The work was presented with the title “Eleganza” at Italian artist Marcello Dudovich’s first solo exhibition in 1942 in Milan at the Galleria Dedalo. It arrived in Trieste, at the Galleria Trieste, in 1947 and was then purchased by the Museo Revoltella. During the organization of the exhibition “Dudovich. Oltre il manifesto” by the Museo Revoltella in 2002, it was possible to compare the cardboard with the preparatory sketch and identify the woman as Nives Comas Casati, the artist’s niece and his favorite model. She posed for her uncle, in fact, also for the famous series of posters created for the La Rinascente department store. This work depicts a purely “Dudovician” female model, who will become a symbol of the elegance of the 1930s, characterized by an almost androgynous refinement, full of charm, vitality and conscious femininity. Nives Comas Casati was a versatile artist and part of the Balbian court, which also included other artists like Emma (Mimì) Buzzacchi Quilici, a female painter and wife of Nello, Galileo Cattabriga and Aldo Chiappelli. Sara Accorsi wrote a 96-page biography titled "Nives Comas Casati" which was published in 2010. Casati's light-colored hair appears styled in loose waves that are mostly concealed under a fashionable dark, long-bill hat that casts a shadow over part of her face. The ivory-skinned slender model is dressed in a black, close-fitting one-piece very-fitted dress with long sleeves accented with a silver belt at her waist as well as a large, dark-brown fur collar around her neck which extends to her left arm. Her seated posture is slightly relaxed leaning forward with her right hand resting on her hip in a pose of casual elegance.

Ritratto di signora (Nives Comas Casati) by Marcello Dudovich (Italian) - Tempera and pastel on paper on cardboard / 1937 - Museo Revoltella (Trieste, Italy) #womeninart #art #artwork #tempera #pastel #MarcelloDudovich #Dudovich #womensart #portraitofawoman #ItalianArtist #1930s #MuseoRevoltella