The woman in white (1955) cm 100×60 – Tempera su tela

In the Woman in White everything refers to the French side of Dady Orsi. The colours: white, red and blue; the rigor and charm of the clothing (an explicit reference to Chanel); the length of the tubular neck à la Modigliani; the attitude to silhouette the figure as a monochrome silhouette (another explicit reference, this time to the beloved Manet). Executed in a moment of full creative fervour, this painting contains the style and elegance that make the artist increasingly appreciated in Milanese artistic circles. The painting was exhibited in a one-man show at the Galleria Montenapoleone in 1957. According to the testimony of Megy Bassi, in this circumstance Giovanni Testori appreciated the painting to such an extent that he encouraged the artist to develop the theme. These are the years in which he exhibits in prestigious galleries (in Italy and Switzerland) also obtaining a media recognition. We see it in fact appear in newsreels and on the pages of Time on the occasion of the 1955 exhibition A model and twenty-seven painters in which Gina Lollobrigida poses for the most successful painters in Milan (Sassu, Migneco, Dova, Vedova and many others). The manner of the Woman in White, especially the palette, are close to those of the Lombard Chiarismo, but there is, in the angular design and rapid brushwork, an energy that distinguishes it from the placidity of the Chiaristi. Orsi himself recognizes with satisfaction this work as one of his best results from the formal point of view.