20th Century Nude Paintings

Painter and teacher, Thomas Fogarty, Jr., taught at the Art Students League in Manhattan for many years and exhibited his oil and pastel landscapes and still lifes at the Whitney Museum of American Art and many New York galleries. Fogarty began his teaching career at the Pratt Institute and Rutgers University, before joining the faculty at the Art Students League, where he taught painting, composition and life drawing. Fogarty was a member of the Society of Independent Artists. Both the artist and his father, Thomas Fogarty, Sr., were beloved teachers at the Art Students League and influenced generations of American painters, including Norman Rockwell. In “Draped Nude,” Fogarty’s vibrant use of color and soft, sensitive brushwork reminds the viewer of Pierre Bonnard’s interiors or early Picasso...

Mystical and mysterious, a mythological Ondine rests beside an ethereal forest pond in this majestic, original oil on canvas by French Symbolist Pierre-Amédée Marcel-Béronneau. A stu...

Lying Nude with Signal 2 (Nudo disteso con segnale 2) is an original Contemporary artwork realized in 1988 by the italian Contemporary artist Leo Guida (1992 - 2017). Original oil o...

Shepherd with Flock and Nude Lady by Fountain Italian School, circa 1900's indistinctly signed, 'R. Bertholio'? signed oil on canvas, unframed canv...

Oil on canvas sold with frame Total size with frame 88x98 cm Carmen Bilbao was born in Bolivia in 1954. Graduated in Fine Arts from the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Arts at the...

Oil on board. Signed lower right and dated 1963. Artist label fixed verso.

G. Debotoiyche, Nude Study, 1923 This masterful carbon pencil drawing by Russian artist G. Debotoiyche exemplifies the stripped-down elegance of early 20th-century modernist draftsm...

LUCIEN BOULIER "NUDE WITH RED HAIR" OIL ON PANEL, SIGNED FRANCE, C.1930 26 X 20 INCHES Lucien Boulier 1882-1963 Lucian Boulier was born Verdun...

Lying Woman is an original modern artwork realized by the artist Nino Bertoletti beetween 1930 and 1940. Mixed colored oil on canvas. Hand signed by the artist on the lower margin Nino Bertoletti (Rome, October 26...

Nude is a contemporary artwork realized by Rinaldo Geleng (1920-2003) in 1970s Mixed colored oil on canvas. Hand signed on the lower margin. Includes frame: 124 x 104.5 cm

Francisco Zuniga, Mexican (1912-1998). 'Brujeria', sepia and black charcoal on paper. I spoke with Ariel Zuniga and he was very impressed by this painting saying three or more figures is rare. The scene is of a mother and sick daughter with a witch (Bruja) hovering by her side expelling her maladies. the witch’s eyes are penetrating the daughter at the point of her demise with the mother in black rode mourning the very thought of losing her daughter. A very powerful and moving painting. The color spectrum is impressive combining Sepia and black chalk to create an impressive spectrum of colors and depth in this scene. A COA by Ariel Zuniga will be included with this painting and it will be included in Francisco Zuniga’s upcoming Catalogue Raisonne Vol V. Signed and dated bottom left 1970. Ariel Zuniga kindly authenticated this painting through his Zuniga Laborte A.C. Foundation and will include it in the upcoming Catalogue Raisonne Vol V. Gallery label on verso. Sight Dimensions: 19 Inches x 25 Inches. Framed: 25.5"H x 31.5"W. Condition: painting in very good condition with wear to frame. AVANTIQUES is dedicated to providing an exclusive curated collection of Fine Arts, Paintings, Bronzes, Asian treasures, Art Glass and Antiques. Our inventory represents time-tested investment quality items with everlasting decorative beauty. We look forward to your business and appreciate any reasonable offers. All of our curated items are vetted and guaranteed authentic and as described. Avantiques only deals in original antiques and never reproductions. We stand behind our treasures with a full money back return policy if the items are not as described. Biography Zúñiga was born in Guadalupe, Barrio de San José, Costa Rica on December 27, 1912 to Manuel Maria Zúñiga and María Chavarría, both sculptors. His father worked as a sculptor of religious figures, and in stone work. His artistic inclinations began early and by the age of twelve had already read books on the history of art, artistic anatomy and the life of various Renaissance painters. At age fifteen he began working in his father’s shop. This experience sensitized him to shape and spaces. In 1926 he enrolled in the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Mexico, but left the following year to continue on his own. As part of his self-study, he studied German Expressionism and the writings of Alexander Heilmayer, through which he learned of the work of two French sculptors, Aristide Maillol and Auguste Rodin, coming to appreciate the idea of subordinating technique to expression. Zúñiga’s painting and sculpting work began receiving recognition in 1929. His first stone sculpture won second prize at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes. In the following two years continued to win top prizes at this event. This work made critics recommend him for study abroad. He won first prize in a 1935 Latin American sculpture...

Visual texture and colorful cubist nude reminiscent of Picasso's Women of Algiers series. Signed "Croce" lower, right. Unframed. Image, 14"H x 36"W.

Large Oil on Canvas by Fernande Horovitz-Edwards, France, 1930s - "Bathers". This large oil on canvas by Fernande Horovitz-Edwards, titled Bathers, dates from the 1930s and showcases...

Oriental motif. Oil on canvas, 100x73.5 cm At the turn of the century, the Viennese painter Eduard Ansen-Hofmann (1862-1955) became known with his oriental slave market and harem sc...

Nude Bathers French School, circa 1975 oil on canvas, unframed Canvas : 25.5 x 21.5 inches inscribed verso Provenance: private collection, Paris Condition: very good condition Descr...

Julie Elise Hullgren, born July 29, 1879 in Aalborg, Denmark, died 1963, was a Danish-Swedish painter. She was the daughter of director J.G. Dinesen and Vilhelmine Marie Rodskier and...

Acrylic paint on canvas, image of a nude angel unfurling her wings against a turbulent seascape. Torres is best known to most people for his monumental mural "Pope of Broadway", a p...

Op Art Figurative Female Nude -- Sanctum of the Blooming Mind This painting by Dmitri Katz (American/German, b. 1972), circa 1992, presents a surreal, almost mythological female fig...

Ann Brockman (1895–1943) was an American artist who achieved success as a figurative painter following a successful career as an illustrator. Born in California, she spent her childhood in the American Far West and, upon marrying the artist William C. McNulty, relocated to Manhattan at the age of 18 in 1914. She took classes at the Art Students League where her teachers included two realist artists of the Ashcan School, George Luks and John Sloan. Her career as an illustrator began in 1919 with cover art for four issues of a fiction monthly called Live Stories. She continued providing cover art and illustrations for popular magazines and books until 1930 when she transitioned from illustrator to professional artist. From that year until her death in 1943, she took part regularly in group and solo exhibitions, receiving a growing amount of critical recognition and praise. In 1939 she told an interviewer that making money as an illustrator was so easy that it "almost spoiled [her] chances of ever being an artist."[1] In reviewing a solo exhibition of her work in 1939, the artist and critic A.Z Kruse wrote: "She paints and composes with a thorough understanding of form and without the slightest hesitancy about anatomical structure. Add to this a magnificent sense of proportion, and impeccable feeling for color and an unmistakable knowledge of what it takes to balance the elements of good pictorial composition and you have a typical Ann Brockman canvas."[2] Early life and training Brockman was born in Northern California in 1895 and spent much of her youth in nearby Oregon, Washington, and Utah.[1][3] She met the artist William C. McNulty in Seattle where he was employed as an editorial cartoonist. They married in March 1914 and promptly moved to Manhattan where he worked as a freelance illustrator.[4][5] At the time of their marriage, Brockman was 18 years old.[6] Over the next few years, her career generally followed that path that her husband had previously taken. His art training had been at the Art Students League beginning in 1908; she began her training there after moving to New York in 1914.[1] After an early career as an editorial cartoonist, he freelanced as a magazine and book illustrator beginning in 1914; she began her career as a magazine and book illustrator in 1919.[7] He embarked on a teaching career in the early 1930s and not long after, she began giving art instruction.[8][9] While they both adhered to the realist tradition in art, their usual subjects were different. His prominently depicted urban cityscapes in the social realist whereas hers generally focused on rural landscapes. He was best known for his etchings and she for her oils and watercolors.[8][10] Brockman returned to the Art Students League in 1926 to take individual instruction for a month at a time from George Luks and John Sloan.[1] Despite their help, one critic said McNulty's "sympathetic encouragement and guidance" was more important to her development as a professional artist.[11] Career in art In the course of her career as illustrator, Brockman would sometimes paint portraits of celebrities before drawing them, as for example in 1923 when she painted the French actress Andrée Lafayette who had traveled to New York to play title role in a film called Trilby.[12] She would also sometimes accept commissions to make portrait paintings and in 1929 painted two Scottish terriers on one such commission.[13] During this time, she also produced landscapes. In 1924 she displayed a New England village street scene painting in the Second Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Watercolors, and Drawings in the J. Wanamaker Gallery of Modern Decorative Art.[14] Available sources show no further exhibitions until in 1930 a critic for the Boston Globe described one of her portraits as "well done" in a review of a Rockport Art Association exhibition held that summer.[15] Between 1931 and her death in 1943, Brockman participated in over thirty group exhibitions and five solos.[note 1] Her paintings appeared in shows of the artists' associations to which she belonged, including the Rockport Art Association, Salons of America, Society of Independent Artists, and National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors.[17][19]Between 1932 and 1935, her paintings appeared frequently in New York's Macbeth Gallery.[20][23][25][27] She won an award for a painting she showed at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1940.[41] In 1942, the Whitney Museum bought one of the paintings she showed in its Biennial of that year.[10] Critical praise for her work steadily increased during the decade that ended with her untimely death in 1943. In 1932, her painting called "The Camera Man" was called "a clever piece of illustration."[21] Three years later, a painting called "Small Town" gave a critic "the impression of freshness, honesty, and skill".[29] In 1938, a critic described her "Folly Cove" as "masterful" and said "Pigeon Hill Picnic" was "sustained by excellence of execution".[48] At that time, Howard Devree of the New York Times saw "evidence of gathering powers" in her work and wrote "she imparts a dramatic feeling to landscape. She even manages this time to do trees touched by Autumn tints without calendar effect, which is no small praise."[51] Three years later, a Times critic reported Brockman had "set herself a new high" in the watercolors she presented,[52] and another critic said the gallery where she was showing had not "for some time" shown "so outstanding a solo exhibitor as Ann Brockman."[2] Shortly before her death, a critic for Art News maintained that she was "one of America's most talented women painters".[46] After she had died, a critic said Brockman's paintings "displayed real power", adding that she was "highly rated among the nation's professional artists" and was known to give "aid and encouragement, always with a smile," both artists and to her students.[10] in reviewing the memorial exhibition at the Kraushaar Galleries held in 1945, reviewers wrote about the strength and vibrancy of her personality, the quality of her painting ("every bit as good, possibly better than people had thought"),[53] called her "one of the best of our twentieth century women painters", and credited "her sense of the vividness of life" as a contributor to "the unusual breadth that is so characteristic of her work.[11] One noted that her work was "widely recognized throughout the country" and could be found in the collections of prominent museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago.[54] Writing in the Times, Devree wrote, "even those who had followed the steady growth of this artist for more than a decade, each successive show being at once an evidence of new achievement and an augury of still better work to come, may well be surprised at the combined impact of the selected paintings in the present showing,"[55] and writing in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, A.Z Kruse said she had made "extraorginary accomplishments", painted with "inordinate distinction" showing a "lyrical majesty," and possessed "a keen esthetic sense which did not deviate from truth."[54] Artistic style (1) Ann Brockman, undated drawing, black chalk on paper, 18 x 22 inches (2) Ann Brockman, High School Picnic, about 1935, oil on canvas, 34 1/4 x 44 1/4 inches (3) Ann Brockman, untitled landscape, about 1943, watercolor and pencil on paper, 15 1/4 x 22 1/2 inches (4) Ann Brockman, North Coast, undated watercolor, 21 1/2 x 30 inches (5) Ann Brockman, On the Beach, 1942, watercolor on paper, 16 1/2 x 20 inches (6) Ann Brockman, Lot's Wife, 1942, oil on canvas, 46 x 35 inches (7) Ann Brockman, New York Harbor, 1934, watercolor on paper, 13 1/2 x 19 1/4 inches (8) Ann Brockman, Youth, 1942, oil on board, 13 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches Brockman was a figurative painter whose main subjects were rural landscapes and small-town and coastal scenes. She worked in oils and watercolors, becoming better known for the latter late in her career. Most of her paintings were relatively small. Although she made figure pieces infrequently, the nudes and circus and Biblical scenes she painted were seen to be among her best works. In 1938, Howard Devree wrote: "Her gray-day marines and coast scenes are familiar to gallery goers and are favorites with her fellow artists. Her figure pieces have attained a sculptural quality without losing warmth or taking on stiffness. One spirited circus incident of equestriennes about to enter the big tent compares not unfavorably with many of the similar pictures by a long line of painters who have been fascinated by the theme. She imparts a dramatic feeling to landscape. She even manages this time to do trees touched by Autumn tints without calendar effect, which is no small praise."[51] Similarly, a critic for Art Digest wrote that year: "Fluently and virilely painted, [her] canvases suggest a close affinity between nature and humans. The artist takes her subjects out in the open where they may picnic or bathe with space and air about them. A fast tempo is felt in the compositions of restless horses and nimble entertainers busily alert for the coming performance. Miss Brockman is also interested in portraying frightened groups of people, hurrying to safety or standing half-clad in the lowering storm light."[56] Her palette ranged from vivid colors in bright sunlight to somber ones in the overcast skies of stormy weather. Of the former, one critic spoke of the rich colors and "sun-drenched rocks" of her coastal scenes and another of her "summery landscapes of coves and picnics."[11][50] Of the latter, Howard Devree said she "painted so many moody Maine coast vignettes of lowering skies and uneasy seas that artists have been heard to refer to an effect as 'an Ann Brockman day'".[57] Brockman's handling of Biblical subjects can be seen in the oil called "Lot's Wife", shown above, Image No. 6. Her watercolor called "On the Beach" and her oil portrait called "Youth" may both indicate the "sculptural quality" that Devree said was typical of her figure pieces (Image No. 8, above). An example of Brockman's bright palette in a typical summer theme is the oil painting called "High School Picnic" shown above, Image No. 2. Next to it is a painting, an untitled landscape of about 1943 whose medium, watercolor on paper, shows off the sunny palette she often used (Image No. 3). Among the darkest of her works was an untitled 1942 drawing she made in black chalk (shown above, Image No. 1). In a book called Drawings by American Artists (1947), the artist and art editor Norman Kent noted that this study influenced her painting through its use of "forms" that were "elastic" and suggested "color". He said its "massing of dark and light" created "a definite mood" that was "impressionistic" and had "the strength of a man's work".[58] Brockman's undated watercolor called "North Coast" (shown above, Image No. 4) is an example of the paintings to which Kent referred. Illustrator (9) Ann Brockman, cover, March 12, 1917, Every Week magazine (10) Illustration of an article, "The Taking of a Salient" by Henry Russell...

Nude Ladies Sketch French School, circa 1960's chalk and pastel on artists paper, unframed size: 18.75 x 12 inches condition: very good and ready to be enjoyed provenance: private c...

Wonderful nude of woman in the style of Bay Area Figurative painters titled "Awaiting Sky" on verso. Signed illegibly ("N. Jean"?) on verso. Condit...

Bob Stanley (b. 1932 - d. 1997 New York, United States), an American painter renowned for his gritty depictions on canvas, which ingeniously incorporated photographs. His artistic jo...

Acrylic on canvas painting by Washington DC artist Joe Shannon (b.1933). The painting is titled "In Bad Spirits" and dated 1969. The painting was exhibit...

*UK BUYERS WILL PAY AN ADDITIONAL 5% IMPORT DUTY ON TOP OF THE ABOVE PRICE Rebecca Couchée by JULES PASCIN (1885-1930) Oil over pencil on canvas 73.1 x 91.8 cm (28 ¾ x 36 ⅛ inches) Signed lower right, Pascin Executed in 1927, Boulevard de Clichy, Paris Provenance Collection Marcel Bernheim, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, acquired from the artist, 1928 Pierre Blum, Paris, acquired from the above, 1952 Perls Galleries, New York, no. 13565 Private collection, Osaka Sotheby’s, New York, 14th May 1998 Peter Findlay Gallery Inc., New York Private collection, USA, acquired from the above, June 2011 Literature Luis Seoane...

Phillip Roberts Title: Reclining Nude Medium: Oil on Canvas Year: circa 1970s Size: 20 x 18 inches Framed Size: 26 x 24 x 2 inches Signed, lower ight COA provided Framed Ref.: 924802-862 --------------------------------- Phillip received a BFA degree in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri in 1972. Studied two years under painting department chairman, Wilbur Niewald. While attending school in Kansas City he became intrigued with the impressionist school of painting and their use of nature as a source of information for their work. Using the infinite variations of nature in the still life, figure and landscape, the artist is presented with limitless subject matter. Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and other painters of nature were earlier influences on Phillip's work. Dealing with ever-changing elements of nature, movement of light and shadow in the landscape, field workers finishing their tasks, Phillip adopted a broken color style of applying paint to his canvas. This approach allowed the image on the canvas to be developed quickly, and all at one time. Phillip has lived and painted in the Northwest since 1989. His long desire to paint the subject matter of the impressionists painters and his belief that beautiful subject matter increases the probability of painting beautiful paintings, inspired two painting trips to Mexico and ten trips to Europe. In April of 2007, April of 2008 and again in 2014, a rented boat on the Canal du Midi, France served as a form of transportation, a floating studio and hotel. Early painting trips to France, England, and Spain were shared adventures with English painter Jeffrey Pratt...

Work on canvas Beige wooden frame 63 x 72.5 x 5.5 cm

Depiction of a male nude in diffuse architectural scenery. Signed lower right (Paul) Anton Kaulbach (1864 Hannover - 1930 Berlin). Oil on canvas, in gold-patinated frame. Image size:...

Bay Area Expressionist Standing Nude Standing nude woman by Honora Berg (American, 1897-1985). Bold depiction of a nude woman with dark hair. The model is rendered in dark greys, w...

Superbly colorful mid-20th century British Impressionist oil painting on canvas, depicting this reclining nude lady. Painted with thick oil and w...

Oil on canvas by Dominique PERY, France, 1987. Nude named "Marianne". 73x60 cm - 28.75x23.6 in. 20F Format. Signed "D.Péry" lower right (see photo). Countersigned twice and dated 198...

Hans Burkhardt The Artist's Wife (1930) Oil on canvas, 20" x 16" 24" x 20 ½" x 1 ½" framed Dated 1930 lower right recto. Annotated "To Elsa HB Louise Burkhardt 1930. HB" verso. ...

Work on canvas

Dazzling reclining nude figurative in a dreamy, twilight setting with desert tones by Scottsdale, Arizona artist Thomas (Tom) P. Darro (American, b. 1946), circa 1990. Signed "T.P. Darro" lower right corner. Displayed in a carved wood frame, with linen liner and wood fillet. Image, 18"H x 36"W. Raised in an artistically rich atmosphere, Tom Darro has spent his entire life in the world of the arts. His father, Peter Darro, is a renowned painter and sculptor. His mother, Ann Darro, was an opera singer with the Chicago Civic Opera. In addition, three of Tom's uncles served as art directors for various organizations. Born in Chicago, Tom opted not to take an offered scholarship to the Chicago Art Institute and instead headed for New York City. While there, he began his education in the intricacies of the art world. Later, Tom took the opportunity to move to Los Angeles to concentrate on his art studies. For over two years he took private lessons from European trained painter Theodore Lukits at his studio and workshop. He then studied color theory under artist Christian Title...

Work on paper Frame in wood moldings and gilded plaster with glass pane 64,5 x 85 x 3 cm

Untitled (1985) by artist Russel Sharon, featured in "The Queer Show" at Hal Bromm Gallery

Surreal Dreamscape with Nudes French artist, mid 20th century signed oil on canvas, unframed dated 1958? Canvas : 30 x 37.5 inches Provenance: private collection, France Condition: v...

Red Head Madame- Original 1975 Acrylic on Canvas Modern portrait of a nude red head woman by Bay Area artist Patricia Gren Hayes (American, 1932). The woman is seated on a chair, nu...

Female nude, oil on canvas. Unsigned. (Provenance: Private collection, Paris).

The Artists Model Portrait of a Nude Lady reclining French School, circa 1970's oil painting on card, unframed size: 18 x 25.5 inches condition: overall very good, a very few light m...

Joseph Glasco (American, 1925-1996) Standing Man, 1955 India ink and gouache on textured paper 10 x 8 inches 16.75 x 13.5 inches, framed Joseph Glasco was born in Paul’s Valley, Okl...

Simka Simkhovitch (Russian/American 1893 - 1949) This came with a small grouping from the artist's family, some were hand signed some were not. These were studies for larger paintin...

Beautiful figurative painting of a female nude figure standing with a vibrantly colored and patterned quilt by Rebecca Hall (American, 20th Century). Signed "Rebecca Hall 1984" on ve...

5150 French oversized Surreal oil on canvas A Man's Fantasy Framed

This striking nude portrait oil painting is by noted Scottish artist William Crosbie. It is entitled Guapa verso, Spanish for a beautiful woman. Painted in 1981, she is wearing a bla...

Otto Vautier is a renowned Swiss painter, born in 1863 in Düsseldorf. He was influenced by a family of artists and developed his style during his training in Munich and Paris. Vautie...

Nude Model by Therese Hummel (French, 1911-1999) oil on canvas, unframed canvas : 14 x 10.75 inches Provenance: private collection of this artists work, Paris Condition: sound and go...

Light hearted French ink painting of a partially nude young female arranging her hair in front of a mirror by B. Charasson, 1980s. Signed lower rig...

Nude Woman on Striped Chair #2 in Charcoal and Gouache on Paper Black and white painting of a woman by acclaimed bluegrass musician Katherine "Kathy" Kallick (American, b. 1952). Th...

E. Simms Campbel was the first major African American Illustrator. He did covers for Esquire Magazine starting in the 1930s. He created the famous bulging-eyed Esquire Mascot “Esky.” He also worked for The Chicagoan, Cosmopolitan, Ebony, The New Yorker, Playboy, Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, Pictorial Review, and Redbook. This work, "What do you mean your wife doesn't understand you ---- I'm your wife!" is from Cuties Daily Comic Strip, June 18, 1950 He was inducted into the Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame in 2002. His work demonstrates a deep and masterfully understanding of drawing figures and faces in an academic but stylized style. "My pleasure, boys. Always glad to see a delegation from the States." From the Playboy Collection...

5008 Large Vintage French Surreal female nude on canvas unframed

Conditions : Frame in excellent Conditions, XIXth period with golden leaf. The painting show a signature on the lower right part " Pierre Sezille des Essarts" Minor retouching on th...

This intimate portrait depicts a tender family scene, with a couple cradling an infant in a warm embrace. The artist's use of soft, muted tones and gentle brushstrokes creates a sens...

Act. 1979. Oil on cardboard, 96x70 cm Alfejs Bromults (1913.3.IV - 1991.11.I) His first professional education was at National University at studies to R.Suta, J. Bine and G. Skilt...

Bacchanal Cupids Playing French School, early 1900's oil painting on canvas, framed canvas: 22 x 39 inches framed: 27 x 44 inches Large scale French Rococo style oil painting on ca...

Nude Model by Helen Greenfield (British 20th century) signed oil painting on board, unframed board: 30 x 18 inches condition: overall very good provenance: all the paintings we have ...

Portrait of a Nude Lady French School, circa 1960's signed and stamped chalk and pastel on artists paper, unframed size: 18.75 x 11 inches condition: very good and ready to be enjoy...

Robert Phillipp "Corner of My Studio" Original Painting c.1968 Original oil on canvas. Dimensions 12" x 16". The frame measures 16" x 20". Signed low...

Nude Model is an orignal modern artwork realized by Antonio Feltrinelli in 1930s. Mixed colored oil painting on canvas. Good conditions. Not signed. Antonio Feltrinelli (Milan, 1...

René-Paris Castaing, winner of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1924, left a large body of work, both sacred and secular. Many churches in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in South-West France still bear witness to the diversity of his talent. In 1942, he began a major decoration project for the Château de Diusse, in the north-east of the county, including an allegory of the four seasons. The vigorous pastel we are presenting here is a study for Spring, depicted as Flore undressing. This commission was a veritable swan song for the artist, who died a year later at the age of 47. 1. René-Marie Castaing, the great inter-war painter in Pau René-Marie Castaing was born in Pau on December 16th 1896. His father, Joseph Castaing, was also a painter: he was the official portraitist of Pau's high society, which was particularly cosmopolitan at the end of the century, when many rich foreigners spent the winter in Pau, taking advantage of the mild weather to enjoy an outdoor lifestyle punctuated by hunting, horse ridings and golf. René-Marie Castaing was admitted to the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in April 1920 and entered the studio of Paul-Albert Laurens (1870-1934). In 1924, he was awarded the First Grand Prix de Rome for Painting, which earned him a stay at the Villa Médicis for more than three years. He then returned to Pau in 1928, where he lived until his death. Castaing's work is marked by the academic tradition, in which drawing plays as important a role as painting. Although his drawings are often sketches that help to set up large painted compositions, they stand as independent artworks in which the artist fully expresses the vivacity of his talent. Castaing was a fervent Christian and religious painting played an essential part in his work, as shown by the decorations he created for the churches of Bizanos, Borce, Bidache and Salies-de-Béarn. The painter also created several secular decorations, such as that for the dining room of the Villa Saint-Basil's in Pau in 1935, and the Hunting at the Albret’s time commissioned in 1940 by the Prefecture of Pau. The décor created in 1942-1943 for the Château de Diusse, a mansion located north-east of Pau, was his last large-scale décor, as the painter died shortly after its completion on December 8th 1943. 2. Description of the drawing Our pastel depicts an eminently secular theme: Spring is embodied by Flore, crouching on the ground with one knee touching the ground. She reveals her ample bosom by removing her shirt, her arms raised above her shoulders to undress. Given Castaing's classical training at the Beaux-Arts and the influence of ancient statuary...

Nude Lady in Interior Scene French School, mid 20th century signed oil on board , framed framed: 14.5 x 20 inches board: 12 x 17.5 inches provenance: private collection, France condi...