Spring

De Nittis's 'Spring' of 1879 belongs to his mature Parisian period, when he was celebrating the pleasures of the seasonal cycle through the lens of modern leisure. Spring in the French calendar was the season of the Salon, of outdoor excursions, of fashionable promenades in the Bois de Boulogne and the parks of Haussmann's transformed Paris. De Nittis painted spring subjects with particular fluency, attracted by the specific quality of fresh light on young foliage, the return of white and pale-colored dress, and the sense of social renewal that accompanied the season. By 1879 he was a thoroughly established Parisian painter with a distinguished social circle including Manet, Degas, Zola, and Goncourt. His spring and summer outdoor paintings from this period represent some of his finest achievements in capturing the luminous, transient quality of seasonal light. The Pinacoteca De Nittis in Barletta preserves this work as part of the collection his widow donated following his early death. Spring subjects in De Nittis's hands typically combine figures — women and children particularly — with the abundant plant life of the Paris parks or the more informal gardens of the Parisian suburbs.

Spring foliage presents De Nittis with the challenge of capturing fresh, light-saturated greens against the bright light typical of late April and May. His brushwork loosens for vegetation while retaining precision for figures, creating a characteristic contrast between organic abundance and social observation.