GIUSEPPE DE NITTIS
(Barletta, 1846 -Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 1884)
SIGNORA NAPOLETANA
Canvas 95 x 75 cm
€90,000 / 120,000
The artist
As a painter of modern life in the second half of the 19th century, Giuseppe De Nittis made the female subject one of his favorite themes. Living in Paris since 1867, he established himself as a true portraitist of the Parisian woman from 1880 onwards. From the Impressionists and his friendships with Degas and Manet in the capital, he acquired a freedom in this style that enabled him to move away from traditional poses in favor of more casual, spontaneous attitudes.
Giuseppe De Nittis, Self-portrait (1883),
Barletta, Pinacoteca De Nittis
PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Rome in 1990; Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby’s, Dec. 1st, 1999, n° 24; Anonymous sale, London, Christie’s, June 26, 2007, n° 166
BIBLIOGRAPHY: P. Dini and G. L. Marini, De Nittis. La Vita, I Documenti, Le Opere Dipinte, Turin, 1990, n° 733, illustrated (Signora Napoletana).
The work: Signora Napoletana
Here, the model’s serpentine movement exposes the nape of her neck, allowing her face to catch the white light coming from the left. Indifferent to the painter’s presence, she is absorbed in a thought that seems to flow into the space of the room, whose contours are left unfinished. Her body is gracefully turned against the back of a seat, whose blue upholstery we can slightly guess, and which serves as a support for her intertwined hands.
The artist has created an ideal backdrop for her, giving her a powerful presence. He skillfully plays with ochre nuances, resolving them into a warm brown harmony from which emerge the vaporous cameos of white clothed by the model, finely pushed to the front of the composition.
The painter’s brushwork becomes more insistent on the face, which then focuses our attention. Entirely devoted to her daydreams, the liveliness of her gaze is depicted with a delicate, refined brushstroke that contrasts with the tumultuous, elusive and nervous background.
The artist is interested in the fabrics of women’s fashion, carefully recomposing the white dress with a fluid, milky fabric. He retained a sense of feminine elegance that he had appreciated in England with Tissot, Whistler and Sargent during his stays in London from the 1870s.
De Nittis, who divided his time between Naples, Paris, and London, presents a scene that is simultaneously worldly and intimate. His work has a vigor similar to Giovanni Boldini’s charming women.
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