Joaquín Sunyer Sitges 1874-1956

Rafael Benet, Sunyer, Barcelona, 1975, p. 226, catalogued; p. 124, no. 231, illustrated

The warm colouring, interior setting, and rhythmic, tranquil pose of the nude in the present work reflects Sunyer's debt as much to French as to Spanish painting of the period. A student at the School of Fine Art in Barcelona together with Nonell, Mir, Canals, and Torres García, Sunyer travelled to Paris in 1896. The influence of leading artists of the day, such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Daumier, Cézanne and Gauguin is present in his work. However, the tonalities and languid pose of the nude in the present work suggest the influence of Degas, Bonnard and most of all Matisse.