Giovanni Battista Torriglia

National Association of Artists, Florence
Howard Tuthill, Grand Rapids, Michigan (possibly acquired circa 1925)
Private Collector (acquired from the above in 1950)
Bequeathed to the present owners (children of the above)

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting is probably in perfect condition. It has never been lined and is still in its original frame. The paint layer is very dry and slightly dirty. If the picture were to be lightly cleaned and varnished, it is likely that no retouches would be required, although a few thin cracks have developed in the skirt of the girl blowing bubbles on the left. Overall the condition is lovely.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Possibly painted circa 1925.

Giovanni Battista Torriglia was born in Genoa. His early artistic training took place in Florence and he eventually developed into one of the most popular genre painters of the day. His subject of choice - romanticized images of simple peasant life - was in great demand in the late nineteenth century as public taste shifted toward images of simplicity and wholesomeness as reassurance against the rapidly changing face of modern life. Torriglia and his contemporaries Giuseppe Magni (1869-1956) and Eugenio Zampighi (1859-1944) found a ready market for their sympathetic portrayals of peasant life. Torriglia, in particular, was celebrated for his softly modelled figures and sensitive rendering of light and shadow.

In this charming scene, Torriglia depicts a peasant family enjoying a simple form of entertainment on a relaxing afternoon. Elements of the composition reference the seventeenth century Dutch Masters, who Torriglia sought to emulate through his distinctive use of light and shadow, as well as his appropriation of the motif of bubble blowing. The vignette of the confident older sister blowing a bubble while her adoring younger brother watches was perhaps informed by Jean-Siméon Chardin's well-known Soap Bubbles (circa 1734, The Metropolitan Museum of Art), which shows an older boy carefully maintaining a large soap bubble as a younger boy looks on. The young mother nods approvingly toward her playful children, while the cherubic baby on her lap reaches toward the ephemeral creation.