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Lot Essay
Painted in 1968, the subject matter of Nude with Books is unusual for Caulfield as the main focus of the painting is a human figure. Although human habitation is often suggested in Caulfield's work, he rarely included a human figure, particularly one taking such centre stage. Marco Livingstone comments on this absence of people in Caulfield's paintings, 'There are many signs of activity in Caulfield's interiors, such as the switching on of lights or the setting of a tablecloth, and the choice of scale and point of view leads us as viewers to insert ourselves into the picture as the protagonists for whom drama has been created. Figures, however, rarely are depicted within the paintings themselves' (op. cit., p. 75).
As a figure is the main focus in the present work this leads the viewer to have a different experience of Caulfield's work. Instead of imagining oneself within the setting that Caulfield creates, as the viewer might find themselves doing when viewing Sun Lounge, 1975 (sold in these rooms, 9 June 2006, lot 155, for £512,000, a world record auction price), the viewer is confronted by a female figure looking directly at them. Although this subject matter is rare in Caulfield's work, figures do appear and, during 1968, Caulfield painted a comparable work to Nude with Books. In Italian Girl, 1968 (National Museum of Wales) (fig. 1), Caulfield has painted a central figure in similar mauve and pink colour tones as he has used in Nude with Books and, again, Caulfield has included no background details or context for the figure and she takes centre stage, looking straight out of the canvas.
In both works the girls tilt their heads slightly to one side and their look is deliberately ambiguous. It could be read as seductive, inviting the viewer to look at them, or perhaps it is challenging, underlining the voyeuristic pleasure that a spectator takes in looking at a painting of a naked woman. Is it coyness or confidence? This uncertainty casts an uneasiness over the work which, along with other questions that the viewer might ask regarding the books that the girl holds but does not appear to be reading, Caulfield typically does not clarify but leaves us guessing. However, the uneasiness that this tension creates is itself an illusion, as the girl is purely paint on canvas, a point reinforced by the flat colour planes that Caulfield has used.
As a figure is the main focus in the present work this leads the viewer to have a different experience of Caulfield's work. Instead of imagining oneself within the setting that Caulfield creates, as the viewer might find themselves doing when viewing Sun Lounge, 1975 (sold in these rooms, 9 June 2006, lot 155, for £512,000, a world record auction price), the viewer is confronted by a female figure looking directly at them. Although this subject matter is rare in Caulfield's work, figures do appear and, during 1968, Caulfield painted a comparable work to Nude with Books. In Italian Girl, 1968 (National Museum of Wales) (fig. 1), Caulfield has painted a central figure in similar mauve and pink colour tones as he has used in Nude with Books and, again, Caulfield has included no background details or context for the figure and she takes centre stage, looking straight out of the canvas.
In both works the girls tilt their heads slightly to one side and their look is deliberately ambiguous. It could be read as seductive, inviting the viewer to look at them, or perhaps it is challenging, underlining the voyeuristic pleasure that a spectator takes in looking at a painting of a naked woman. Is it coyness or confidence? This uncertainty casts an uneasiness over the work which, along with other questions that the viewer might ask regarding the books that the girl holds but does not appear to be reading, Caulfield typically does not clarify but leaves us guessing. However, the uneasiness that this tension creates is itself an illusion, as the girl is purely paint on canvas, a point reinforced by the flat colour planes that Caulfield has used.