Femme Nue dans un Fauteuil

Inscriptions: Signed (lower right)

Provenance: Paul Jouve collection

Private collection, Palluau-sur-Indre (by descent from the above)

Tajan, Paris, 2 July 2014, lot 3.

Notes: There is in Femme Nue dans un Fauteuil a concept in play first enunciated by Metzinger in 1910: the models face in an interplay of light and shadow is seen both frontally and in profile simultaneously. This is the concept of multiple perspective, whereby the artist captures several aspects of the subject from several successive angles, resulting in a more complete description (the total image). The linear treatment of reflected light on the upper lip, nose, eyebrow and eyelid can be seen in a number of works by Metzinger; notably Nu au Soleil (AM-36-002) of 1935, Musée d’Art moderne de Paris, and Nu à la rose (Jeune femme à la rose) of 1934 (AM-34-005).

The interplay between light and shadow, the embroidered patterns, and the manner in which colores are blended together and brushed onto the surface are consistent with Metzinger’s work following his stay in Tossa de Mar, Spain, in 1933-34. Suzanne Phocas, Metzinger’s second wife and artist herself, was the subject of many works of this period, though it is not known whether she is represented here or not.

The colors of the work itself are reminiscent of the Spanish flag. This may be a spurious observation or resulting from preparatory procedures, bolstering the possibility the work was painted in Spain or shortly after the artists return to France