Wilhelm Gimmi | circa 1930
Graphite pencil on paper | 34 x 26.9 cm
Parisian period (1908-1940)
Nude
Inventory 34_GIM-0605 | Wilhelm Gimmi Foundation
Photo: Julien Gremaud, Vevey
Artistic features
Subject:
Sometimes Gimmi also draws directly for a painting. The sketches thus created are preparatory works that are part of the creative process of a work, revealing the different stages of its conception.
...] Most of the time, in fact, he makes modifications, even after a stage that may seem definitive [the leg of the painting is folded back, while it is stretched out on the sketch].
Laurence Rippstein, Exhibition catalogue p. 52-53
Composition:
The chair is well anchored in the foreground, framing the nude. This ensemble stands out against a background whose restricted perspective is not very engaging, although one can see an exit to the right.
The position of the nude, slightly spiralling from the hips to the head, is accentuated by the angle of the arms, which reinforces its rotation, as if this figure were attracted by an element outside this place.
Medium:
The nervous and cursive writing of these first sketches symbolizes the moment of conception with its most inventive, bubbling and spontaneous content.
Laurence Rippstein, Exhibition catalogue p. 52
Background
Period:
From the 1930s onwards, Gimmi tended to represent its models as a bust or as a foot. The figures remain identifiable, but the artist's primary interest lies in the pose and attitude, which he renders with the utmost naturalness.
Laurence Rippstein, Exhibition catalogue p. 57
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