focus on nudes and on interiors.

The present work is a finished study for one of the artist's largest oil paintings, Le Lever: femme s'étirant (Fig. 1), dated 1886. It is notable for its almost abstract nature, with different planes of colour thrust at a slight angle into the foreground.