Odoardo Borrani

Florence Art Gallery, Florence
Possibly, John Snedecor, New York and The Haseltine Galleries, Philadelphia (by 1875)
Sale, Christie's, New York, February 23, 1989, lot 233, illustrated

Possibly, Chicago, Chicago Industrial Exposition Building, Spring Exhibition, 1875, no. 72, cat. p. 7, as Garden Walk

In the early 1860s Borrani joined fellow artists, Giuseppe Abbati, Telemaco Signorini, Raffaello Sernesi and Silvestro Lega in sketching from nature in the Italian countryside.  This group of plein-air painters became known as the Piagentina school.  This was a time of great creativity for Borrani , who transformed anecdotal genre painting into something more complex by stripping it of superfluous story-telling details and focusing on the core of the subject, thus resulting in something much more psychological and modern (a trait that would define the French Impressionists ten years later).  At the same time, his outdoor scenes display a new interest in a striking use of natural light.   In the mid 1860s, Borrani became an influential member of the second phase of the Macchiaioli movement, which was centered in Castiglioncello and in the Piagentina area. 

The present work most likely dates to the 1870’s.  It is similar in style to Un mattino sul torrente Mugnone (Curiosità) (see P. Dini, Odoardo Borrani, Florence, n.d., p. 171, tav. XXXV).  In each painting, Borrani displays an interest in showing the effects of natural sunlight.  Here, he evokes the beauty of a summer day.  The trees are heavy with their leaves, the flowers are in full bloom and the blue sky is reflected in the quiet pool.  An elegantly dressed man walks on the garden path with his dog.  The overall mood expressed is very intimate; suggesting that Borrani may have recorded a specific moment or occasion.