(Barletta 1846–1884 Saint-Germain-en-Laye)
Paris, A Promenade in the Bois de Boulogne, signed De Nittis, oil on panel, 34.5 x 19.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Galleria Fogliato, Turin;
Private Collection Italy.

Catalogued and illustrated in:
Enrico Piceni, De Nittis. Catolgo generale dell’opera, Bramante ed., 1982,
vol. II, no. 144;
Piero Dini, Giuseppe Luigi Marini, De Nittis. La vita, i documenti, le opere dipinte, Turin 1990, p. 394, no. 470.

Giuseppe de Nittis trained at the Academy in Naples under Mancinelli and Smargiassi before becoming a member of the Macchiaioli in Florence. He moved to Paris in 1867 to study under Jean-Leon Gerome at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and would spend the rest of his life in France. De Nittis was represented by the famed Parisian art dealer Goupil, who promoted his work. He worked with the Impressionists and became a close friend of Edgar Degas, who invited him to participate in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874.
De Nittis established himself as the Parisian society painter during the Belle Époque, the last quarter of the nineteenth century. He was influenced by the free plein air techniques of the Impressionists, as can be seen in this lot. It captures a pleasant everyday scene in the Bois de Boulogne, depicted from direct observation, and represents de Nitti’s ability to celebrate the motif of mother and child.