Giovanni Boldini | Ballerine Spagnole al Moulin Rouge, 1900

No artist captured the glamour, energy and optimism of the Parisian Belle Époque better than the Italian master Giovanni Boldini.

After leaving his native Italy for the French capital in 1871, Boldini enjoyed meteoric success, attracting the support of the city's influential dealer Adolphe Goupil as well as its most esteemed members of high society.

Among those who sat for the celebrated painter were Marchesa Luisa Casati, Consuelo Vanderbilt the Duchess of Marlborough, Count Robert de Montesquieu, Giuseppe Verdi and many other cultural and societal luminaries.

Giovanni Boldini | Ballerine Spagnole al Moulin Rouge, 1905 | Christie's

Gigino Falconi, 1933 | Metaphysical painter

Gigino Falconi was born in Giulianova (Teramo) in 1933.

He began painting at the age of sixteen, and in 1954 he obtained a Liceo Artistico of Pescara.

During the early years of his career, Falconi began teaching and drawing at the middle school in his city, refining his technique by copying a thousand paintings and drawings, bringing himself to an understanding of the secrets of technique and color behind the Great Masters of every century.

Ichiro Tsuruta 鶴田-郎, 1954 | Art Déco painter

Ichiro Tsuruta was born in Hondo-shi (current Amakusa-shi), Kumamoto.

He grew up surrounded by rich nature of Amakusa area.

He has liked to paint since his childhood.

After graduating from high school, he entered Tama Art University, majored in graphic design and tried to become an illustrator.

Angelo Vadalà | Figurative painter / Sculptor

Angelo Vadalà (1940-2024) was born in Messina, Italy.

He started painting five decades ago, when he was only 12.

At the age of 18, Vadalà left Sicily to live and study in Florence, officially to attend university and study architecture.

But after two years of study at the Florence University of Architecture, Vadalà found he was distracted by what the many museums of that beautiful city contained, and not by the stone and wood that housed the art.

From his study of architecture, Vadalà had received a foundation in the art and technique of draftsmanship.

Lionello Balestrieri | Beethoven, 1900

In 1899, Lionello Balestrieri (12 September 1872 - October 24, 1958) painted a canvas depicting Beethoven -Kreutzer Sonata-, which after winning an award at the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris and in 1901 in Venice, brought him fame.

The painting depicts a dimly lit garret-like apartment with a strand of listeners along the left wall, each in their own mood, while a violinist plays between them and a furnace.