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Lot Essay
In 1867 De Nittis left Italy for Paris to be trained in the studio of Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. It was during these years that the artist began to chronicle the Belle Époque society.
Over the following years the artist met Edgar Degas and became friends with a number of artists involved in the Impressionist movement, participating in their first exhibition in 1874. Socialising and working within these avant-garde circles had a profound effect upon his own style, which reflected his enthusiasm for the work of Edouard Manet and Degas. Meanwhile, De Nittis also established contact with various artists in London, in particular James Tissot, with whom he shared a great admiration for James Whistler. Representative of his atmospheric landscapes, the present painting is a perfect example of De Nittis's Impressionist work. Intending to record modern life as a passionate spectator of the societé mondaine he most likely painted the present work en plein air, as the Impressionists did. Further adopting the Impressionists manner of execution and their expression of natural light, the crowds attending the regattas by the Seine are here silhouetted against a background of harmonious luminescent tones, representing an abstract and modern vision of contemporary life.
Over the following years the artist met Edgar Degas and became friends with a number of artists involved in the Impressionist movement, participating in their first exhibition in 1874. Socialising and working within these avant-garde circles had a profound effect upon his own style, which reflected his enthusiasm for the work of Edouard Manet and Degas. Meanwhile, De Nittis also established contact with various artists in London, in particular James Tissot, with whom he shared a great admiration for James Whistler. Representative of his atmospheric landscapes, the present painting is a perfect example of De Nittis's Impressionist work. Intending to record modern life as a passionate spectator of the societé mondaine he most likely painted the present work en plein air, as the Impressionists did. Further adopting the Impressionists manner of execution and their expression of natural light, the crowds attending the regattas by the Seine are here silhouetted against a background of harmonious luminescent tones, representing an abstract and modern vision of contemporary life.