120. "Painter's Figure Study for 'Allegory of Art II'" [1906.]

Vlaho Bukovac (1855 - 1922), as a leading representative of Croatian painting of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, left behind a rich opus that counts more than 1000 portraits, nudes, allegorical, mythological and historical representations, as well as landscapes. In his oeuvre, however, a special place is occupied by preparatory studies, such as the sketch "Dawn dies in the arms of the day" (up to 1889), "Double studies of the male nude" (1897) and "Study of a nude for the painting 'Lotuses'" (1898), which often retain the spontaneity and immediacy of painterly expression that is sometimes lost in Bukovac's final works. An unpublished study of a male figure by the painter is an intriguing addition to this segment of Bukovac's opus, and provides significant insight into his creative processes. From the monochromatic gray background, the figure of a semi-naked man emerges, turning his back to the observer. According to the summarily depicted palette resting in his right hand, we can conclude that the depicted person is a painter caught in the act of creation - hunched and tense, he studiously examines his motif and transfers it to the canvas with almost fanatical devotion. The authenticity and vitality with which Bukovac depicted this male model leads us to conclude that this is a preparatory study made from a live model, for the purpose of executing a larger painting composition. Indeed, if we study Vlaho Bukovac's oeuvre, we find an identically situated figure of a painter in the work "Allegory of Art II (Egyptian)". In this allegorical depiction, also turning his back to the observer, the painter lifts a light purple veil, revealing a group of young Egyptian warriors and archers. Dated to 1897, this allegory provides us with an approximate year of creation for our study, which we should therefore date to the period just before its emergence. In comparison with "Allegory of Art I (Painting)" and "Double Study of the Male Nude", both dating from 1897 and executed in the same painting expression, we recognize the identical devotion of Bukovac to the model in the slightly cramped and tense anatomy of the man's back, as in the study for the figure of the painter. MM

Dimensions

width 44 cm, height 60.5 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed in the middle right, in black, ''Vlaho Bukovac''

Research information

The work is a preparatory study for the figure of a painter in the painting ''Allegory of Art II (Egyptian)'' published in: VERA KRUŽIĆ UCHYTIL, "Vlaho Bukovac: Life and Work, 1855-1922"; Publishing House Globus, Zagreb, 2005, p. 373, cat. no. 521. The comparative work, ''Double Study of a Male Nude'' is published in: VERA KRUŽIĆ UCHYTIL, "Vlaho Bukovac: Life and Work, 1855.-1922."; Publishing House Globus, Zagreb, 2005, p. 374, cat. no. 535.

Dating

1906.

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