The walk in the Bois de Boulogne, c. 1909

Oil on canvas, 228 x 118 cm
Museo Giovanni Boldini, inv. 1370

In the first decade of the twentieth century, Boldini was still one of the most fashionable portrait painters among high society figures and gave birth to a new female iconography, depicting an emancipated woman, confident in herself and her power of seduction. Muses of the painter were some influential personalities who animated the worldly Paris of the time, such as the cultured and eccentric billionaire Rita Hernandez de Acosta Lydig. We see her portrayed here with her second husband, the English captain Philip Lydig, strolling in the Bois de Boulogne with a regal gait, wearing a dark-colored town dress and a large hat. The nonchalance of the elegant couple strolling is the result of a very studied pose, while the outdoor setting harks back to the 18th-century English portraiture that was certainly a source of inspiration for Boldini. Made to be exhibited at the Salon de la Société Nationale in 1909, this work scatened the ire

of another protagonist of worldly scenes, the “divine” Marchesa Luisa Casati, portrayed by the painter during the same period. She feared that the beauty of her rival Rita Lydig might overshadow her: indeed, Boldini planned to exhibit both paintings at the Salon, but the marquise expressed her displeasure about her portrait being flanked by others.