Nude 1976

Here we see ‘Nude’ by Nikos Nikolaou, made with tempera paint on canvas. Nikolaou uses an age-old painting technique to capture a thoroughly modern subject. Tempera, an emulsion of pigment, water and egg yolk, was the dominant medium for panel paintings before the rise of oil paint. If you look closely, you can see how the material influences the form of the painting, with a delicate, chalky texture and slightly matte surface. The canvas is completely covered in paint, in simple muted colors with defined forms. The artist draws the model with a thin contour line that barely contains the painted areas and merges with the background color. There is nothing superfluous, the result of a labor that is not displayed through grand gestures or expressive brushstrokes. Nikolaou's conscious decision to use tempera, a material that predates capitalism, asks us to consider the value of traditional craft skills in a modern world that increasingly emphasizes industrial modes of production. Recognizing the process-oriented nature of this artwork challenges assumptions about artistic labor and prompts us to reconsider distinctions between high art and craft.