Lot Essay
Steer’s Nude was one of the centre-pieces of the New English Art Club Spring Exhibition in 1902. In an otherwise gloomy show, it was, according to one critic, ‘cheerfully sketched’, combining ‘the vigour of Rubens with the palette of Romney’. Now in his forties, Steer’s spontaneity was undiminished and here he provides a vivacious counterpoint to Orpen’s sombre English Nude, 1900 (Mildura Arts Centre, Australia).
KMc.
KMc.