작품 상세

Vittorio Reggianini (Italian, 1858-1939), "The Secret", oil on canvas, signed lower right, 39 1/2 in. x 26 3/4 in., period frame. Provenance: Collection of Colonel Bluford H.J. Balter (1884-1971) and Alva S. Oteri Balter (1884-1973), New Orleans; Vincent Mann Gallery, New Orleans, 1977; Collection of Mrs. Dudley J Hughes, Jackson, MS. Note: Born in Modena in 1858, Vittorio Reggianini trained in the local academy, the Accademia di Belle Arti, alongside Gaetano Bellei and Eugenio Zamphighi. In 1885, he moved to Florence and it was during this period that the artist established a reputation for himself on the international art market. At this time, the artist's choice of subject matter and style dramatically shifted from the local historical realism that dominated his earliest work to the new Continental taste for more fanciful paintings that recreated the luxuriant lifestyles and opulent decor of the late 18th and early 19th century. The artist’s masterworks were genre subjects, which depicted the life of elegant ladies and gentlemen of the late 18th century. He was a superb draughtsman and had a particular talent for painting the sumptuous fabrics and furniture of that period. Reggianini’s subject matter always suggests a story, usually of a romantic nature. In this particularly beautiful example of the artist’s work, a lady receives a love letter which she reads in secret with her sisters. He paints their hands and faces with delicate precision, and their satin gowns are exquisitely executed. The empire waist and décolletage of the women’s dresses and the curled hair, styled to resemble Grecian fashion, perfectly personify the styles worn during Napoleon’s Empire period from 1804-1815.