Collection's title

Man resting man, 1941

Man resting man, 1941
Man resting man, 1941
Artist
Hatzikyriakos-Ghika Nikos
(Athens 1906 – Athens 1994)
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Υλικό
Tempera on cardboard
Dimensions
70X50
Source
Courtesy of the Hatzikyriakos-Ghika Gallery - Benaki Museum
Description
Man Resting, a work of 1941, is a composition of aesthetic views, both of those which Hadzikyriakos-Ghikas came to know through his contact with the works of Matisse and Picasso in Paris, and of his personal positions on the contemplation of the past from the viewpoint of the present. The man who is resting languorously on his arm is shown in an interior, standing out against a surface which is filled with the rich decoration of the background. In this work, the artists distances himself from the Cubist approach to the analysis of the subject on to a multiplicity of planes. On the contrary, he consciously adopts a holistic composition of the figure, which he renders simply and naturally, as it is the simple truth which it expresses, the basic meaning, which is of interest to him. Monumental, with an Oriental apathy, it takes up the whole magnitude of the work. With the uncertain perspective and the robust attack of the light-coloured tone on the dark background of paint, this painting goes back both to Byzantine memories and to the primitive references of modern painters.