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After sharing his early artistic experiences with the Macchiaioli, who used to meet at the Caffè Michelangelo in Florence, Giovanni Boldini arrived in Paris in October 1871. The French capital quickly became his adopted home. He soon forged a professional relationship with the art dealer Adolphe Goupil, who helped establish him as one of the most famous and highest-paid artists.

During his early years in Paris, the artist painted Berthe on several occasions – his muse, lover and model – with whom he savoured the luxuries of life that were entirely beyond the reach of the bohémienne artists who thronged the French capital.

The fame of Boldini’s early Parisian period is due to Berthe, whose portraits captivated a wide audience of wealthy collectors. The painter succeeded in evoking a whole world of pleasure and licentiousness, without slipping into provocation that might risk censorship.

His depictions of women are always underpinned by his extraordinary painterly talent, rooted in the Macchiaioli tradition yet capable of pushing towards the most coveted modernity and skirting the boundaries of Impressionist experimentation.

Boldini was able to capture the effervescent atmosphere of high-society Paris in clearly captivating depictions such as Berthe with a Straw Hat. What we see is simply an elegant woman in the sun, portrayed with the aim of giving us the illusion of movement. Boldini might be accused of carelessness; his paintings often seem far from being fully finished. But this is part of his personal approach to keeping the viewer’s interest alive in the subject he is depicting. Berthe’s colourful dress evokes the chromatic virtuosity of Mariano Fortuny’s exotic scenes.