Giuseppe DE NITTIS
(Barletta 1846 - Saint-Germain-en-Laye 1884)

Al Bois
oil on canvas
cm 20x30
signed bottom right and dated '73

Exhibitions:
1) Giuseppe De Nittis e i pittori della Scuola di Resina, Naples, Villa Comunale, 8 June-11 August 1963.
2) Dal Caffè Michelangelo al Caffè Nouvelle Athènes,  Montecatini Terme, 25 August-5 October 1986; Turin, Mole Antonelliana, 25 October-30 November 1986.
3) La donna e la moda nella pittura italiana del secondo '800, Montecatini Terme, 30 July-30 September 1988.
4) Pittori dell'800 e del 900, Cuneo, Galleria d'arte "Il Prisma", 1988.
5) Piceni e i suoi pittori, Milan, Galleria Capitani, 1989.
6) Giuseppe De Nittis, Milan, La Permanente, 11 April-27 May 1990; Bari, Pinacoteca Provinciale, 2 June-29 September 1990.
7) Una stanza a Montmartre, Milan, La Permanente, 7 November-3 January 1988.
8) Boldini, De Nittis, Zandomeneghi. Mondanità e costume nella Parigi fin de siècle, Trento, Palazzo delle Albere, 12 April-29 July 2001.
9) De Nittis e la pittura della vita moderna in Europa, Turin, GAM, 16 February-26 May 2002.
10) Ritratti e figure. Capolavori Impressionisti, Rome, Complesso del Vittoriano, 7 March-6 July 2003.
11) L’impressionismo di Armand Guillaumin, Turin, Palazzo Bricherasio, 24 October 2003-1 February 2004.
12) A Léontine. Il fascino femminile tra arte e moda al tempo degli Impressionisti, Mozzecane (VR), Villa Vecelli Cavriani, 1 February-30 May 2004.
13) De Nittis. Impressionista italiano, Rome, Chiostro del Bramante, 13 November 2004-27 February 2005; Milan, Fondazione Mazzotta, 22 March-19 June 2005.
14) De Nittis e Tissot. Pittori della vita moderna, Barletta, Pinacoteca Giuseppe De Nittis, 12 March- 2 July 2006.
15) Giuseppe De Nittis. La modernità élégante, Parigi, Petit Palais, 21 October 2010-16 January 2011.

Bibliography:
1)  A. M. Comanducci, I Pittori Italiani dell'Ottocento, Artisti d'Italia, Milan, 1934, p. 195.
2) E. Piceni, De Nittis, Mondadori,  Milan, 1955,  p. 166 (with the title Alle corse).
3) M. Pittaluga-E. Piceni, De Nittis, Bramante, Milan, 1963, n. 212.
4) E. Piceni and others, De Nittis e i pittori della Scuola di Resina, Naples, catalogue of the exhibition held in Naples, 1963, n. 28, fig. XXVIII (with the title Alle corse).
5) Catalogo Bolaffi della Pittura Italiana dell'Ottocento n. 3, Turin 1970, fig. p. 165 and on cover.
6) E. Piceni, Tra libri e quadri, Ceschina, Milan, 1971, fig. IX.
7) E. Piceni, De Nittis. L'uomo e l'opera, Bramante, Busto Arsizio, 1979, fig. 17 (with the title Nebbia al Bois de Boulogne).
8) E. Piceni, De Nittis batte tanti francesi, "Casaviva", February 1980.
9) Cited in Intervista con Piceni, "Giornale dell'Arte", Allemandi, Turin, 4 September 1983.
10) E. Piceni, Giuseppe De Nittis ci sorprende ancora, "Arte", September 1984.
11) M. Vallora, Che belle macchie!, "Panorama", 17 August 1986.
12) P. Dini, Dal Caffè Michelangelo al Caffè Nouvelle Athènes, supplement to the catalogue of the exhibition held in Montecatini Terme, Allemandi, Turin 1986.
13) Il valore dei dipinti dell'Ottocento, Allemandi, Turin, 1978-88, V ed., fig. p. 125.
14) P. Dini, La donna e la moda nella pittura italiana del secondo '800, catalogue of the exhibition held in Montecatini Terme, 1988, fig. XXVII.
15) Pittori dell'800 e 900, catalogue of the exhibition held in Cuneo, 1988, n. 17.
16) Various authors, Giuseppe De Nittis, catalogue of the exhibition held in Milan and in Bari, Artificio, Florence, 1990, n. 82, fig. p. 157.
17) P. Dini-G. L. Marini, De Nittis, Allemandi, Turin, 1990, n. 460, fig. XV.
18) "Vivimilano", insert of the "Corriere della Sera", 4 November 1998, p. 37.
19) Various authors, Una stanza a Montmartre, catalogue of the exhibition held in Milan, 1998-1999, Electa, Milan, fig. p. 31.
20) "Corriere della Sera", cited in the article on the exhibition "Una stanza a Montmartre", 23 November 1998, p. 27.
21) Various authors, Boldini, De Nittis, Zandomeneghi. Mondanità…, catalogue of the exhibition held in Trento, 2001, Skira, Milan, n. 41, fig. p. 111.
22) Various authors, De Nittis e la pittura…, catalogue of the exhibition held in Turin, 2002, fig. p. 97.
23) Various authors, Ritratti e figure…, catalogue of the exhibition held in Rome, 2003, Skira, Milan, n. 66, fig. p. 225.
24) Various authors, L’impressionismo di Armand Guillaumin, catalogue of the exhibition held in Turin, 2003-2004, Electa, Milan, fig. p. 42.
25) Various authors, A Léontine…, catalogue of the exhibition held in Mozzecane (VR), 2004, Silvana Editoriale, Milan, n. 25, fig. p. 119.
26) Various authors, De Nittis. Impressionista…, catalogue of the exhibition held in Rome and Milan, 2004-2005, Mazzotta, Milan, n. 122, fig. p. 201.
27) Various authors, De Nittis e Tissot, catalogue of the exhibition held in Barletta, 2006, Skira, Milan, n. 18, fig. p. 110.
28) Various authors, Giuseppe De Nittis. La modernité…, catalogue of the exhibition held in Paris, 2010-2011, n. 72, fig. p. 207.

An exemplary work of De Nittis, which not by chance was executed in one of the happier moments of his life, this small canvas became well known through its many reproductions and the many exhibits it has appeared in. It wonderfully unites those particularities of subject, atmosphere and style that made De Nittis an artist of international renown. He created a very personal pictorial world, escaping any easy definition, and established himself outside the currents of the mainstream art world, "as he moved up through both the old and new Academy in Naples, past the academic approach of Gérôme and Meissonier, the Macchiaioli movement and the Impressionism, while essentially remaining true to himself" (E. Piceni, Giuseppe De Nittis e i pittori della Scuola di Resina, Naples, 1963).
On examining this picture, beyond the fascination of its charm and suggestiveness, what strikes us immediately is the masterful arrangement of the various elements that combine to create a balanced and harmonious composition portraying the intimate world of a female figure with a child, that of Léontine, his wife, and of his baby son, Jacques. Captured in a spontaneous pose, they define the elegance and taste of the epoch in their refined clothing and lend the painting a certain note of pleasantness that characterizes it, without degrading it into a "genre scene". A more detailed analysis reveals other important components of the picture: the diagonal line of the fence along the street, so typical of De Nittis, which delimits the foreground of the picture, the elegant row of coaches - the fulcrum of the scene - on the far side of a light green field which highlights the dark spots of the horse-cabs; the agile, rapid movement of the galloping horses; lastly, in the background, the "Bois" under a typically Parisian sky imbued with subdued, delicate colors that signal the arrival of autumn.
The variety of the figurative elements and the richness of the color scheme make the painting an authentic masterpiece. They do not arise merely from insight, but rather are the result of the artist's meticulous research he documented in numerous details, studies and sketches that allowed him to create perfect works often linked together by the common themes they share. For example, there is an analogy between the silhouette of Léontine in our picture and that of two women who stand out from the boisterous crowd in Le corse a Longchamps (M. Pittaluga-E. Piceni, De Nittis, Bramante, Milan, 1963, n. 609) or that of the three female figures in the famous painting Che freddo! (op. cit. n. 263, plate XVII) which was exhibited at the Salon in 1874. It gained De Nittis fame and wealth alike. We can also observe, in Le amazzoni a Longchamps (op. cit. n. 267, plate XX), the diagonal line of the fence which here serves to support the outline of the small three female figures and note how important it is in the balance of the composition. We could name many other examples in which De Nittis employed the theme of the coach in the distance or the use of delicate pearly-white light that seems to surround the characters and figures in many of his paintings.
If these paintings refer back to the world and the taste of Al Bois, there is also in a private collection a small study depicting the bust of Léontine captured in the same pose as in this painting. The technique - an agitated, nervous watercolor - and the color - a cascade of delicate brown hues that filter into the tawny mass of hair - make this study a work in its own right. The painting does not simply show the back of a woman but rather interprets the entire universe of womanhood as represented by the wife of De Nittis, Léontine, who the painter often described as "mon comarade, mon confident, mon modèle et ma femme"..