Robert Medley 1905-1994
Study for A Crucifixion, c.1992
Pencil and water colour on paper
23 x 30.5 cms
9 x 12 ins
9 x 12 ins
Signed and numbered beneath the image
14725
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Study for a large painting in the Tate, purchased in 1994. A Crucifixion 1992 - 93. Around the age of eighty Medley began a series of paintings which focused on...
Study for a large painting in the Tate, purchased in 1994. A Crucifixion 1992 - 93.
Around the age of eighty Medley began a series of paintings which focused on groups of naked or semi-naked male bodies, painted in a subdued palette of silvery, greeny colours. These late works were inspired by the twin forces of old age and war. This painting began as a composition in which semi-naked men were exercising in a gymnasium, and the figure at the top was inspired by a diver jumping on a springboard. Friends, seeing the work in progress, commented on how this figure reminded them of a crucified person and Medley then took up this theme. It is not the Crucifixion and it presents the subject in a general rather than a particular way.
Around the age of eighty Medley began a series of paintings which focused on groups of naked or semi-naked male bodies, painted in a subdued palette of silvery, greeny colours. These late works were inspired by the twin forces of old age and war. This painting began as a composition in which semi-naked men were exercising in a gymnasium, and the figure at the top was inspired by a diver jumping on a springboard. Friends, seeing the work in progress, commented on how this figure reminded them of a crucified person and Medley then took up this theme. It is not the Crucifixion and it presents the subject in a general rather than a particular way.