Kleoniki Aspriotou

Sale: Sotheby's, London, 8 February 1989, lot 113
Private Collection, Poland

Kleoniki Asprioti is one of the very few female Greek nineteenth-century painters. A pupil of Jules Joseph Lefebre in Paris, works such as the present work showcase her talent, while showing the tutelage of her mentor as well as the influence of other leading French pompier painters of the time, such as Cabanel and Bougereau. The present work, whilst a classical academic nude, can be seen as a celebration of feminine beauty, of form, and of the rhythm of colour.