Jesús Fructuoso Contreras (Aguascalientes 1866 - 1902 Mexico City), Circa 1889

MacConnal Mason, London;

From whom acquired by Aso O. Tavitian, 25 October 2005.

This elegant nude was carved by the Mexican artist Jesús Fructuoso Contreras, who was active in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. The graceful figure draws attention to her nudity by gently touching one breast and opening her right arm to the viewer, exposing her torso. The thin cloth draped around her arm is carved with a fluidity and movement that accentuates her sensuality. Another version of this composition is in the Museo Andrés Blaisten in Mexico City.

Contreras trained at Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico, before moving to Paris, where he earned a medal in the 1889 Exposition Universelle. On returning to Mexico City, he was commissioned to complete a number of public monuments. Noteworthy among these is the series of twenty statues of distinguished figures from Mexican history, placed along the Paseo de la Reforma. Despite the high demands of his monumental projects, Contreras also produced smaller sculptures and decorative objects suited to reproduction; in doing so, he successfully mastered the modern art of sculptor-entrepreneur.

RELATED LITERATURE

E. Bénézit, Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs, Gründ 1999, vol. iii, p. 846