- 15
EUAN UGLOW | Nude with White Towel
Estimate
120,000 - 180,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Euan Uglow
- Nude with White Towel
- signed and inscribed on a label on the reverse of the frame
- oil on canvas
- 103 by 93cm.; 40½ by 36½in.
- Executed in 1963-4.
Provenance
The Artist
Mrs S. Wilson-Young, 1990
Browse & Darby, London, where acquired by the present owner, circa 1997
Mrs S. Wilson-Young, 1990
Browse & Darby, London, where acquired by the present owner, circa 1997
Exhibited
London, Camden Arts Centre, From Life: English Art and the Model Today, 5th - 28th January 1968, cat. no.35;
Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery, Body & Soul, Peter Moores Liverpool Project 3, 23rd October 1975 - 4th January 1976, cat. no.9 (as Girl with White Cloth);
London, Theo Waddington, Helen Lessore: Artist and Art Dealer, 16th November - 20th December 1994, cat. no.62;
London, Browse & Darby, Euan Uglow, 30th April - 31st May 1997 (ex. cat).
Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery, Body & Soul, Peter Moores Liverpool Project 3, 23rd October 1975 - 4th January 1976, cat. no.9 (as Girl with White Cloth);
London, Theo Waddington, Helen Lessore: Artist and Art Dealer, 16th November - 20th December 1994, cat. no.62;
London, Browse & Darby, Euan Uglow, 30th April - 31st May 1997 (ex. cat).
Literature
Julie Seddon Jones, 'A Visit to the Artist's Studio', Themes and Development in the Work of Euan Uglow, unpublished MA thesis, University of Sussex, 1985;
Catherine Lampert, Euan Uglow, The Complete Paintings, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2007, cat. no.213, p.92, illustrated.
Catherine Lampert, Euan Uglow, The Complete Paintings, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2007, cat. no.213, p.92, illustrated.
Condition
The canvas is original. There are a number of pinholes through the canvas, and some areas where the paint has been scraped away; these are in keeping with the Artist's working methods and intentions. There is an area of fine lines of craquelure in the lower left corner, only visible upon extremely close inspection, and some further scattered instances elsewhere. There is some surface dirt and studio matter and a layer of varnish. This excepting the work appears to be in excellent overall condition. Inspection under ultra violet light reveals fluorescence in keeping with the Artist's working methods. The work is held within a wooden frame. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
'I am not a still life painter. I am not a portrait painter. I am not a painter of nudes. I am just a painter.' (Euan Uglow, quoted in Richard Kendall, 'Euan Uglow: Still Life Paintings', Euan Uglow: Ideas 1951-1991, exh. cat., Browse & Darby, unpaginated.) We are grateful to Catherine Lampert for her kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.
With carefully structured figures, composed within a framework of reference points, the appearance of Uglow's works is that they are exact representations. As such, it would be easy to infer that his paintings are a forensic study into the physiognomy and character of his sitters. However, in his own words: ‘I’m painting an idea not an ideal. Basically I’m trying to paint a structured painting full of controlled, and therefore potent, emotion. I won’t let chance be there unless it’s challenged.’ (Euan Uglow, quoted in ‘Snatches of Conversation’ with Andrew Lambirth, Euan Uglow, exh. cat., Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 1989, p.59). His remarkable diligence and focus are not, therefore, an examination of an individual but a type. Without being cold, they are undoubtedly calculated and enable the work to become fully detached from the sitter’s feminine and personal identity and become a study of the human form. The female nude is a visual theme that has invariably been returned to for its titillating connotations, however, Uglow has developed his manner of presentation to a level beyond petty voyeurism, achieved directly through the precision and dispassion of the sitter.
The influence of Italian Renaissance painting on Uglow’s work is well documented and immediately obvious in the present work. Drawing quite directly from luminaries such as Masaccio and Piero della Francesca the almost architectural organisation of space and the solidity imbues the figures with grandeur and gravitas. He was utterly guided by the careful geometric systems and their balanced compositions, implementing these processes. In 1953 Uglow won a Prix de Rome travel scholarship, which enabled him to visit Italy, and to study the Renaissance masters that so inspired him. 'Precedents for portraits abounded in his beloved Quattrocento Italy, where needle-sharp focus and austere design characterised the likenesses of mighty rulers and individuals whose identities have been lost. Among them are Piero della Francesca’s iconic profiles of Federigo da Montefeltro and his wife…in which uncanny stillness is suggestive of timeless, and exceptional detail from foreground to distance speaks of sustained attention to the visible world.' (Richard Kendall, ‘Uglow at Work: The Formative Years’, in Catherine Lampert, Euan Uglow, The Complete Paintings, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2007, p.xxvi)
Most immediately, the present work is unusual within Uglow’s oeuvre as the sitter is not face-on to the viewer. The slouched back is accentuated, a feature which seems to be out of step with the solidity and comportment of many of Uglow’s other figures, such Miss Venne, 1967 (Private Collection). This in some ways provides a gentler interaction between viewer and sitter, suffusing the work with a more contemplative, spiritual quality. By breaking the direct interaction between sitter and viewer, the viewer is permitted to approach with less immediacy, and the work encourages a more measured communication with the figure. Furthermore, the rich flesh tones, and mandarin and powdered grey walls working together to enhance this mood, applied with a cultured lightness of touch. In many ways, the lack of rigid symmetry in this work also makes the composition much more human, and less an investigation into the 'type', which Uglow most frequently negotiates.
With carefully structured figures, composed within a framework of reference points, the appearance of Uglow's works is that they are exact representations. As such, it would be easy to infer that his paintings are a forensic study into the physiognomy and character of his sitters. However, in his own words: ‘I’m painting an idea not an ideal. Basically I’m trying to paint a structured painting full of controlled, and therefore potent, emotion. I won’t let chance be there unless it’s challenged.’ (Euan Uglow, quoted in ‘Snatches of Conversation’ with Andrew Lambirth, Euan Uglow, exh. cat., Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 1989, p.59). His remarkable diligence and focus are not, therefore, an examination of an individual but a type. Without being cold, they are undoubtedly calculated and enable the work to become fully detached from the sitter’s feminine and personal identity and become a study of the human form. The female nude is a visual theme that has invariably been returned to for its titillating connotations, however, Uglow has developed his manner of presentation to a level beyond petty voyeurism, achieved directly through the precision and dispassion of the sitter.
The influence of Italian Renaissance painting on Uglow’s work is well documented and immediately obvious in the present work. Drawing quite directly from luminaries such as Masaccio and Piero della Francesca the almost architectural organisation of space and the solidity imbues the figures with grandeur and gravitas. He was utterly guided by the careful geometric systems and their balanced compositions, implementing these processes. In 1953 Uglow won a Prix de Rome travel scholarship, which enabled him to visit Italy, and to study the Renaissance masters that so inspired him. 'Precedents for portraits abounded in his beloved Quattrocento Italy, where needle-sharp focus and austere design characterised the likenesses of mighty rulers and individuals whose identities have been lost. Among them are Piero della Francesca’s iconic profiles of Federigo da Montefeltro and his wife…in which uncanny stillness is suggestive of timeless, and exceptional detail from foreground to distance speaks of sustained attention to the visible world.' (Richard Kendall, ‘Uglow at Work: The Formative Years’, in Catherine Lampert, Euan Uglow, The Complete Paintings, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2007, p.xxvi)
Most immediately, the present work is unusual within Uglow’s oeuvre as the sitter is not face-on to the viewer. The slouched back is accentuated, a feature which seems to be out of step with the solidity and comportment of many of Uglow’s other figures, such Miss Venne, 1967 (Private Collection). This in some ways provides a gentler interaction between viewer and sitter, suffusing the work with a more contemplative, spiritual quality. By breaking the direct interaction between sitter and viewer, the viewer is permitted to approach with less immediacy, and the work encourages a more measured communication with the figure. Furthermore, the rich flesh tones, and mandarin and powdered grey walls working together to enhance this mood, applied with a cultured lightness of touch. In many ways, the lack of rigid symmetry in this work also makes the composition much more human, and less an investigation into the 'type', which Uglow most frequently negotiates.