NATHAN OLIVEIRA (1928-2010) Young Girl signed, inscribed and dated 'Oliveira MR 62' (lower right) oil on canvas 80 x 66 1/2 in (203.2 x 168.9 cm) Painted in 1962 Footnotes: Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Phillip S. Haacke, Scottsdale. Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in October 1985. Exhibited Los Angeles, University of California, Los Angeles, The UCLA Art Galleries, Nathan Oliveira, 1963-64 (exh. cat., illustrated pl. 48) (later traveled to San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Art; Fort Worth, Fort Worth Art Center; Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center). Literature Don Factor, 'Nathan Oliveira. U.C.L.A. Art Galleries', Artforum, November 1963, Vol. 2, No. 5, p. 11. The human figure remained at the center of Nathan Oliveira's practice for more than five decades. Inspired early on by the paintings of Rembrandt, Oliveira was drawn not to conventional portraiture or likeness, but to the ability of paint to evoke a palpable human presence. Working at the intersection of figuration and Abstract Expressionism, he embraced the freedom of gesture while maintaining the figure as an essential point of reference. As the artist explained, 'The gesture must be correct. If the gesture is correct, your mind really creates the reality of the figure, and it is not necessary to hang on all the rest.' Executed in 1962, Young Girl was painted at an important moment in Oliveira's early career. He had received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1958 and the following year, was the youngest painter included in the Museum of Modern Art's landmark exhibition New Images of Man, alongside artists including Francis Bacon, Alberto Giacometti and Richard Diebenkorn. By 1962, Oliveira was gaining recognition well beyond the Bay Area, and the following year the University of California, Los Angeles presented a survey of five years of his paintings and works on paper. A quintessential example, Young Girl balances gesture and atmosphere in an evocative composition that marks a culmination in Oliveira's practice. A solitary figure stands within an expansive field of saturated crimson; sumptuous impasto swirls around the contours of the figure, differentiating her slender form which is dramatically offset by the monumental scale of the composition. The intensity of the red ground and Oliveira's vigorous handling of the surface transform the surrounding space into something expressive rather than descriptive. Oliveira returned repeatedly to the singular human form, often placing his figures within vast and ambiguous fields of color. The relationship between figure, gesture and space is heightened by this painting's exceptional scale, resulting in a commanding example of Oliveira's work at a formative moment in his career. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W W Lot is oversized or otherwise such that it must be collected from our designated warehouse. Please refer to the Offsite Sold Property Storage section of the Buyer's Guide for details. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing