Portrait of a beautiful bather was executed in 1864 by Italian painter Raffaele Pick (1832 - Gorizia - 1871).

The artist was born in Gorizia in 1832, where he received his first teachings in his father Filippo´s workshop (1806-1879). His academic training remains undocumented, which was believed to have occurred at the Venice Academy, while "judging by the style of his paintings, it would seem to have been perfected by studies carried out on models from beyond the Alps". P. is best remembered as a portraitist of the Gorizia bourgeoisie, and of pro-Italian sentiments, as evidenced by the Portrait of Giovanna Periz Duss (1860 ca.), which flaunts a pin with the Lion of St. Mark, or the discovery allusion to the tricolor in the Portrait of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (1866), destined for the town hall. In 1863 he participated with Annibale Strata in the Garibaldi demonstration. P. also signed the project for the decoration of the ceiling of the Teatro di Società depicting European Civilization, made in fresco by Rocco Pittaco. The painting was lost in the First World War, while the project is documented by a lithograph. P. died in Gorizia in 1871.

Literature: in German: Thieme/Becker; Saur; in Italian: Dizionario Biografico DEI Friulani; C. IPPAVIZ, Catalogo della Prima Esposizione Artistica goriziana, Gorizia, Tip. Ilariana, 1888, 23, 34, 58; C.L. BOZZI, Pittori goriziani dell’800, «La Panarie», 17 (1939), 184, 186; COSSAR, Storia dell’arte, 99, 168, 347-348, 362, 369-371; Gorizia ottocentesca, Gorizia, Italia Nostra, 1975, 101; E. MOGOROVICH e V. GRANSINIGH, schede, in Pinacoteca Gorizia, 88-89.

Inscription: signed and dated 1864, lower right.

Technique: oil on rectangular canvas, painted in oval. Luxuriously original period gilt frame.

Measurements: image oval 29 1/2" x 36 5/8" ( 75 x 93 cm); unframed w 30 3/4" x h 38 1/4" (78 x 97 cm), framed w 39 3/4" x h 46 7/8" (101 x 119 cm).

Condition: in good condition. the canvas is slightly cracked.