Standing Female Nude 1923

Curator: Welcome. Before us is Edvard Weie's "Standing Female Nude," an oil on canvas from 1923, currently held at the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. Editor: Well, it strikes me as a very raw depiction, almost unfinished, yet strangely powerful. The colors are muted but create an undeniable energy. Curator: Precisely. Weie's Expressionist style shines through in the loose brushstrokes and the distortion of form. The planes of color dissect the figure, fragmenting her into geometric shapes. Observe the interplay between the ochre background and the cool blues and greens used to model her form. Editor: And those thick daubs of paint! It really emphasizes the physical act of creation, doesn't it? You can practically feel the artist's hand moving across the canvas. It makes you think about where Weie was painting, how the room influenced the work...I also note that canvas looks heavily primed with oil paint which had to take ages to prepare. Curator: Absolutely, the materiality of the paint is critical. Weie was deeply invested in the structural elements of painting – line, color, and composition – and used them to explore the possibilities of representation. His underpainting is fairly noticeable too, that’s a lot of building! Consider the spatial arrangement. The nude is set against what seems to be a deliberately ambiguous interior setting with only the basics present: her easel, the set of colours of the background. Editor: I appreciate your perspective, but seeing the supplies within this painting of the artist reminds me of their struggle. They were ostracized, facing great economic constraints. Did that also shape their decision-making when it came to paint and how lavish to be with those supplies? What even are the exact pigments that make up those thick swirls? Curator: His life experiences undeniably influenced his artistic practice. However, here, I am most intrigued by the construction of the figure. Weie is not striving for realism but for a psychological exploration of form and presence, how even muted tonality communicates its form and depth, particularly around the left-most breast and upper abdominal area. Editor: I still see the studio—the reality—shaping everything here. It is just so palpable to think of Weie here trying to challenge norms of sexuality. Ultimately, what resonates with me is how he managed to challenge not just how painting had been, but that his choices really convey such palpable meaning, from pigments to priming choices to applying brush strokes to suggest skin-on-bone. Curator: A vital contribution! I feel you brought me much closer to Weie today. Editor: Thanks to you, as well, I understand much more about formalism and Weie’s unique place within that canon.