Seated Nude 1957 by Douglas MacDiarmid

Douglas MacDiarmid has always been transfixed by the beauty of the human form and has often returned to glorious bodies and figurative paintings throughout his long career.

This sun-kissed nude dates from his early French days, when he had decided to live permanently in Europe to dedicate his life to paint. At the time Seated Nude was painted in 1957, he was living in Paris, and spending summers on the Atlantic coast at Le Pyla.

MacDiarmid was starting to establish a following in the notoriously difficult Parisian art market, exhibiting regularly and selling his work through popular galleries on Montmartre hill.

As an expatriate New Zealander, his work had a certain exotic appeal…it didn’t resemble the work of French artists, and therein lies his point of difference.

About Catawiki

Seated Nude 1957 is being offered for sale from Switzerland on Catawiki, the world’s largest online special objects and collectables auction sites.

Catawiki takes the authenticity of its offerings very seriously, and only accepted it for their International Modern Art catalogue after contacting the MacDiarmid Arts Trust for confirmation that this was indeed one of Douglas’ works. In this day of anything goes, it’s very encouraging to know the attention they pay to validating its auction lots.

Catawiki auctions are active for a week; this painting was passed in last month (March 2018) at about AUD$460, having failed to reach the reserve, and is being reoffered.

Their catalogue notes the oil is in very good condition and includes a gold-plated frame (framed size 45.5 x 35 cm). It is being traded by a Zurich gallery for a Swizz private collector.

Catawiki’s art experts have estimated it should fetch AUD$980-1230 and noted it would cost about $73.56 to freight the painting to Australia. Like other online auctions, you have to register with Catawiki (it’s free) before tagging categories of interest or placing bids.

Want to know more about a painting by Douglas MacDiarmid from your collection? Contact us and we’ll see what we can find out.

Curious to see a fake MacDiarmid artwork? Take a look at this collage.