Lot 64 D

In 1926 Massimo Campigli and the painter Magdalena Radulescu married in Paris: Campigli had moved there in 1919 as a correspondent for the “Corriere della Sera” but soon prioritised his artistic talent. His paintings were already being purchased by important gallerists like Léonce Rosenberg by the early 1920s.
Depicted in a half-length portrait, the sitter completely fills the canvas, creating a monumental visual impression. This effect is enhanced through the tectonic structure of the body’s forms, which are shifted to the left and right in mutual opposition, in the manner of a contrapposto figure. Magdalena Radulescu turns away from the viewer in three-quarter profile. Her withdrawn expression simultaneously seems to convey ennui and amusement as she offers viewers a look at her beautiful, classical features. The casual air of her gesture and pose corresponds to her bohemian clothing, which is in turn contradicted by the pearl necklace.
This portrait represents a painting from the early, classical phase of Massimo Campigli’s oeuvre – works which are extremely seldomly offered for sale. Together with the large-format painting “I costruttori” (Campigli/Weiss 28-035) – now in the Museum of Trento and Rovereto – Magdalena Radulescu’s portrait was exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1928, the year it was created.