Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
to
117
138
101
158
87
71
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
45
98
1,314
1,867
11
24
57
91
46
89
89
168
86
70
14
144
94
75
36
25
22
11
10
2
2
1
356
192
7
444
302
245
159
120
101
95
66
39
16
11
11
9
6
6
4
4
4
3
3
483
392
152
148
75
20
14
14
11
5
272
28
289
264
Period: Mid-20th Century
Mid 20th Century French Charcoal Drawing - Portrait of a Standing Nude Women
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
"The Portrait"
by Geneviève Zondervan (French 1922-2013)
pencil/ charcoal on thick paper, unframed
paper size: 26 x 19 inches
Beautifully decorative, mid 20th century French origin...
Category
Post-Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Charcoal, Oil
Mid 20th Century French Charcoal Drawing - Portrait of a Standing Nude Women
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
"The Portrait"
by Geneviève Zondervan (French 1922-2013)
pencil/ charcoal on thick paper, unframed
paper size: 24.5 x 18.75 inches
Beautifully decorative, mid 20th century French o...
Category
Post-Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Charcoal, Oil
Woman Lying Down on White Cloth - Oil Painting - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Woman Lying Down on White Cloth is an artwork realized by an Italian Artist in mid-20th Century.
Oil on cardboard
24x34 cm.
Good conditions.
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Cardboard
Two Nudes with Still Life
Located in Dallas, TX
Donald Vogel’s paintings reflect his interest in seeking beauty in life and in sharing pleasure with his viewers. Vogel entreats us to "rejoice and celebrate each new day, knowing it...
Category
American Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Mid Century Modernist Portrait of the Artist Joan Brown
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderful mid century modern oil painting of nude oil painting of an artist, possibly Joan Brown (see sample photo image). C. 1950. Condition: Excellent. Un...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Nude Woman Still Life - Pencil Figurative Still Life of Nude Lady by A. Bradbury
Located in Watford, Hertfordshire
Born on the 17th September 1892 in Preston, Lancashire. He specialised in painting portraits, landscapes and marines on oil, watercolour and pastel and was an accomplished etcher and...
Category
Post-Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Charcoal
The lady with large Hat and cameo
Located in Genève, GE
his captivating work, painted in 1948 by E.Chambon, captures the eye with its intense expression and bold color palette. The portrait depicts a woman with dark, curly hair and a larg...
Category
Contemporary Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Cardboard, Oil
2 Sided Expressionist Detroit Modernist Painting Female Nude, Night Cruise Ship
Located in Surfside, FL
This is a two sided painting. Nude reclining woman and a ship lit at night.
Harold Cohn (1908 - 1982)
Harold Cohn was active/lived in New Jersey, Michigan. Harold Cohn is known fo...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Gouache
Act. Double sided. cardboard, oil, 71x45 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Act. Double sided. cardboard, oil, 71x45 cm
Category
Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Cardboard
1950's Mid Century modern oil portrait of a nude woman reading, seated
Located in Woodbury, CT
1950's Mid Century modern oil portrait of a nude woman seated reading in an interior.
The artist was a portrait and figure painter active during t...
Category
Abstract Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
1950's Mid Century modern English oil portrait of a woman seated in an interior
Located in Woodbury, CT
1950's Mid Century modern English oil portrait of a woman seated in an interior
The artist was a portrait and figure painter active during the 1950s-1960s
Great use of color and abstract brush strokes...
Category
Abstract Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Vows Are Spoken Only To Be Broken Circa 1965 The Flip Hairstyle Cornish Nude
Located in Sutton Poyntz, Dorset
Tony Giles.
English ( b.1925 - d.1994 ).
Vows Are Spoken Only To Be Broken.
Oil On Board.
Signed Lower Right.
Image size 39.6 inches x 29.5 inches ( 100.5cm...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
Seated Nude - Paint by Antonio Feltrinelli - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Seated Nude is an artwork realized by Antonio Feltrinelli, in 1930s.
Oil on canvas, 108 x 75 cm.
Provenance: Galleria Pesaro, Milan.
Good conditions!
The nudes and portraits w...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Study, preparatory work for “La Princesse”, watercolor and pencil on paper
Located in PARIS, FR
Raphael DELORME (1886-1962)
Study, preparatory work for “La Princesse”
Watercolor and pencil on paper
Annotated “La Princesse”
30,5 x 22,5 cm
Small folds and small stains
Born in 18...
Category
Art Deco Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Pencil
20th Century Oil on Canvas French Female Nude Painting Signed P. Sieffert, 1930
Located in Vicoforte, IT
Beautiful female nude painting from the first half of the 20th century. Oil on canvas, first canvas, artwork signed P. Sieffert, attributable to the French painter Paul Sieffert (the...
Category
Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Mid Century Multi-Color Abstract Expressionist Figurative
By Honora Berg
Located in Soquel, CA
Exceptional mid century Abstract Expressionist figurative painting from her study with David Park by Honora Berg (American, 1897-1985). Signed lower right "Honora Berg" and on verso. Unframed. Image 36"H x 30"W.
Berg studied at the San Francisco Art Institute with David Park, Elmer Bischoff, and James Budd Dixon. Berg's friend Edith Truesdell...
Category
Abstract Expressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Woman in a Red Hat - Figurative Study Oil on Canvas
Located in Soquel, CA
Woman in a Red Hat - Figurative Study Oil on Canvas
A reclining figure painting by American painter, Patricia Gren Hayes (b. 1932), shows a person in a black dress and a Russian Fez...
Category
American Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Nu Nacré or Nude in Mother of Pearl
Located in Greenwich, CT
This thickly painted and textural work is lush with mother of pearl type colors. It is suggests a nude but plays with the eye in terms of seeing it completely. Few artists could app...
Category
Abstract Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Bay Area Abstract Expressionist Standing Nude from Behind in Oil on Cardboard
By Honora Berg
Located in Soquel, CA
Bay Area Expressionist Standing Nude from Behind in Oil on Cardboard
Standing nude woman from behind by Honora Berg (American, 1897-1985). Bold...
Category
Abstract Expressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Illustration Board
Lillian Delevoryas 1969 Original Nude & Interior Painting
Located in New York, NY
Lillian Delevoryas
Untitled (Nude & Interior), 1969
Oil on board
19 3/4 x 15 1/2 in.
Framed: 24 1/2 x 20 1/2 x 1 1/4 in.
Signed and dated lower righ...
Category
American Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
'Reclining Nude', Art Institute of Chicago, Hans Bellmer, Expressionism
By Hendrik Grise
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right "Grise" and painted circa 1965.
A substantial Expressionist-style figural watercolor of a young woman reclining on a divan.
Grise first studied at the Art Institute of Chicago...
Category
Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Gouache
'Seated Nude', Paris, Louvre, Salon d'Automne, Académie Chaumière, SFAA, LACMA
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Stamped, verso, with estate stamp for Victor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and painted circa 1955.
Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Gesu first attended the Los Angeles Art...
Category
Post-Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil
1950's Mid Century modern English oil portrait, two women in a artists studio
Located in Woodbury, CT
1950's Mid Century modern English oil portrait, two women in an artists studio
The artist was a portrait and figure painter active during the 1950s-1960s
Great use of color and abstract brush strokes...
Category
Abstract Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Veiled Woman - Painting by Antonio Feltrinelli - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Veiled woman is an orignal modern artwork realized by Antonio Feltrinelli in 1930s.
Mixed colored oil painting on canvas.
Not signed.
Antonio Feltrine...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paint, Oil
'Nude by a Mirror', Paris, Louvre, Académie Chaumière, California, LACMA, SFAA
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Painted circa 1955 by Victor di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and stamped verso with Victor Di Gesu Estate stamp.
Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Gesu first attended the Los...
Category
Post-Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil
In the Wood - Oil Paint by Antonio Feltrinelli - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Woman in the wood is an original modern artwork realized by Antonio Feltrinelli in 1930s
Mixed colored oil painting on canvas.
Not signed.
Antonio Feltrinelli (Milan, 1887 – Gargna...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
1960s "Hanging on a Bar" Gouache and Pastel Mid Century Female Nude Painting
Located in Arp, TX
Gloria Dudfield
Hanging on a Bar
1960's
Gouache and Oil Pastel on Paper
17.75"x17"
Gloria (Fischer) Dudfield
July 12, 1922 – May 27, 2015
Came from a ...
Category
American Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil Pastel, Gouache
'Leaving the Garden of Eden', Mid-century American Expressionist, Adam and Eve
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'John T Stephens' (American, 20th century) and painted circa 1965; additionally inscribed, verso, with title, 'Leaving the Garden of Eden' and signed.
Paper dime...
Category
Expressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Gouache, Laid Paper
Mid Century Modern Mother and Baby Playing Figurative - Nude
Located in Soquel, CA
Mid Century Modern Mother and Baby Playing Figurative - Nude
Wonderful small scale ink and acrylic paint of a mother and baby by Dorothea Stevenson Casady (American, 1910 - 2006). Signed lower left corner. Presented in gilt-toned and velvet filet mid-century frame.
Image size: 6"H x 8.25"W
Frame: 9.5"H x 11.25"W x 2.25"D (velvet liner has age toning)
Casady was a painter and muralist and served as Chairman, Oklahoma City University Art Department, 1939-1943; an Art instructor, Classen High School;
Education: University of Oklahoma, B.F.A., 1931; M.F.A., Norman, OK; studied with Emil Bisttram, Taos School of Art and Nan Sheets; Foundation des Etats Unis, Paris, Fance, 1935-1936; New York School of Industrial Arts; studied fresco and egg tempera under Professor Leugi Arcangeti, Florence, Italy, 1937; Oklahoma City University; Julian Academy Paris, France, 1936
Memberships: Oklahoma State Artists Association; Kappa Pi, art fraternity; Delta Delta Delta...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Ink, Acrylic, Cardboard
Nude - Original Watercolour by Jean Delpech - Mid 20th century
By Jean Delpech
Located in Roma, IT
Nude is an original drawing in watercolor, realized in the Mid-20th Century by Jean Delpech (1916-1988).
Good conditions except for consumed margins and some foxings.
Jean-Ray...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
1950s "Orange Nude Lounging" Mid Century Figurative Painting Pratt Graphic Arts
By Donald Stacy
Located in Arp, TX
Donald Stacy
"Orange Nude Lounging"
c.1950s
Oil pastel and gouache paint on paper
23" x 20" framed black gallery wood frame float mount
Unsigned
Came from artist's estate
Donald Stacy (1925-2008) New Jersey
Studied: Newark School of Fine Art
The Art Students League
Pratt Graphic Arts Center
University of Paris 1953-54
University of Aix-en-Provence 1954-55
Faculty: Art Department of the New School
Museum of Modern Art
School of Visual Arts
Stacy Studio Workshop
Exhibitions: Grand Central Moderns
George Wittenborn
The New School
Print Exhibitions, Chicago
University of Oklahoma
Honolulu Museum
Monclair Museum
Wisconsin State College
Louisiana Art...
Category
American Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Gouache, Oil Pastel
Modern Reclining Nude Female Figure
Located in Soquel, CA
Elegant nude by Spanish artist Diaz Cruz (Spanish, 20th Century). This modernist figurative depicts a reclining nude woman from behind. The figure resides in an abstracted minimalist...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Masonite, Oil
American Modernist Oil Painting Gestural Landscape WPA Artist Group of 10
Located in Surfside, FL
Born in 1897, Ben-Zion Weinman celebrated his European Jewish heritage in his visual works as a sculptor, painter, and printmaker. Influenced by Spinoza, Knut Hamsun, and Wladyslaw Reymont, as well as Hebrew literature, Ben-Zion wrote poetry and essays that, like his visual work, attempt to reveal the deep “connection between man and the divine, and between man and earth.”
An emigrant from the Ukraine, he came to the US in 1920. He wrote fairy tales and poems in Hebrew under the name Benzion Weinman, but when he began painting he dropped his last name and hyphenated his first, saying an artist needed only one name.
Ben-Zion was a founding member of “The Ten: An Independent Group” The Ten” a 1930’s avant-garde group, Painted on anything handy. Ben-Zion often used cabinet doors...
Category
Expressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Study, preparatory work for “La Princesse”, watercolor and pencil on paper
Located in PARIS, FR
Raphael DELORME (1886-1962)
Study, preparatory work for “La Princesse”
Watercolor and pencil on paper
Annotated “La Princesse”
30,5 x 22,5 cm
Small folds and small stains
Born in 18...
Category
Art Deco Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Pencil
Monumental Neil Gavin Welliver Painting, 94.5"H
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Artist/Designer; Manufacturer: Neil Gavin Welliver (American, 1929-2005)
Marking(s); notes: signed; 1964
Materials: acrylic and charcoal on canvas
Dimensions (H, W, D): 94.5"h, 78.25...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Charcoal, Acrylic
1962 "Nude with Ball" Original Painting
Located in Arp, TX
Artist: Natasia
"Nude with Ball"
1962
Watercolor, charcoal and ink on paper
22.25"x32.25" unframed
Signed and dated in ink lower right
Category
American Realist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Charcoal, Ink, Watercolor
The beauty of curvature. Paper, mixed media 16x12 cm
Located in Riga, LV
The beauty of curvature. Paper, mixed media 16x12 cm
watercolor and pen on paper
Adolfs Zardins
(1890 08 II Riga, Latvia – 1967 07 II Jurmala, Latvia), painter.
Only in 1990 his rel...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
The Sunburn
By Mildred Green
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original oil on canvas painting by American female artist Mildred Green depicting fellow artist and friend Virginia Cuthbert. This beautiful pain...
Category
Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
'Reclining Nude', San Francisco Woman Artist, Large Post-Impressionist Oil
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Vivian R. Huebler' for Vivian Ruth Lewis Huebler (American, 1890-1975); additionally signed, verso, with artist address and painted circa 1955.
Vivian Huebler...
Category
Post-Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
'Woman Sleeping', Early Paris Post Impressionist Oil, Salon d’Automne, Fauve
By Jais Nielsen
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left 'Jais' for Jais Nielsen (Danish, 1885-1961) and dated "51".
Born in Denmark, Jais Nielsen initially studied at Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler under Kristian Zahrtma...
Category
Post-Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil
Diminutive Mid Century Seated Nude Study - San Francisco Figurative Movement
Located in Soquel, CA
Charming diminutive nude study of a seated figure on raw linen in pastel tones. Signed "Jan" lower right corner. Framing stamp on back from San Francisco. Presented in gilt-toned rus...
Category
Abstract Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Mid Century Modern Vintage Nude Figurative Portrait Oil Painting - Bath Time
Located in Bristol, GB
BATH TIME
Size: 35.5 x 40 cm (including frame)
Oil on canvas
A mid-century modernist style figurative painting that depicts a nude female figure by a bathtub, executed in oil onto c...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Modernist Interior Kneeling Female Nude Figure Bezael Schatz Israeli Painting
By Bezalel Schatz
Located in Surfside, FL
Genre: Israeli
Subject: Abstract
Medium: Oil
Surface: Canvas
Dimensions: 24" x 20"
Bezalel (nicknamed “Lilik”) Schatz was an Israeli artist, son of Boris Schatz, founder of the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem.
Born in 1912 to Boris Schatz, and his wife Olga, an art critic. From an early age, he demonstrated considerable talent for gymnastics and music, but especially for art. He grew up in a home in which artists were a constant presence, he was introduced to Israel’s most prominent leaders, and the first public exhibition of his artwork coincided with his Bar Mitzvah celebration. He attended the Gymnasia in Jerusalem and at age 14 completed his studies at the Bezalel School.
In 1930, Bezalel joined his father on a fundraising tour of Europe and the United States, where they also exhibited their artwork and that of Bezalel students. Following his father’s death in 1932, Bezalel left Israel for a period of about two decades. He spent the first four years studying at the Grand Chaumiere Academy in Paris. There, given the fairly conservative artistic views he had acquired at home and school – where modernism was denounced – he had to pave his own way as an artist among his peers.
Between 1937 and 1951, Bezalel resided in the U.S. Near the end of WWII, he worked in a California shipyard, and it was there he met his future wife, Louise. He was also introduced to the novelist Henry Miller in California, and their friendship blossomed into a creative collaboration. The artist May Ray...
Category
Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
French Impressionist Nude Female Figure Stretching Pencil Sketch
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Nude Figure
by Louise Alix (French, 1888-1980) *see notes below
provenance stamp to the back
pencil drawing on artist paper, unframed
measures: 10 high by 8 inches wide
condition: o...
Category
Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Color Pencil
'Reclining Nude', Fauve Figural, SFAA, Carmel, LACMA, Louvre, Paris
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Painted by Victor di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) circa 1955, and with Di Gesu estate stamp verso.
Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Gesu first attended the Los Angeles Art C...
Category
Post-Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil
Standing Nude, Expressionist Oil Painting on Canvas by Lou Zansky
By Lou Zansky
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lou Zansky (American, 1920-1978)
Title: Standing Nude
Year: circa 1960
Medium: Oil on canvas, signed l.r.
Size: 48 in. x 24 in. (121.92 cm x 60.96 cm)
Category
Abstract Expressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Ewart Johns (1923-2013) - c.1955 Oil, Seated Nude
Located in Corsham, GB
A wonderful mid-century nude study depicting a woman with cropped hair on a cushioned sofa. The artist has used some scraffito to create pattern and texture within the composition. S...
Category
Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
Muscular Gay Men Mardi Gras - Daring Interracial Love Mid-Century - Gay Interest
Located in Miami, FL
The present mid-century work features two taboos in one painting. In 1949, it was verboten to glamorize gay life and even more prohibited to show interracial love. This work by Dan A...
Category
Contemporary Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Masonite
'Seated Nude', California Post-Impressionist, Louvre, LACMA, Académie Chaumière
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Estate stamp, verso, for Victor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and painted circa 1955.
Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Gesu first attended the Los Angeles Art Center and t...
Category
Post-Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil
'Seated Nude', Louvre, Académie Chaumière, LACMA
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
'Seated Nude', Louvre, Académie Chaumière, LACMA
Estate stamp, verso, for Victor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and painted circa 1955.
Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Ge...
Category
Post-Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil
"Red Odalisque" oil cm. 17 x 12 1947 Offer Free Shipping
Located in Torino, IT
red, odalisque,orange,yellow
Giulio DA MILANO (Nizza, 1895 - Torino, 1990)
Giulio Da Milano was a Giacomo Grosso's disciple and he was very close to the artists that used to patronize La Coupole de Montparnasse (from Kisling to Pascin, from Derain to Vlaminck). He is considered one of most representative exponents of the Turin’s artistic scene in the ‘30s-‘40s, close to the Gruppo dei Sei. His works can be found in the following museums:
Turin, Modern Art Gallery...
Category
Expressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Wood Panel
Mid 20th Century Oil - Caught in Motion
Located in Corsham, GB
A high level of energy and motion has been masterfully caught in this expressive study of the human figure. Enhanced with sgraffito detail. Unsigned. On board.
Category
Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
A Large, Dynamic Mid-Century Modern Painting of a Chicago Night Club Showgirl
Located in Chicago, IL
A Large, Dynamic Mid-Century Modern Painting of a Chicago Night Club Showgirl by Noted Artist, Rudolph T. Pen (Am. 1918 - 1989). Painted in the 1960s, this is a large, vertical, abs...
Category
American Modern Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Wood Panel
Nude, Playboy-era Oil Painting by LeRoy Neiman
By LeRoy Neiman
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: LeRoy Neiman, American (1921 - 2012)
Title: Nude
Year: 1960
Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed and dated l.r.
Size: 8 x 11.5 inches
Frame: 16 x 19.5 inches
Category
American Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
Sitting naked
Located in Genève, GE
Work on wood
Black wooden frame
77 x 55 x 2 cm
Category
Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
Abstract Mid-Century Style Painting 'Discovering Beefcake 1965 #1' Nude Male Gay
Located in Glenford, NY
In the Mid-Century Modern style of the 1960s, artist Gregory Cary recalls discovering "Beefcake" male nude photography when he was thirteen years old via male model magazines which h...
Category
Abstract Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Photographic Paper
Helen - Mid 20th Century Pencil Figurative Nude Lady by Arthur Royce Bradbury
Located in Watford, Hertfordshire
Born on the 17th September 1892 in Preston, Lancashire. He specialised in painting portraits, landscapes and marines on oil, watercolour and pastel and was an accomplished etcher and...
Category
Post-Impressionist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Charcoal
Small Nude / - Abstract Figurativity -
Located in Berlin, DE
Gustl Stark (1917 Mainz - 2009 ibid.), Small Nude, 1946. Oil on canvas, marouflaged, 54 x 25 cm (picture), 30 x 60 cm (frame), signed "Stark" top left, verso twice signed "Gustav Stark", inscribed by hand as "Small Nude" and dated by hand "1946". With label of the exhibition of the Bundeshaus Bonn from 1956.
- Rubbed area in the lower third of the body, at the same level a retouch in the ochre background. I provisional frame.
- Abstract Figurativity -
About the artwork
During the war, Gustl Stark suffered a particularly severe blow for an artist: he lost his right arm. Nevertheless, he continued to devote himself to art, and the painting, created in 1946, immediately after the end of the Nazi reign of terror, testifies to the dawn of a new era. At the same time, the work is a rare example of the artist's early figurative work, as Stark turned entirely to abstract painting as early as 1950. And even this painting is by no means purely figurative; rather, it already illustrates Stark's turn toward abstraction.
We see a female nude, but one that remains faceless. This can be read symbolically and in relation to the immediate past epoch, which, in the face of horrors, silences and blinds - literally renders faceless. In this sense, the figure is positioned to 'look back'. But she does not look. While this meaning may resonate and make the painting an important work of the immediate postwar period, Gustl Stark is primarily concerned with something else here, namely art itself. The absence of the face leads to the body becoming something flat. Due to the de-individualization, we do not see a concrete person with his individual features, but a body surface. And indeed, the body is constructed through an extremely planar design. Even the contour lines that form the corporeality have a planar rather than a linear character, especially where they merge into shadow zones of almost the same color. And the surfaces themselves are not modeled. The incarnate parts do not show any plastic gradations; the corporeality is completely withdrawn into the plane, which is also true for the hair. In addition, there is no uniform background against which the figure could appear; rather, the area next to the hair is kept bluish, creating a succession of earth-toned colored areas, which again binds the figure to the surface.
Last but not least, the flatness is also forced by the painting technique. Gustl Stark paints directly, a la prima, onto the coarse canvas, whereby the structure of the painting support remains visible in the picture, and in places - around the hair, for example - the canvas itself can be seen. This structural all-over lends the picture a certain flatness.
Gustl Stark thus uses the very motif that stands for the corporeality of art par excellence - the female nude - to transform the spatiality of the traditional picture into a flatness characteristic of modern art. And yet, a strong impression of corporeality is created, without being produced by a painterly modeling of the body. The oscillation between flatness and corporeality creates the intense tension of this groundbreaking painting.
In Gustl Stark's oeuvre, as a consequence of the abstraction we see here, the figurative is completely stripped away in a further step, which is also a loss when looking at this early key work.
About the artist
Gustl Stark was the son of a woodcarver and, after an apprenticeship as a decorative painter, attended the State School of Arts and Crafts in Mainz from 1936 to 1937. Although he was severely wounded in the war and lost his right arm, he studied at the Würzburg School of Painting and Drawing from 1943-1944 and then at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg from 1944-1948.
He won a state scholarship at the state art competition in Bad Ischl. Numerous study trips to Sylt, Paris, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Holland and Belgium followed.
Gustl Stark worked in Mainz and was the first artist there to focus on abstract painting. His work quickly gained international recognition, including the Salon Réaliés Nouvelles in Paris.
From 1963-1970 he taught at the State University Institute for Art and Work Education in Mainz and from 1970-1975 at the Johannes Gutenberg University. Gustl Stark became particularly famous for his color embossed prints, for which he invented his own technique.
Gustl Stark received numerous awards for his work. He received the Art Prize for Painting of the City of Mainz in 1962, the State Prize of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1984, and the Gutenberg Bust of the City of Mainz in 1987.
Selected Bibliography
Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler des XX. Jahrhunderts, Vierter Band, Leipzig 1958, S. 344.
Hans H...
Category
Realist Mid-20th Century Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas