PREVIEW/ Dipinti del XIX secolo / Monte Carlo 29 luglio 2019 by Rosanna Nobilitato
Besides presenting excellent examples of painting at the turn of the century, the first sale of 19th century paintings in Monte Carlo is an opportunity to discover the beauty of Belle Époque painting. An unparalleled season that, thanks to the progress and welfare of the wealthier classes, gave worldly artists, eclectic and whimsical, the chance to represent it in the most exclusive and elegant way.
Through the selected works from an important private collection, this international collection offers those who live in and visit Monte Carlo a cross-section of life and taste at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with all the joie de vivre and confidence in progress that characterised the Belle Époque.
The image of the woman, and everything that evokes the idea of “eternal feminine”, is placed at the centre of each painting, focussed on the thin thread of feminine seduction, one of the most transversal themes covered by the visual arts between the two centuries.
Beautiful, elegant and intriguing women, objects of desire, but also conscious and now looking towards emancipation, portrayed in refined environments, bourgeois interiors, on leaving the theatre, on a cruise, on sunny, fashionable beaches. “Les Parisiennes”, elegant Parisian ladies, are the absolute protagonists: with their splendid dresses full of ruffles, their wide-brimmed parasols, the most elaborate and fashionable hats imprinted on the canvas by talented painters.
In crociera by Raoul du Gardier (Wiesbaden 1871 – 1952) stands out. The painting was presented at the Grand Palais in Paris at the Salon d’Automne in 1905. It depicts an elegant lady dressed in white while, caressed by the sea breeze, she lets herself be lulled by the waves on a cruise ship.
His style, full of light and colour, expresses the joy of living with a photographic perspective of rare effectiveness, so iconic that it was then reproduced in postcards printed in numerous copies. Still today, it conveys the pleasure of the beauty of fin de siècle painting.