Lot 140: ARTURO RICCI

ARTURO RICCI ITALIAN 1854 - 1919 ENTERTAINING IN THE ARTIST'S STUDIO signed and dated A. Ricci / Firenze / 1884 lower left; signed, titled and dated on the reverse oil on canvas 106 by 79cm., 41¾ by 31in.

Sale: Sotheby's, London, 13 June 2006, lot 313
Purchased by the present owner at the above sale

Taking a break from painting the portrait of a young and beautiful girl, the handsome artist takes his sitter on at chess instead. Behind, watching their every move, is the girl's father. Presented as a study in period silks and satins to give Ricci the opportunity to show off the full range of his painterly talents and his skill at capturing the lustrous materials of the Rococo in particular, the artist fills his canvas with details rich in meaning.

Judging from his expression, the father is not convinced. The portrait that he has commissioned is unfinished, and hangs apparently discarded at a rakish angle on the wall behind the girl; a paint brush leans provocatively against the canvas. It seems more likely that the father will in fact be paying for a charlatan to take advantage of his daughter than for the completion of a fair and fine likeness.

Finely observed and superbly rendered, Ricci describes every detail of this studio visit, capturing with his brush all the paraphernalia of the setting and every nuance of the moment depicted.