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Lot Essay
When Federico Zandomeneghi arrived in Paris in 1874, the Venetian painter was already a fully-formed artist with a noted ability for figure painting, honed in particular during the period he spent working with the exponents of Florentine realism, the Macchiaioli.
However, Zandomeneghi's style was to change radically under the influence of the young French Impressionists, alongside whom he exhibited in the group's second exhibition in 1876. Exhorted by critics such as Emile Duranty to find his subject-matter in Parisian modern life, and invited by Edgar Degas to participate in the fourth Impressionist exhibition of 1879, Zandomeneghi's style evolved into one which adhered to Impressionist tenets, while maintaining a significant narrative element.
As a young man, Federico Zandomeneghi had been a loyal supporter of Garibaldi, but when he left Italy for Paris on June 2, 1874 he was never to return to the land of his birth. It was likely the critic Diego Martelli who encouraged the young artist to move to the French capital. Martelli had championed the Italian group of plein air painters known as the Macchiaioli who shared the same principles as the French Impressionists and his enthusiastic reporting on the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris certainly influenced the young Zandomeneghi to make the move to Paris. Martelli introduced 'Zando', as he was called by his French colleagues, to Edgar Degas and the two formed a fast friendship. It was Degas who invited the young Italian artist to exhibit in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Impressionist exhibitions of 1879, 1880, 1881, and 1886. Zando became the most modern of the triumvirate Diego Martelli labeled ‘The Italian Colony’ in Paris, the other two being Giuseppe de Nittis and Giovanni Boldini.
Initially Zando found it difficult to establish himself in the art market in Paris but he soon captured the attention of the powerful Paris dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, who sponsored three one-man shows for him in 1893, 1897 and 1903. In addition, Durand-Ruel handled the sale of almost all of his works from the period. Zando’s artistic life in Paris grew to be so prolific and profitable that he never returned to Italy, but instead became a fixture at the Café de Nouvelle-Athènes along with many of the city’s painters, writers and musicians.
Stylistically Zando’s Paris works owe their origins to Degas and Renoir and his choice of genre as subject matter, primarily of women and young girls absorbed in their daily activities, clearly demonstrates the influence of these Impressionist artists. Even in French circles Zando was considered more avant-garde than many of his contemporaries and it was his entries in the Fifth Impressionist exhibition held in April of 1880 that attracted enthusiastic commentary by two of the most important critics of the time, Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (1848-1907) and Armand Silvestre (1837-1901). Both critics especially admired Zando’s realism, accuracy of characterization and attention to gesture. Huysmans commented on Zando’s painting of a mother and child stating, ‘It was done on the spot, executed with none of the grinning faces so dear to ordinary daubers of genre subjects…’ and as such he considered it one of the most impressive works in the Fifth Impressionist Exhibition (C. Moffet, The New Painting, Impressionism 1874-1886, San Francisco, 1986, p. 307).
Zandomeneghi was clearly aware of the work of Jean Béraud (fig. 1) as the two artists traveled in the same artistic circles; however, in the present painting he eschews the tightly painted format of Béraud and has captured a moment in time with deft brushstrokes and interesting compositional elements. The Wallace fountain, that staple of Parisian streets, commands the center of the composition and provides relief to the thirsty denizens of Paris from all walks of life; the laborer in his smock, a child in her short, sashed dress, the gendarme and the young dandy. A maid on an errand slips behind a tree to read the notices posted on the Morris column to the right of the composition while a fashionable lady in pink scurries out of the picture plane to the left. The overall effect is one of movement and light, the entire scene taking place beneath an overcast sky which bathes the figures and their city in the cool silvery light which is unique to Paris in the summer.
While Zando’s working habits and compositional choices linked him to Degas and Renoir as well as Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot, his works are specific to him and his Italian heritage. His nickname of Le Venétian stemmed from his luminous yet subtle use of color which recalled the work of the Macchiaioli and points toward the Italian Divisionists and Symbolists Giuseppe Pelizza de Volpedo or Giovanni Segantini.
(fig. 1) Jean Béraud, M. et Mm Galin devant le Jockey Club. © Christie's, 2009.
However, Zandomeneghi's style was to change radically under the influence of the young French Impressionists, alongside whom he exhibited in the group's second exhibition in 1876. Exhorted by critics such as Emile Duranty to find his subject-matter in Parisian modern life, and invited by Edgar Degas to participate in the fourth Impressionist exhibition of 1879, Zandomeneghi's style evolved into one which adhered to Impressionist tenets, while maintaining a significant narrative element.
As a young man, Federico Zandomeneghi had been a loyal supporter of Garibaldi, but when he left Italy for Paris on June 2, 1874 he was never to return to the land of his birth. It was likely the critic Diego Martelli who encouraged the young artist to move to the French capital. Martelli had championed the Italian group of plein air painters known as the Macchiaioli who shared the same principles as the French Impressionists and his enthusiastic reporting on the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris certainly influenced the young Zandomeneghi to make the move to Paris. Martelli introduced 'Zando', as he was called by his French colleagues, to Edgar Degas and the two formed a fast friendship. It was Degas who invited the young Italian artist to exhibit in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Impressionist exhibitions of 1879, 1880, 1881, and 1886. Zando became the most modern of the triumvirate Diego Martelli labeled ‘The Italian Colony’ in Paris, the other two being Giuseppe de Nittis and Giovanni Boldini.
Initially Zando found it difficult to establish himself in the art market in Paris but he soon captured the attention of the powerful Paris dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, who sponsored three one-man shows for him in 1893, 1897 and 1903. In addition, Durand-Ruel handled the sale of almost all of his works from the period. Zando’s artistic life in Paris grew to be so prolific and profitable that he never returned to Italy, but instead became a fixture at the Café de Nouvelle-Athènes along with many of the city’s painters, writers and musicians.
Stylistically Zando’s Paris works owe their origins to Degas and Renoir and his choice of genre as subject matter, primarily of women and young girls absorbed in their daily activities, clearly demonstrates the influence of these Impressionist artists. Even in French circles Zando was considered more avant-garde than many of his contemporaries and it was his entries in the Fifth Impressionist exhibition held in April of 1880 that attracted enthusiastic commentary by two of the most important critics of the time, Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (1848-1907) and Armand Silvestre (1837-1901). Both critics especially admired Zando’s realism, accuracy of characterization and attention to gesture. Huysmans commented on Zando’s painting of a mother and child stating, ‘It was done on the spot, executed with none of the grinning faces so dear to ordinary daubers of genre subjects…’ and as such he considered it one of the most impressive works in the Fifth Impressionist Exhibition (C. Moffet, The New Painting, Impressionism 1874-1886, San Francisco, 1986, p. 307).
Zandomeneghi was clearly aware of the work of Jean Béraud (fig. 1) as the two artists traveled in the same artistic circles; however, in the present painting he eschews the tightly painted format of Béraud and has captured a moment in time with deft brushstrokes and interesting compositional elements. The Wallace fountain, that staple of Parisian streets, commands the center of the composition and provides relief to the thirsty denizens of Paris from all walks of life; the laborer in his smock, a child in her short, sashed dress, the gendarme and the young dandy. A maid on an errand slips behind a tree to read the notices posted on the Morris column to the right of the composition while a fashionable lady in pink scurries out of the picture plane to the left. The overall effect is one of movement and light, the entire scene taking place beneath an overcast sky which bathes the figures and their city in the cool silvery light which is unique to Paris in the summer.
While Zando’s working habits and compositional choices linked him to Degas and Renoir as well as Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot, his works are specific to him and his Italian heritage. His nickname of Le Venétian stemmed from his luminous yet subtle use of color which recalled the work of the Macchiaioli and points toward the Italian Divisionists and Symbolists Giuseppe Pelizza de Volpedo or Giovanni Segantini.
(fig. 1) Jean Béraud, M. et Mm Galin devant le Jockey Club. © Christie's, 2009.