(Turin 1871–1958 Rome) Piazza di Spagna, 1900–1905, oil on canvas, laid down on canvas, 74 x 114 cm, framed, (PP)

Provenance: Casa Balla, Rome; Finarte Milan, 29 November 1966, lot 3; European private collection Photo certificate: Elena Gigli, Rome, 8 September 2009, archive no. 431 In the first decade of the century Giacomo Balla was a respected portrait painter - the 19th century genre which allowed painters to make a reasonable living. Bourgeois ladies and gentlemen pose on the balcony or while reading newspaper; children are depicted enjoying themselves or eating an ice cream; fellow-artists are depicted at work, intellectuals at their desk, politicians against a dignified background (M. Fagiolo, 1998, p26). In this picture, Balla stops the waters of the Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Old Boat) in Piazza di Spagna as if in a snapshot. On the right a female figure in profile emphasises the human presence. We sense the intenion of making the sound of the water go on forever, as if we too werre beside the fountain on a hot Roman evening. As the female figure seen in profile and in a certain style of dress, this great painting echoes the portrait Balla painted in 1901 of Signora Pisani leaning on the balustrade of her terrace above this same Piazza di Spagna in Rome.“ (Elena Gigli, Rome, 8th September 2009).