Theo Meier

This work is in good overall condition as viewed, and the paint layers are healthy overall. There is evidence of very light wear along the edges of the work, due to abrasions with the frame, but this is covered by the frame itself. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals no sign of restoration. Framed.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Theo Meier was an artist who experienced life passionately and expressed his emotions in his artistic repertoire. Works such as Reclining Nude are intimate pieces from his oeuvre and share insight into what he valued and appreciated throughout his lifetime. He traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia, instinctively followed in Gauguin’s footsteps, and reliving that painter’s experiences in a Southeast Asian paradigm. Bali was his first love, and the island featured prominently in many of his paintings. With World War II and the Japanese presence on the island, the artist relocated to Thailand where he lived the remainder of his life. Many of his paintings were destroyed or lost during this period, casualties of the political conflicts and wartime unrest. Curiously, the Balinese paintings largely survived this period. Therefore it is the artist’s works dedicated to Thailand that are scarcer to find, thereby making the present piece a very important work from his oeuvre.

Reclining Nude is a very special piece for it is a portrait of the artist’s third wife Jetli who was from Thailand. She was the artist’s muse during the last part of his life, frequenting many of the paintings created from the sixties and onwards. The couple married in 1964. The present work was painted eight years after their wedding. An individual whose paintings always showed Southeast Asia in a positive light, Theo Meier remained faithful to his adopted home, and it was in his oeuvre where the artist reciprocated the emotions that the region ignited within him. Reclining Nude is a painting that ultimately pays homage to the artist’s time abroad, and is a visual love letter to the woman who was both his inspiration and his wife.