LEONARDO GASSER
(Florence, 1831 – 1892)

Two Sisters

Signed and dated, upper left: L. Gasser 1876

Oil on canvas
42 ½ x 52 inches (108 x 132.1 cm)

Provenance:

Private Collection, New York.

The 19th-century Italian painter Leonardo Gasser is best known for romanticized depictions of his sitters. Gasser’s Two Sisters is a striking depiction of a private moment of leisure shared by two elegantly dressed young women. The viewer is welcomed into the scene by the central figure, who gazes out at us and returns our glances with a coquettish smile.

The women and the setting in which they are depicted epitomize the elegant fashion and interiors of the Victorian era. Stylish and young, the sitters are dressed in lace and ruffle-trimmed silks. The voluminous sleeves are typical of the period, as are the plunging necklines—a trend in the early 1870’s that allowed for a prominent display of jewelry. One figure wears a double strand of pearls while the other dons a chic black velvet choker with a pendant. The lustrous quality of the dresses is echoed in the upholstery of the elaborate silk sofa and in the wallpaper behind them. Glasser places the action in the privacy of a domestic parlor and he emphasizes the sitters’ social station by the inclusion of a guitar—a popular musical instrument that may have been part of a young woman’s education during this period.

A pupil of the portraitist Michael Gordigiani, Gasser is best known for his refined palette and the relaxed attitudes of his female sitters—two characteristics that are here on full display.[1]

[1] https://www.berardiarte.com/artists/leonardo-gasser/.