Lot 51
  • 51

Giovanni Boldini

Estimate
1,500,000 - 2,000,000 USD
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Description

  • Giovanni Boldini
  • PORTRAIT OF MRS. HOWARD-JOHNSTON
  • signed Boldini and dated 1906 (lower left)
  • oil on canvas

  • 90¾ by 47 3/8 in.
  • 230.5 by 120 cm

Provenance

Baron Maurice de Rothschild (acquired directly from the artist)
Thence by descent
Sale: Christie's, New York, November 1, 1995, lot 10, illustrated
Private Collector (acquired at the above sale and sold, Sotheby's, New York, April 20, 2005, lot 126, illustrated)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Exhibited

Possibly, Paris, Salon, 1906, no. 134 (as Mme D...)

Literature

Carlo Ragghianti and Ettore Camesasca, L'opera completa di Boldini, Milan, 1970, no. 423, p. 122, illustrated
P. Mauriès, Boldini, Milan, 1987, p. 105, illustrated
Tiziano Panconi, Boldini, L'uomo e la pittura, Pisa, 1998, no. 132/E-27, p. 217, illustrated
Tiziano Panconi, Giovanni Bolidni, L'opera Completa, Florence, 2002, p. 475, illustrated
Piero Dini, Francesca Dini, Giovanni Boldini, 1842-1931, Catalogo ragionato, and Turin, 2002, vol. III, pp. 480-1, no. 927, illustrated p. 483

Condition

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work looks very well. The strongest of the separation cracks in the center of the right side in the background and below the waist of the figure in the dress have been retouched. The retouches are very accurate and eliminate any visual disturbance that might have resulted from these cracks. In the upper portion of the picture, the head, chest and upper part of the dress are all in lovely condition. The arms and hands are similarly well preserved. The cracking has occurred because Boldini changed the composition in the center of the work, causing these cracks to form. We do not consider this to be a condition issue. Given that the work is unlined, the condition is very impressive.
"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."

Catalogue Note

Giovanni Boldini was the premier painter of women during the era of La Belle Époque, the prosperous, charmed years that opened the twentieth century. Since the late 1880s, his ability to match a flattering likeness with a dynamic, colorful bravura style made his Paris studio a destination of social necessity for cosmopolitan beauties and aspiring ladies of the world. Even his occasional friendships with notorious, slightly mad, women of a more "artistic" social circle - what we might today call an "edgier" celebrity list - simply enhanced Boldini's status among the wealthiest and most socially powerful women of his era.

Mrs. John Howard-Johnston, née Dolly Baird of Dumbarton, was a Scottish beauty who married into British industrial wealth and had two children. After the death of her first husband, Mrs. Howard-Johnston married Du Breuille de St. Germaine, effectively attaining aristocratic status and spent the rest of her life in France. Her daughter, Xenia, married a son of Countess Zichy, also a friend and subject of Boldini's who may have had a hand in arranging this commission, and her son Clarence married the the daughter of Boldini's great friend and fellow artist, Paul Helleu.

A significant factor in Boldini's success was his appreciation of the elaborate couture dresses favored by his clients; and he seems to have staved off the creative fatigue that trapped so many social portraitists by exploiting the flamboyance of his sitters' costumes to generate an equivalent painterly flash and sparkle. Mrs. Howard-Johnston's gown is an extraordinary confection of tulle, satin and embroidered silk, manipulated by the artist to emphasize her creamy complexion and especially long legs. Boldini has flattered and tamed her lush hair with the choice of a cold pink lavender gown. What appears to be a fur coat is dragged nonchalantly along the floor, suggesting that she has paused only momentarily to allow the artist and her audience to appreciate her beauty.

In a photograph from Boldini's studio archives the present work appears painted over with a darker, more discreet gown and a flowery hair ornament, indicating that Boldini might have used such photos to consider updating existing portraits if fashion changed (a centuries old problem for the portraitist and client alike), or possibly to plan poses and costumes for entirely different clients.

We would like to thank Alexandra Murphy for her assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.