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Lot Essay
The present painting embodies all the qualities for which Zandomeneghi is best known and appreciated: the delicacy of his brushstroke, an acute capacity for observation that transports the viewer into the intimate feminine universe, and a unique and precious range of colours that gives vitality to the scene. Painted at the beginning of the collaboration with Durand-Ruel, the present painting denotes great brilliance and a marked chromatic refinement typical of the artist's works from the Parisian period.
Zandomeneghi's paintings focus almost exclusively on the theme of women: as mothers, friends or solitary figures engaged in private 'rituals' such as combing their hair or creating floral arrangements. These subjects were also of interest to his circle of friends and contemporary artists, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas and Berthe Morisot.
Although Zandomeneghi’s technique showed some of the warmth and empathy illustrated by Morisot in his depiction of female figures, his approach was generally different from that of his contemporary painters: more introverted, with use of bright colours and much less detached than Degas, and less sensual and 'à la Rubens' than Renoir, the two artists to whom he has most often been compared. As Piceni wrote:
'Zandomeneghi knows how to differentiate himself in a very evident way from his closest colleagues, Degas and Renoir, obviously, going beyond the former's lucid and even ruthless chronicle, with a warm and affectionate sentimental participation in the subject matter, and transferring the ideal deification of woman of the second [Renoir] in a bourgeois reality interwoven with truth but capable of converting the anecdote into a thrill of poetry.' (op. cit.)
In the present painting, the attention focused on the two female figures is intense, conveying the whirlwind of emotions of an everyday meeting between two dear friends. There are few paintings by the artist's hand that better show his ability to capture even the most imperceptible movements and gestures: the contrasting pose of the two young women and their play of glances brilliantly conveys the private and lively nature of their conversation which, despite the intimacy of the scene, leaves anyone who sees it with the impression of being an enchanted spectator.
Zandomeneghi's paintings focus almost exclusively on the theme of women: as mothers, friends or solitary figures engaged in private 'rituals' such as combing their hair or creating floral arrangements. These subjects were also of interest to his circle of friends and contemporary artists, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas and Berthe Morisot.
Although Zandomeneghi’s technique showed some of the warmth and empathy illustrated by Morisot in his depiction of female figures, his approach was generally different from that of his contemporary painters: more introverted, with use of bright colours and much less detached than Degas, and less sensual and 'à la Rubens' than Renoir, the two artists to whom he has most often been compared. As Piceni wrote:
'Zandomeneghi knows how to differentiate himself in a very evident way from his closest colleagues, Degas and Renoir, obviously, going beyond the former's lucid and even ruthless chronicle, with a warm and affectionate sentimental participation in the subject matter, and transferring the ideal deification of woman of the second [Renoir] in a bourgeois reality interwoven with truth but capable of converting the anecdote into a thrill of poetry.' (op. cit.)
In the present painting, the attention focused on the two female figures is intense, conveying the whirlwind of emotions of an everyday meeting between two dear friends. There are few paintings by the artist's hand that better show his ability to capture even the most imperceptible movements and gestures: the contrasting pose of the two young women and their play of glances brilliantly conveys the private and lively nature of their conversation which, despite the intimacy of the scene, leaves anyone who sees it with the impression of being an enchanted spectator.