Γυναικείο Γυμνό

000019 Yannis Mitarakis, Female Nude, 1954, oil on canvas, 84.5 × 68.5 cm

The painting depicts a seated nude young woman, who holds a white fabric over herself, covering one breast, her abdomen, and the upper part of her pelvis. From the way her legs are bent, she appears to be sitting on a divan, while resting her back against a dark blue-green cloth hanging on the wall behind her. The vague interior suggests the space is the artist’s studio, and the figure is likely a model (possibly the same young woman depicted in the painting Girl—000017). This is not a portrait of someone close to the artist, but rather a study of the human body within the studio setting. The work is carefully executed. A strong but simplified drawing outlines the nude body as the primary focus. Minimal attention is given to details, particularly those of the surrounding environment. What concerns the artist is the use of colour and the rendering of volumes. He works with subtle transitions from light to shadow, harmoniously combining the warm tones of the skin with the cool, shaded areas, and carefully constructs the figure both as a physical body and as an object in space. To emphasize the nude, dark and cool tones have been used for the surrounding elements (divan, curtain). Mitarakis had engaged systematically with the nude during the 1920s and 1930s. Around 1950, he returned to the subject and produced several related works—a decision that has been linked to his unsuccessful attempts to secure the Chair of Painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts in 1947 and again in 1955–56.