THE LOUNGE 

Born in 1920 in Venise, Italy, Died in 2018, in Venise, Italy. 

This work is part of Ida Barbarigo's Autoritratti or Self-portraits, an enigmatic series that is less-known to the public, but which represents important theme in her oeuvre. 

The self-portraits were painted in the 1980s and 90s. The works expose layers of the artist's personality while conveying aspects of melancholy, a dark side that's mysterious, yet fascinating. They are based upon an intensive research and personal introspection leading towards a self-knowledge. Like in her other works, they reveal how the artist's layers of flowing, dripping lines approach an enchanting abstraction. 

Barbarigo had a profound familiarity with the psychological condition of the human being. The artist's career consists of thorough and patient iconographic research of a number of themes and symbols. These include chairs, flowers and leaves, judges, faces, demons, beaches, and city views. Barbarigo developed these connotative signs over several decades in deep silence and an almost obsessive manner. 

Art historian Giuseppe Mazzariol described the enigmatic and evocative character of Barbarigo's work as follows: "The signs recur obsessively, each time losing their descriptive dross and producing images of greater connotative depth, in other words becoming more essential and lessexplicit, more suggestive, but in the end more definitive." 

The human figure appeared in her work from 1964 onwards. These were never "real" portraits as such, but she attempted to invoke the silent spirit of the present and the dormant energy of the figure. The starting point for the self-portraits was an unexpected emotion that she felt uponnoticing a white apparition moving behind the numerous paintings of flowers and leaves in her studio. She described it as a pale, fugitive, and mysterious figure. Her portraits evoke a certain anxiety, which is at times a definitively tragic atmosphere. 

Ida known for her Solo exhibition at;  Palazzo Te, Mantua: ‘Ida Cadorin Barbarigo. Opere recenti’, curated by Živa Kraus. (2002) Paris, Albert Benamou Gallery: ‘Peintures 1978-2002’. ‘Ida Barbarigo Cadorin. I Terrestri’. Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in Valencia (2004). ‘Ida Barbarigo. I Terrestri’ exhibition at Palazzo Fortuny, Venice. (2006). ‘Winter at Palazzo Fortuny’ programme: ‘Ida Barbarigo. Erme e Saturni’ (2015).

In November 2016 opening of the ‘La bottega Cadorin. Una dinastia di artisti veneziani’ exhibition, curated by Jean Clair. The painter’s works are exhibited alongside those of her grandfather, Vincenzo Cadorin, her father Guido, her uncles Ettore and Romeo, her mother, Livia Tivoli Cadorinand her maternal grandfather Augusto Tivoli.