Sahara Longe - 20th Century to Now London Friday, June 30, 2023 | Phillips

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  • Lydia Figes, ‘Seven Questions With Sahara Longe’

     

    Lydia: Your painting Three Graces appropriates the mythological tale that has been depicted by many artists throughout the centuries, from Botticelli to Raphael. But why select this subject matter?

     

    Sahara: The subject matter of the Three Graces is all about idealised beauty – so I wanted to see my own version. I began by looking at the Rubens Three Graces and then used photographs of friends and my mother for the faces. The female nude is the most beautiful and satisfying thing to paint. There is something incredibly rhythmic about creating the female form – from painting curves and being more fluid with your brushwork, to capturing the texture of skin, which I finished with a shiny glaze. While painting all three female figures together I was thinking about the harmony of the curves and overall composition. I personally find painting the male nude less satisfying – it's somehow less poetic.i

     

     

    i Lydia Figes, ‘Seven Questions with Sahara Longe’, Art UK, 28 October 2021, online.

    • Provenance

      Ed Cross Fine Art, London
      Acquired from the above by the present owner

    • Literature

      Lydia Figes, 'Seven Questions with Sahara Longe', Art UK, 28 October 2021, online (illustrated)

1

Three Graces

signed 'LONGE' lower right
oil on jute
240 x 175.3 cm (94 1/2 x 69 in.)
Painted in 2021.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
£15,000 - 20,000 ‡♠

Sold for £40,640

Contact Specialist

Leonor de Osma
Head of Sale, 20th Century to Now
T +44 20 7901 7912
M +44 7584 086 052
ldeosma@phillips.com

20th Century to Now

London Auction 30 June 2023