In the hammock - II

De Nittis's 'In the Hammock II' of 1884 is among the last paintings he completed before his sudden death from a stroke in August of that year, aged only thirty-eight. The hammock subject — a woman reclined in leisure, suspended between tree or post, caught in a moment of pleasurable repose — carries particular poignancy in retrospect as a celebration of ease and physical comfort from a painter whose own life was cut short at its most productive. Hammock paintings had a distinct appeal in the 1880s as symbols of modern leisure, the unproductive moment freely chosen as an antidote to the relentless productivity of industrial capitalism. Renoir, Monet, and others painted figures in hammocks during this period; De Nittis's version, with his characteristic sensitivity to fabric, light, and the female figure, would have been among the finest. The Pinacoteca De Nittis in Barletta, created from the collection his widow Léontine donated after his death, preserves this painting as part of the testament to a career that ended too soon. The designation 'II' suggests this was a second version or variant of a hammock composition, indicating his sustained interest in the subject.

The hammock presents compositional challenges: an oblique, curved form suspending the figure at an angle that disrupts conventional rectilinear composition. De Nittis manages this with characteristic elegance, using the ropes and fabric of the hammock as expressive linear elements against surrounding foliage.