Provenance: Private Collection, Manila
While academic principles advocated the setting of models in poses similar to those of the study of antiquity, striking heroic or noble attitudes, artists such as Alcuaz drew the human figure in a more natural and relaxed poses. In the last century, a greater naturalism began to encroach upon all sectors of art. Especially in Europe. Alcuaz stayed in Spain for a lengthy part of his life. In these sensitive studies of nudes, he adopts a soft, drawing style that accentuates the naturalness of the subject. The solidly constructed forms of the women, their strongly conceived placement in space and her subtly outlined physical features speak to us of a laid back dynamism.
The flowing contours and few colors of the pink nude were the principal components, and all of the three models may have sat beside the hotel windows, draperies and all, where he held his painting sessions. The bold presence of the curtains and the walls of the room reinforces the strength of the subjects.