The Singer Mondana

Giovanni Boldini (Italian, 1842-1931) ~ The Singer Mondana, 1884. (Oil on canvas) – Boldini was a painter, draftsman, landscapist, and portraitist who concentrated on scenes of Parisian life and pictures of elegantly dressed women. Boldini was accepted as one of the foremost portrait painters of the Belle Epoque in Paris during the 1890’s. His unique style set him apart from his contemporaries. “… Boldini had perfected a ‘whiplash’ style by which the model appeared to be thrown onto the canvas… All his nervous energy… was thrown at the canvas.” (NégyArt, Szingy Books)

The Art of the Dance

Oh Woman, come before us, before our eyes longing for beauty, and tired of the ugliness of civilisation, come in simple tunics, letting us see the line and harmony of the body beneath, and dance for us. Dance us the sweetness of life. Give us again the sweetness and the beauty of the true dance, give us again the joy of seeing the simple unconscious pure body of a woman. Like a great call it has come, and women must hear it and answer it. ~ Isadora Duncan, The Art of the Dance (NégyArt, Németh György Archive)

Cafe on the Street

As I passed I saw a cafe, a cafe on the street, with an open door, and one small round table outside, just big enough for two persons, two glasses of wine, two small iron chairs, a diminutive cafe…shabby, with a faded sign, a dull window, lopsided walls, uneven roof. The smallness of it, the intimacy of it, the humanity of its proportion… A human being feels one can sit in such a cafe even if one’s hair is not perfectly in place and one’s shoes are not shined… One could sit there and feel unique, feel in tune with the world, or out of tune, feel human and open to human emotion… One could sit there if one felt the world too big and too barbaric, and feel once more in a human setting, a proper setting for a human being… Why did I feel warmed by imperfections, discomfort, and patina? Because intense living leaves scars…inner scars, softened, human wear and tear. ~ Anaïs Nin (Szingy Feeling, Németh György Archive)

Portrait of Mlle. De Gillespie

Giovanni Boldini (Italian, 1842-1931) ~ Portrait of Mlle. De Gillespie, “La Dame de Biarritz”, 1912. (Oil on canvas) - - This portrait is one of only four important commissions for the artist during 1912. While Boldini had initially conceived the portrait of Madame de Gillespie as a full-length composition, the final format was employed in other works after 1900. The portrayal of the sitter glancing to one side recalls the celebrated portrait of Cléo de Mérode. This, combined with her beauty and the striking cyclamen hue of her loose dress provide the same impact as many of the more elaborate compositions. ~ NégyArt (Szingy Books)