Mark Gertler,  Nude, 1930;

Lot description

Mark Gertler, British 1891-1939 - Nude, 1930; pencil on paper, signed and dated upper right 'Mark Gertler 30', 52 x 39.5 cm Provenance: Sotheby’s, 20th Century British & Irish Art, London, 1st March 2007, lot 27; Private Collection Note: the present work possibly depicts Antoinette Dennis, the sister of one of Gertler's principal models in the 1930s, Celia Dennis. The work features a checquered hat that appears during this period; the drawings 'Woman with Musical Instrument, 1926' and 'Reclining Nude, 1930', and the oil 'The Japanese Violin, 1926'. Mark Gertler was one of the most important British artists of the early 20th century, who developed a unique and easily recognisable style that defied clear categorisation, shaped by a number of different movements and approaches, including Post-Impressionism and eastern European folk art. Mark Gertler was encouraged to join the Slade School of Art in 1908 by the prominent Jewish artist William Rothenstein, where he studied alongside Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer, Edward Wadsworth and C.R.W. Nevinson, among others. In the early 1920s Gertler travelled to Paris, where he encountered the work of the Parisian avant-garde. The influence of this trip can be perceived in the soft, rounded form of this female nude, which recalls the classical style adopted by Picasso at the time, as well as the later nudes of Renoir. With thanks to Sarah MacDougall author of the biography of the artist ‘Mark Gertler’ for her assistance with the cataloguing of this work.