Index: Giovanni Boldini


Giovanni Boldini

boldini3

boldini1

boldini2

What is initially arresting about these works by Giovanni Boldini is their rococo opulence. It’s as your eye lingers, however, that they become truly riveting. Roiling between specificity and gesture, they seem to be continually resolving themselves. Details emerge, register, then dissolve – each drawing seems to come into focus as your eye roves over it, never quite developing the same way twice. Interesting cat, Boldini – friend of Sargent and Degas, he painted dazzling society portraits, fetching nudes, courtly vignettes, all rendered in a expressive, bold style. Despite some ridiculous confections, most of his work is a pleasure, decadent and masterful.