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Lot Essay
The gaze of the artist has typically led to the idealized women’s bodies painted by men. Somaya is reconfiguring the Black female nude.Alayo Akinkugbe(quoted by E. Steer, “’There Is a Desire to Shift the Gaze:’ Meet the Artists Reimaging Old Master Paintings to Challenge the Narrative of the Western Canon”, online [accessed: 4/24/2026]).
Somaya Critchlow stands at the forefront of a new generation of artists who reengage with Old Master painting to reaffirm the relevance of figuration today. Drawing on techniques associated with figures such as Leonardo da Vinci and Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, Critchlow reworks the visual language of the Western canon to interrogate long-standing power dynamics embedded within it. Historically, the female nude has been shaped by the male gaze, producing idealized and often passive representations of women. As art historian Alayo Akinkugbe observes, “the gaze of the artist has typically led to the idealized women’s bodies painted by men… Somaya is reconfiguring the Black female nude.” (quoted by E. Steer, “’There Is a Desire to Shift the Gaze:’ Meet the Artists Reimaging Old Master Paintings to Challenge the Narrative of the Western Canon”, online [accessed: 4/24/2026]). Critchlow’s work challenges this tradition by granting her subjects a sense of autonomy and psychological presence that has often been denied them.
In Count Me Out, one of Critchlow’s most recognizable paintings, an evocative female nude is partially subsumed within the shadow of a dimly lit interior. The composition is defined by a striking contrast. The left side of the figure is illuminated by soft light from a nearby window, while the right side recedes into darkness. This interplay of light and shadow heightens the emotional intensity of the work and suggests an inner tension between visibility and concealment. Employing the technique of sfumato, subtle gradations of tone and color that soften edges and create a hazy atmosphere, Critchlow evokes the sensuous ambiguity associated with Renaissance painting while situating the scene within a more contemporary, almost cinematic setting reminiscent of a 1960s boudoir. Rather than presenting the nude as an object for passive viewing, Critchlow imbues her subject with agency; the figure appears self-possessed, asserting control over her own sexuality and presence.
Critchlow’s engagement with art history is both reverential and critical. Count Me Out, first exhibited in Afternoon’s Darkness at Maximillian William in London in 2022, reflects the wide range of her influences, from the haunting psychological intensity of Edvard Munch to the surreal, cinematic language of David Lynch. Her work can also be considered alongside contemporary artists such as Marlene Dumas and Cindy Sherman, who similarly interrogate representations of the female body and identity. Yet Critchlow resists framing her work as overtly political. Instead, she describes her practice as “investigative,” emphasizing a process of exploration rather than direct revisionism. “I’m not trying to go back in time and insert myself,” she explains. “I love the canon and I hate the canon. I’m just here in this period of time taking from the past, as we all do, and seeing what I can do with it.” (quoted in A. Akinkugbe, “Somaya Critchlow, the Artist Reconfiguring the Black Female Nude,” in AnOther, October 7, 2022, online [accessed: 4/24/2026]).
This tension between admiration and critique, tradition and reinvention lie at the heart of Critchlow’s practice. By appropriating and transforming the techniques of the past, she opens new possibilities for representation within the present. In doing so, she not only reclaims the image of the Black female nude but also reshapes the terms through which art history itself can be understood.
Somaya Critchlow stands at the forefront of a new generation of artists who reengage with Old Master painting to reaffirm the relevance of figuration today. Drawing on techniques associated with figures such as Leonardo da Vinci and Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, Critchlow reworks the visual language of the Western canon to interrogate long-standing power dynamics embedded within it. Historically, the female nude has been shaped by the male gaze, producing idealized and often passive representations of women. As art historian Alayo Akinkugbe observes, “the gaze of the artist has typically led to the idealized women’s bodies painted by men… Somaya is reconfiguring the Black female nude.” (quoted by E. Steer, “’There Is a Desire to Shift the Gaze:’ Meet the Artists Reimaging Old Master Paintings to Challenge the Narrative of the Western Canon”, online [accessed: 4/24/2026]). Critchlow’s work challenges this tradition by granting her subjects a sense of autonomy and psychological presence that has often been denied them.
In Count Me Out, one of Critchlow’s most recognizable paintings, an evocative female nude is partially subsumed within the shadow of a dimly lit interior. The composition is defined by a striking contrast. The left side of the figure is illuminated by soft light from a nearby window, while the right side recedes into darkness. This interplay of light and shadow heightens the emotional intensity of the work and suggests an inner tension between visibility and concealment. Employing the technique of sfumato, subtle gradations of tone and color that soften edges and create a hazy atmosphere, Critchlow evokes the sensuous ambiguity associated with Renaissance painting while situating the scene within a more contemporary, almost cinematic setting reminiscent of a 1960s boudoir. Rather than presenting the nude as an object for passive viewing, Critchlow imbues her subject with agency; the figure appears self-possessed, asserting control over her own sexuality and presence.
Critchlow’s engagement with art history is both reverential and critical. Count Me Out, first exhibited in Afternoon’s Darkness at Maximillian William in London in 2022, reflects the wide range of her influences, from the haunting psychological intensity of Edvard Munch to the surreal, cinematic language of David Lynch. Her work can also be considered alongside contemporary artists such as Marlene Dumas and Cindy Sherman, who similarly interrogate representations of the female body and identity. Yet Critchlow resists framing her work as overtly political. Instead, she describes her practice as “investigative,” emphasizing a process of exploration rather than direct revisionism. “I’m not trying to go back in time and insert myself,” she explains. “I love the canon and I hate the canon. I’m just here in this period of time taking from the past, as we all do, and seeing what I can do with it.” (quoted in A. Akinkugbe, “Somaya Critchlow, the Artist Reconfiguring the Black Female Nude,” in AnOther, October 7, 2022, online [accessed: 4/24/2026]).
This tension between admiration and critique, tradition and reinvention lie at the heart of Critchlow’s practice. By appropriating and transforming the techniques of the past, she opens new possibilities for representation within the present. In doing so, she not only reclaims the image of the Black female nude but also reshapes the terms through which art history itself can be understood.