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| An Artist Sketching an Elegant Company ("Il Caffè"), c. 1750-55 Pietro Longhi Italian, 1702-1781 Oil on canvas 24 x 19-7/16 in. (61 x 49.4cm) Norton Simon Art Foundation M.2012.1.P © Norton Simon Art Foundation On view This painting illustrates beautifully Longhi's gift for depicting the bourgeoisie doing nothing, but with great style. His editorial comments lacked the bitter, satiric edge of those by Hogarth or Goya. Rather, he adhered to the role of an intimate chronicler who captured with penetration and a subtly ironic viewpoint the low-key, bourgeois character of the eighteenth-century Venetian aristocracy. He created carefully arranged compositions and frequently cast his group portraits around a table scene. Included here is his own self-portrait, appropriately as the artist sketching the activity at hand. View Provenance |
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