Diamantis Diamandopoulos Greek, 1914-1995

Sale: Sotheby's, London, 18 October 2001, lot 71

Athens, Cultural Centre ORA, Diamantis, Diamandopoulos Works of 1978-1980, 17-19 November 1980, no. 46

In Seated Woman, the abstraction of the woman portrayed, and in particular the simplification of her face with its exaggerated eyes, heightens the emotive force, while at the same time imbuing the composition with mystery. She appears lost in thoughts, meeting the viewer with an intense and enigmatic stare, mirrored by the portrait of the Greek soldier in the background. While she appears serious, concentrated and intense, the soldier balances the psychological tension within the composition through his dashing moustache fashioned in the form of a smile. A portrait within a portrait, the composition of the present work plays with ambiguity and ambivalence.