Untitled (Nude – head & shoulders diagonal), c1930s/ later printing

Signed in pencil lower right on the image, with authenticity stamp and pencil title stamped, titled, and signed by Rex Dupain verso.

Provenance
Dupain Estate
Rex Dupain, the artist’s son Private collection, Sydney

Image size: 29.2 × 21 cm

Framed size: 51 x 41 cm

Literature
This work is catalogued in the Art Gallery of New South Wales collection as part of Portfolio No. 4 The female form, a portfolio of nudes produced in the 1930s.

Sister Artwork
Art Gallery of New South Wales collection, gifted by Edron Pty Ltd in 1995 through the auspices of Alistair McAlpine.

This early nude study demonstrates Dupain’s interest in the human form, a subject that would occupy him throughout his career. The composition is typical of his 1930s studio work, focusing on abstraction, tonal contrast and sculptural form. The diagonal placement of the figure creates dynamic tension within the frame, reflecting the influence of European modernism on Dupain’s practice during this period. As Robert McFarlane observed, “Flesh and stone were the two great influences on Max Dupain’s vision. From his earliest photographs, he strove to transform the naked human body into something resembling the marble forms of antiquity.”