Lisa Yuskavage

Yvonne Force, Inc., New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above in May 2007

This work is in very good condition overall. There is evidence of light wear and handling around the edges corners with some fine and stable craquelure around the edges. Under Ultraviolet light inspection there is an unobtrusive 1/4 inch accretion on the lower edge of the figure's bottom, which is also visible under raking light. Framed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Lisa Yuskavage reinvigorates the nature of painting and reinstates a concern for the manner in which the canvas is approached beyond its planar limitation. She does so by painting highly sexualized and fantastically positioned and proportioned women in various states of undress, sexual excitement, and exhibition. The early work of 1994, Big Blonde Squatting, presents such a figure in one of her most immediate and wildly beguiling images. The lush fleshiness of her form glows and pulsates from within, a seemingly true being in this fabricated reality whose light falls away just so revealing the tantalizing touch of shadow across her behind. 

Yuskavage's ability to illustrate alternate realities using forms and features which are understandable to a live viewer is both mesmerizing and disorienting, a fact made all the more so by the masterful treatment of the paint and canvas itself. This singular form allows the viewer to begin constructing various dystopian narratives that only serve to heighten the immediate and visceral impact of the work.  Despite the overwhelming scale, the attitude and position of the form attends a sort of intimacy that is pervasive in Yuskavage's work and which becomes as important a tool as either brush or paint in rendering a response in the viewer.  The perversion of the form into something alien and yet still relatable transforms what could be an erotic, if slightly vulgar, depiction of a voluptuous nude into a disturbing allegory for the manner in which we approach the sexual in our true reality.