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RICHARD BRUCE NUGENT (1906 - 1987)
The Model
.
Oil on canvas board, circa 1950-55. 762x552 mm; 30x21
3
/
4
inches. Signed
in oil, lower right.
Provenance: the estate of BurtonWeiss, Berkeley, CA.
We believe this postwar oil painting is the first work by Harlem Renaissance
artist and writer Bruce Nugent to come to auction. Its surreal quality
appears inspired by the European painters Francis Picabia or Pavel
Tchelitchew. Nugent was an openly gay writer and artist best known for
his literary work during the 1920s and 30s - he was one of the organizers
of the 1926 literary journal
Fire!!
. He also painted an illustration for the
cover of
Opportunity
in March of 1926. His visual art of the period were
largely works on paper, provocative figurative drawings with themes of
biblical narratives, eroticism and dance. Sims p. 73.
[12,000/18,000]