66 - LEO VASARI (20th century).

LEO VASARI (20th century). “Portrait of a Lady.” Oil on canvas. Signed in the lower section. Measurements: 61.5 x 50 cm; 78 x 67 cm (frame). The composition draws its primary inspiration from *Autumn* by the British painter Thomas Benjamin Kennington (1856–1916), a widely known work that stands as a significant example of late 19th-century British figurative painting. In it, Kennington depicts a reclining young woman, her eyes closed and crowned with flowers, using the landscape and plant elements to create an atmosphere of melancholy and contemplation. Leo Vasari’s painting draws on this compositional model and reinterprets it in his own way, preserving the allure of an intimate female image. The choice of such a subject ties into a long tradition in European painting, in which the reclining female figure became a recurring motif for exploring beauty, sensuality, and states of introspection. Kennington was a leading figure in Victorian British painting and one of the founding members of the New English Art Club in 1886, a group that helped introduce new pictorial sensibilities from France. His body of work spanned portraiture, genre painting, and social scenes, with a particular focus on the human figure and the expression of emotions. His artistic style combines careful drawing, meticulous execution, and a unique sensitivity for creating intimate atmospheres.