Giovanni Boldini

Although best known as a painter of society portraits, the Italian-born artist Giovanni Boldini also painted landscapes throughout his long career.

On his first visit to Paris in 1867 he met the Impressionist painters, including Degas and Manet. When he moved to Paris permanently in 1871 he became interested in the cityscapes and scenes of urban life that many of the Impressionists also painted. A number of Boldini's works depict the area around his home on the Place Pigalle at the foot of Montmartre in Paris.