PROPERTY OF THE DESCENDANTS OF PAUL DURAND-RUEL
Federico Zandomeneghi
ITALIAN
AU THÉÂTRE
AU THÉÂTRE
LOT SOLD.
167,000 GBP
Details & Cataloguing
19th Century European Paintings
|
London
London
Federico Zandomeneghi
1841 - 1917
ITALIAN
AU THÉÂTRE
AU THÉÂTRE
signed Zandomeneghi lower right
pastel on paper
46 by 36cm., 18 by 14in.
Read Condition Report
Read Condition Report
pastel on paper
46 by 36cm., 18 by 14in.
Provenance
Durand-Ruel & Cie, Paris (no. A451 & 18632; acquired from the artist on 30 November 1900); thence by descent to the present owners
Literature
Enrico Piceni, Zandomeneghi, Milan, 1967, no. 126, catalogued & illustrated
Enrico Piceni, Zandomeneghi, Milan, 1991, no. 126, catalogued & illustrated
Fondazione Enrico Piceni, Federico Zandomeneghi catalogo generale, Milan, 2006, p. 308, no. 499, catalogued & illustrated
Enrico Piceni, Zandomeneghi, Milan, 1991, no. 126, catalogued & illustrated
Fondazione Enrico Piceni, Federico Zandomeneghi catalogo generale, Milan, 2006, p. 308, no. 499, catalogued & illustrated
Catalogue Note
Zandomeneghi is in a sense the 'forgotten Impressionist', having exhibited alongside Monet and Renoir at not fewer than four of the Impressionist group exhibitions in the 1880s. Born in Venice in 1841, he moved to Florence in 1862 and joined the Macchiaioli group with other notable Italian painters including Silvestro Lega and Giovanni Boldini (lot 7). Encouraged by Diego Martelli, the art critic who championed the Macchiaioli, Zandomeneghi travelled to Paris in 1874 to visit the Salon. The trip proved to be life changing: what was meant to be a brief sojourn turned into a 43 year stay, until the artist’s death. As Georges Rivière recalled in his memoir Renoir et ses amis, Zandò (as he came to be known by friends) was the most vocal of his circle at their evening meetings, and certainly his compositions and palette were as radical as those of the other 'New Painters'.
Capturing a moment at an elegant night at the theatre, the present work has close affinities with works by Degas (fig. 1). It was probably from his friend that Zandomeneghi developed a love for the use of pastels and modern compositional choices of women and girls observed unawares from behind or in intimate surroundings. Appreciating the artist’s talent, dealer Paul Durand Ruel bought the exclusivity to Zandomeneghi’s works, allowing his protégé to paint freely without financial constraint and to develop his own aesthetic. 'In art there is but one way, that which I chose: beside this, there is no salvation.' (Enrico Piceni, Zandomeneghi, Milan, 1933, p. 26).
Suggested Lots
19th Century European Paintings
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London
London
