Footnotes

• Provenance:
  Acquired directly from the artist's family.
  
  A master of postwar abstract sculpture, Coulentianos produced powerful works, which, from the outset of his career, were involved with the succession of surfaces and the interpenetration of planes. Influenced by cubism, he relied on fragmentation of form and the expressive potential of volume to ensure the solidity and corporeality of his compositions. He was always concerned to bring out the expressionist content of his works, and although he preferred pure, precise forms he did not aspire to an absolute break with tradition.¹ His materials were metals - bronze, lead, iron and steel - and his initial source of inspiration was the human body, especially the female nude.² In its curvilinear motifs, schematised volumes, fluid forms and vigorous contrasts, Reclining nude, initially conceived in 1946-1947, is akin to the work of Henri Laurens, an innovative early 20th century master and Coulentianos’ teacher in Paris, while its rhythmical relations between solids and voids recall the magnificent monumental nudes of Henry Moore.
  
  ^1. See B. Spiliadi, D. Diamantopoulos, C. Coulentianos, exhibition catalogue, Greek participation in the Venice Biennale, 1982.
  ^2. See C. Christou - M. Koumvakali-Anastasiadi, Modern Greek Sculpture 1800-1940, Commercial Bank of Greece, Athens 1982, pp. 128-129.

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Category: Fine Art / Greek Art

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