"Marthe de Florian" by Giovanni Boldini

My mother sent me an e-mail a few days ago about a valuable painting that had recently been found.  It is by Giovanni Boldini a 19th century portrait artist.  The painting had been locked away in a Paris apartment for 70 years. The apartment had belonged to Marthe de Florian a "muse" of Boldini's. It is believed that the painting is of Mme. de Florian and was given to her as a gift.  The apartment was paid for by Marthe de Florian's granddaughter and was unlocked when she recently died at age 91.  At first they could find no record that Boldini painted such a piece.  It was never mentioned in any reference books dedicated to Boldini.  Until the man who found the painting also found a love letter from Boldini to Marthe de Florian.  "We had the link and I was sure at that moment that it was indeed a very fine Boldini" stated Olivier Choppin-Janvry.  The painting sold for about $2.9 million dollars at an auction. It is wonderful to find "new" art in such a way.  In 2008 a short piece by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was found locked in a unknown room in French Library (Read more here).  These treasures are hidden around the world, waiting to surprise us.   

 Marthe de Florian. Giovanni Boldini.1898.

Boldini has a lot of other wonderful and whimsical paintings.  One of my favorites is the Spanish Dancer at the Moulin Rouge. 1905. Oil on Canvas.

Photo and Information garthered from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8042281/Parisian-flat-containing-2.1-million-painting-lay-untouched-for-70-years.html, http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/94058?fp=1, http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//101006/photos_lf_afp/085d026a43d99e63cae6711e86a0086f/, http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/43821/, http://www.artsunlight.com/NN/N-B0006/N-B0006-071-spanish-dancer-at-the-moulin-rouge.jpg, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,424465,00.html