Resting

The painting we present today is a bit ethereal. The subject may be seen as banal but for me the interpretation of the painting is left to be decided by the observer. What is this woman thinking about? Her dream? Unfulfilled desires? Her life in general? I thought it could be a good painting for the first day of the new year.

Antonio Mancini was an Italian painter. While in Paris in the 1870s, Mancini met the Impressionist painters Edgar Degas and Édouard Manet. He became friends with John Singer Sargent, who famously pronounced him to be the greatest living painter. Unfortunately he never quite achieved the kind of professional success or public popularity his friends did. Mancini suffered a debilitating mental illness at the age of 29 presumably due to mercury poisoning, and affected a lot of the themes of his work during the time. He destroyed much of his work during this time by painting over multiple canvases. 

So, dear DailyArt users - Happy New Year!