American Lady (Young American Woman)

Until a few decades ago, this large pastel work was dated to 1897, the same year that the artist visited the United States; today critics are agreed in pushing this date back to between 1900 and 1903, based on stylistic considerations. Despite the difficulties in dating the piece, it remains an important testimonial to the success enjoyed by Boldini with American clients. "He had painted so many portraits for Americans, and sold so many paintings in that country, that America was no longer a foreign country to him. He had friends and admirers in every city," is how Boldini's wife, Emilia Cardona, puts it when recalling his overseas trip on November 20, 1897, when he visited New York. Here, he exhibited at a branch of the Boussod, Valadon, and Cie gallery at 303 Fifth Avenue, where he showcased his important works.
In reality, the fame of the Ferrara-born artist long preceded his arrival in the United States, thanks, in particular, to his friendship with US painter John Singer Sargent. It is likely that Sargent's great success as a portraitist for the American upper class inspired Boldini's stay in the United States. This fruitful period of artistic output eventually took place in 1897, and ended in April 1898 with his return to Paris, following a serious bout of pneumonia.
"L’Americana," which is kept at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, is an example of the fame Boldini achieved among America's upper classes and his approach to the works of Sargent.
The refined and elegant pastel technique grants the artist from Ferrara an even greater pictorial and artistic freedom than could be achieved in oil paintings. The face of the figure, sitting on the type of high canopé that was frequently used by artists for their posing models, is the only well-defined feature, distancing itself chromatically from the other elements in the composition. The space is no more than an empty frame, lacking in characterization, while the piece of furniture, which has no sense of weight or volume, has no well-defined features and appears as dematerialized. The rendering of the figure is similarly light and free; the dress and bare arms of the figure are rendered by a few short strokes of black pastel and the contours—particularly in the lower part—which appear to be multiplied in an attempt to create an illusion of movement and instability, capturing a light moment that pulses with vitality.
The color tones are neutral, comprising mostly grays and blacks, and color of the paper is used to create a light brown hue.