No Doubts, But Great Painting Nonetheless

Giovanni Boldini was the most famous portrait painter in Paris from the 1890s until the early part of the new century. But before taking up portraiture, he painted landscapes, street scenes and interiors, musicians and musical performances, even historical pieces. These paintings are the heart of the Boldini show at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown.

   Boldini was born in Ferrara, but moved to Florence, where he joined a group of landscape painters — the Macchiaioli —who determined to bring freshness and reality to their work. Even then, Boldini could produce interesting portraits. One portrait of a critic, Diego Martelli, is unusually candid for Boldini, especially when compared to a more flattering portrait of Martelli by Degas.

   The later Boldini would, as portrait painters mostly do, paint flattering pictures of their subjects. (After all, who pays the commission?) But the Martelli exhibits none of this flattery: It is honest to a fault and very personal. 

   Although Boldini moved to London from Florence, he had spent two weeks in Paris at the great exhibition of 1867. Delighted and seduced by the pavilions of Manet and Courbet, he resolved to return permanently.  And after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 he did.

    Boldini was always facile and lucky. Within only a week of coming to Paris, he had acquired a dealer — unlike the early impressionists still trying to find representation — a studio and a lover, whom he would of course paint.

   Over the next 20 years, he produced some great paintings, including “Peaceful Days,â€� “Crossing the Streetâ€� (both in the Clark’s permanent collection; Sterling Clark lived in Paris and bought directly from Boldini) and “The Parisian Newspaper Seller.â€�  All three — and most of the other paintings from this period — are languid and easy, as if the scene and way of life painted is just as it should be. There is none of the agitation and brooding of his greater contemporaries.

   Yet Boldini’s technique is exquisite. Interiors are detailed and lush; meticulously painted cobblestones seem almost palpable. Sometimes the paintings come vividly to life, mostly in the musical pictures. There is a famous painting of the conductor Emanuele Muzio and a splendid painting called “The Singer.â€� And an astonishingly weird historical painting, “Noonday Promenade, Versailles,â€� shows courtiers twisted and elongated out of all physical possibility.  It has to be a parody of Watteau, I suppose; and it alone is almost worth the trip to Williamstown.

   Finally a group of portraits concludes the show. They are radiant: Whistler, himself, painted in nonchalant arrogance a widely known portrait of the French politician Henri Rochefort, and Boldini splendidly rendered Cecilia Fortuny, widow of the Spanish painter. These are superb.   

   So why is Boldini not more famous? Because, I think, his work is too easy and, sometimes, his scenes and portraits too assured. There is no doubt or questioning in Boldini. All’s right with the world. But it is a colorful world of great technique and some great paintings.  The Clark show is fair, comprehensive and enjoyable. 

   And at this time of year, admission is free.

     “Giovanni Boldiniâ€� continues at the Clark Institute of Art in Williamstown, MA, through April 25.  Call 413-458-2303.