{"product_id":"wpa-era-painting-of-nude-woman-reverse-sketches","title":"WPA Era Painting of Nude Woman | Reverse Sketches","description":"\u003cp\u003eHere we have an oil on board that gives you two artworks for the price of one, a finished figure painting on the front and a working artist's sketchbook on the back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe front shows a bare shouldered woman draped in deep blue fabric, seated against dark rocks with a stand of yellow leafed trees rising behind her. The palette leans warm and autumnal, ochres and olive golds against that one cool slash of blue cloth, and whoever painted her clearly knew how to build a face. The modeling around the eyes and mouth has real confidence to it even where the paint has thinned or crackled with age. This reads like academic figure painting of the kind produced in commercial art and illustration circles rather than a purely amateur exercise, and the composition, a reclining odalisque type pose against a woodland backdrop, sits comfortably in that WPA era decorative tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFlip it over and the story gets more interesting. The reverse is worked in white and black chalk with several loose figure studies scattered across the surface, muscular male torsos, an arm raised in a gesture, what might be a figure on horseback sketched in shorthand. These have the quick, exploratory energy of an illustrator working through poses rather than a finished composition, and that is part of what makes this piece worth having. Boards like this often came out of working studios where the back of a panel was simply the next available surface, and the sketches here suggest this one spent time in active use before the front image was ever painted, or alongside it. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe piece came out of a Chicago area estate group, and given the style and handling I'd put my money on illustrator or commercial art school training somewhere in the mix. The piece isn’t signed so we’re dealing with a mystery artist. It was likely created in the 1930s or early 1940s. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe nude oil on board measures 24” x 18”.  Condition wise you are looking at a piece with real age on it. There is visible craquelure across the surface, especially in the darker passages, and some paint loss and thinning consistent with age rather than damage. The verso sketches show scattered wear, smudging, and a few marks and small stains that come with age and handling, but they remain legible and are more compelling for wearing their history openly. Please see all pics as they are part of the description. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI ship FedEx to street addresses in the continental USA only (no PO Boxes). Free shipping on the cool double painting. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the kind of thing that rewards someone who wants both sides of the story, the polished image meant to be seen and the working process never meant for public view.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reverse ghosts will put you over the edge.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mad Van Antiques","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43256090591309,"sku":null,"price":225.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0116\/3637\/5610\/files\/IMG_9773.jpg?v=1784260326","url":"https:\/\/madvanantiques.com\/products\/wpa-era-painting-of-nude-woman-reverse-sketches","provider":"Mad Van Antiques","version":"1.0","type":"link"}