No artist captured the glamour, energy and optimism of the Parisian Belle Époque better than the Italian master Giovanni Boldini. After leaving Italy for the French capital in 1871, Boldini enjoyed meteoric success, attracting the support of the city's influential dealer Adolphe Goupil as well as its most esteemed members of high society. Among those who sat for the celebrated portraitist were Marchesa Luisa Casati, Consuelo Vanderbilt the Duchess of Marlborough, Count Robert de Montesquiou, Giuseppe Verdi and many other cultural and societal luminaries. Boldini rendered his subjects with a spirited bravado that distinguishes his work from that of other well-known portraitists of his time such as John Singer Sargent and Joaquín Sorolla. His signature style is characterized by vigorous brushstrokes that loosely coalesce to form the swishing fabric and undulating curves of his illustrious sitters. Almost vibrating with energy, his canvases convey a sense of movement and immediacy not found in more traditional portraits.

Sold Christie's $ 1.8 M in 2011

Portrait of Marthe Régnier

signed and dated 'Boldini/1905' (lower right)

oil on canvas

91 x 47½ in. (231.1 x 120.7 cm.)

Giovanni Boldini enjoyed international fame as one of the most celebrated society portrait painters of his age, who captured the energy, high fashion and supreme self-confidence of the Parisian Belle Époque. His signature style, of which the present work is a quintessential example, was defined by an exuberant combination of swagger and dynamic movement that was far removed from the sober, sunlit landscapes he first executed as a young painter on the fringes of the macchiaiolo movement in Florence.

Sold Christie's $ 1.7 M in 2011

Ritratto di Madame Eugène Doyen

signed and dated 'Boldini 1910' (lower left); inscribed 'Mme Doyen' (on the reverse)

oil on canvas

88¼ x 44¼ in. (224 x 112.4 cm.)

Painted in 1910