(Venice 1841–1917 Paris)
The Artist’s Studio, signed (in ligature) FZandomeneghi, oil on canvas, 56 x 41 cm, framed

Provenance:
Mario d’Atri, Paris;
Gaetano Sperati, Milan;
Private Collection, Milan;
acquired by the current owner’s father in 1982;
Private Collection, Italy.

Exhibited:
Milan, Galleria d’Arte Sant’Ambrogio, La donna e i bimbi nell’arte del nostro Ottocento pittorico, April - May 1969, no. 50.

Catalogued and illustrated in:
Mario Borgiotti, Incantesimi dell’Ottocento pittorico italiano, Milan, 1967;
Enrico Piceni, Zandomeneghi, Bramante ed. Milan 1967, no. 310;
Mario Borgiotti - Paul Nicholls, la donna e i bimbi nell’arte del nostro Ottocento pittorico, vol. III, Aldo Martello Ed., Milan, 1969, no. 296;
Enrico Piceni, Federico Zandomeneghi catalogo generale - Nuova edizione aggiornata e ampliata, libri Scheiwiller ed., Milan, 2006, p. 219, no. 101.

After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and Milan, Federico Zandomeneghi moved to Florence in 1862. There, he met the Macchiaioli’s artists, such as Giovanni Fattori and Telemaco Signorini. They painted outside their studios, en plein air, an innovative approach at that time.
In 1874, he left for Paris, where he remained for the rest of his life. There, he met the Impressionist painter Edgar Degas, who would exert a substantial influence on his art. His conversion to Impressionism came gradually. He frequented the Café de la Nouvelle-Athènes, where he met Degas and Pissarro.
He was launched by the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, who bought the exclusive rights to his works.

Captivated by female beauty, Zandomeneghi was noted for his portraits and paintings of women, particularly as they went about their everyday lives. The present lot captures a scene during the Belle Epoque in Paris, with an elegant woman looking at drawings in the artist’s studio.