Zara Muse British , 1970
39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in
Untitled II is a large-format female portrait in profile, acrylic on dibond (an aluminium composite panel), 100 x 100 cm. The painting is built around light. Strong yellow falls directly across the face, brow, nose, jaw and neck, pulling the figure forward out of a deep teal ground, so that the head seems almost to generate its own warmth. The hair is dark and loosely handled, long pulls of charcoal and slate that sweep back and downward. The garment at the shoulder breaks into patches of gold, amber, rust and white, the marks wider and faster than anywhere else on the canvas.
The handling is looser here than in much of Muse's recent work. Where some of Muse's portraits are assembled plane by plane, here the knife moves with more freedom. The teal background is scraped and layered rather than settled. The hair is not described so much as suggested. The face alone is given sustained attention, and the light on it does the rest.
This work has been sold. To enquire about similar available works by Zara Muse, contact Eclectic Gallery, Fitzrovia, London.
