01 work, The Art Of The Nude, Wlastimil Hofman's Female Nude on the Ladder, #243

Wlastimil Hofman (1881 - 1970)

Rabuś and Maciuś/ Female Nude on the Ladder, c. 1925

Oil on canvas

198 x 98 cm

Private collection

Sold for  for 52,550.86 US$ in March 2022

The naked woman shown on the ladder in a cheeky gesture places a small, defenseless kitten under the dog's nose. Which one is Robber and which one is Maciuś? It's hard to say today. The ladder itself in the art of symbolism carried many hidden meanings in its structure. It seems that in spite of the painter's passion to reveal hidden meanings and allegories, here we are dealing with a relatively trivial, anecdotal situation. More on this painting

Wlastimil Hofman (27 April 1881 – 6 March 1970) was born in Prague. In 1889 Vlastimil's family moved to Kraków in Polandl. In 1896, he became a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, where he studied under.

In 1899 he went to study painting in Paris. In 1902 he had his first showings in an exhibition by the "Sztuka" society. Further exhibitions followed in Munich, Amsterdam, Rome, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, and Warsaw. In 1907 he was the first Polish painter to be made a member of the Gallery of the Vienna Secession. When his professor, Jacek Malczewski, was appointed the Rector of the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts in 1912, Hofman obtained a teaching post there.

In September 1939 Hofman fled from the Nazi invasion. He managed to avoid Soviet captivity, though in Pomorzany he witnessed Polish soldiers being deported to camps inside Soviet Russia. He reportedly "showed the Polish POWs a lot of compassion and tirelessly painted their portraits on small pieces of cardboard. The portraits were then to be sent to their families." 

Hofman returned to Kraków in June 1946. In the period 1953–1963 he produced religious paintings for the local church, including "Four Evangelists", "The Way of the Rosary", "The Way of the Cross", "The Adoration of the Child". He also produced many portraits of local people, sports figures - especially footballers from his favourite Wisła Kraków team - and also self-portraits. In 1961, he was awarded the Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Wlastimil Hofman died on 6 March 1970. More on Wlastimil Hofman

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints, 365 Days, and Biblical Icons, also visit my Boards on Pinterest and my art stores at  deviantart and Aaroko

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02 works, The Art Of The Nude, Julian Wasser's Marcel Duchamp playing chess with Eve Babitz, #242

A contact sheet from Julian Wasser’s shoot with Eve Babitz and Marcel Duchamp on October 12, 1963, at California’s Pasadena Art Museum (now the Norton Simon Museum), which was hosting the French artist’s first retrospective.

After exchanging her blouse and skirt for a smock, Babitz sat at the chessboard in the center of the room. She waited for Duchamp to appear, Wasser to set up. She chain-smoked, tried to fend off the panicked thoughts swarming her like bees (More on this photograph)

Julian Wasser, American, b. 1938

Marcel Duchamp playing chess with Eve Babitz, c. 1964

Gelatin silver print

Image: 14.5 x 22 in. (36.83 x 55.88 cm.)

Private collection

Estimate for $500 - $700 in June 2019

Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, as one of the three artists who helped to define the revolutionary developments in the plastic arts in the opening decades of the 20th century, responsible for significant developments in painting and sculpture. More on Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp

Eve Babitz (May 13, 1943 – December 17, 2021) was an American visual artist and author best known for her semi-fictionalized memoirs and her relationship to the cultural milieu of Los Angeles.

In 1963, her first brush with notoriety came through Julian Wasser's iconic photograph of a nude, 20-year-old Babitz playing chess with the artist Marcel Duchamp (See below) on the occasion of his landmark retrospective at the Pasadena Art Museum. The show was curated by Walter Hopps, with whom Babitz was having an affair at the time. The photograph is described by the Smithsonian Archives of American Art as being "among the key documentary images of American modern art". More on Eve Babitz

Julian Wasser began his career in photography in the 1950s as a teenager shooting crime scenes in Washington D.C., which he sold to The Washington Post. While working as a copy boy at the Washington bureau of the Associated Press he met Weegee and rode around with the legendary and unflinching press photographer. After university and military service Wasser settled in Hollywood and became a contract photographer for Time, Life and People Magazine. Like his mentor, Wasser has the knack for being in the right place at the right time, and his images possess a graphic bold punch. His photographs from 60s Los Angeles capture a seminal period in the L.A. art scene, groundbreaking musicians and nightclubs, the transition from classical to New Hollywood, and a volatile political and civil rights era. More on Julian Wasser

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints, 365 Days, and Biblical Icons, also visit my Boards on Pinterest and my art stores at  deviantart and Aaroko

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.