Giovanni Boldini Italian, 1842-1931

Marquis de Biron (probably acquired from the artist)
Alex Reid & Lefevre Gallery, London, 1961
Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York (acquired from the above in April 1961)
Purchased from the above by the father of the present owner; thence by descent in June 1964

London, Alex Reid & Lefevre Gallery, XIX and XX Century French Paintings and Drawings, 1961, no. 1 (illustrated in the catalogue)
East Hampton, New York, Guild Hall, Of Art and Nature, 1961
Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, A World of Flowers, 1963, no. 149 (illustrated in the catalogue)

The Burlington Magazine, December 1960, pl. XXV, discussed and illustrated

The panel is sound. No retouchings are evident under ultraviolet light and, apart from a small area of faint craquelure to the left of centre, this work is in very good overall condition with bright colours and areas of good impasto. Held in an decorative gilt wood frame.
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Renowned for his dynamic brushstrokes and spontaneous compositions, Boldini painted this refreshingly original still life of roses circa 1905. Best known for his society portraits, Boldini executed few flower subjects, if any, on this scale and with this level of finish making the appearance of the present work a rare and exciting event.

A splay of roses, thrust haphazardly onto a park bench, exudes the passionate and impulsive nature of the artist. Adopting the high vantage point favoured by the artist in the early 1900s, Boldini energetically renders the petals and leaves. In his rush to record the subject some of the rose-heads, such as in the lower left corner of the composition, remain unresolved, blurred as if at the periphery of the artist's vision. Rarely does the artist's natural vivacity express itself so brazenly, unhampered by the need to closely resemble a sitter and record her favourably. The foreshortened linearity of the bench slats, possibly in a Parisian park, highlight Boldini's compositional originality, viewing them from above, a new take on a subject that had featured in a number of paintings earlier in the artist's career.

The first-known owner of the present work, the Marquis de Biron, almost certainly acquired the painting directly from Boldini. An intimate friend of the Marquis, Boldini spent the summer of 1901 painting in the French countryside as his guest.