01 Painting, Streets of Paris, Federico Zandomeneghis Au théâtre/ At the theater, with footnotes, Part 91

Federico Zandomeneghi, 1841 - 1917

Au théâtre/ At the theatre, c. 1900

Pastel on paper

45.8 by 37.9cm., 18 by 15in.

Private collection

Two élégantes of the Paris beau monde are seen from behind, entranced by the dazzling performance by the young troupe of dancers unfolding on the stage before them. The setting is almost certainly the capital’s new opera house, recently opened in 1875 - the Palais Garnier, named after its architect, Charles Garnier, and home to the Paris ballet. It was a towering edifice of marble ornament and gilded decor, all but encrusted with antique statuary and classical murals. More on this painting

Federico Zandomeneghi (June 2, 1841 – December 31, 1917) was an Italian Impressionist painter. born in Venice. As a young man, he enrolling in 1856 first in the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice, and then in the Academy of Fine Arts of Milan. In 1859, to avoid conscription into the Austrian army, he fled Venice. By the next year in 1860, he tried to join with the forces of Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) in his Expedition of the Thousand. This made it uncomfortable for him to reside in Venice, leading to a brief incarceration, and in 1862, he moved to Florence for 5 years. There he met a number of the artists known as the Macchiaioli, including Signorini, Martorelli, Giovanni Fattori and Giuseppe Abbati, and he joined them in painting landscapes outdoors. Painting outside of the studio, "en plein air", was at that time an innovative approach, allowing for a new vividness and spontaneity in the rendering of light.

By 1866, Zandomeneghi had returned to Venice.

In 1874, he went to Paris, where he was to spend nearly the rest of his life. He quickly made the acquaintance of the Impressionists, who had just had their first group exhibition. Zandomeneghi, whose style of painting was similar to theirs, would participate in four of their later exhibitions. Like his close friend Edgar Degas he was primarily a figure painter, although Zandomeneghi's work was more sentimental in character than Degas'. He also admired the work of Mary Cassatt and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and his many paintings of women in their domestic routines follow their example. To supplement the meager returns from the sale of his paintings, Zandomeneghi found work drawing illustrations for fashion magazines. More on Federico Zandomeneghi

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