Provenance: Private collection, London, UK

ABOUT THE WORK

Tomas Concepcion’s 1974 Nude belies through his composition his European education. “It was here I fell in love with Michelangelo,” he told his great-nephew Albert Samaha. “I thought I would be here for only a short time. But once I was here, I did not want to leave!” Much like the sculptors of statues of the Greek goddesses that have found their home in the historic city, Concepcion does not shy away from depicting the rolls and curves that settle on his women’s hips and thighs. Instead, they are celebrated with the woman staring at the viewer proud and unapologetic as she bares herself for the world to see, a true testament to how Concepcion sees art: evocative, provocative, and exciting. (Hannah Valiente)