Epoly, Crouching Nude in a Dream Landscape, 1992

A dreamlike landscape signed ‘Epoly’ and dated 1992. We have not been able to trace the artist. The flat, outlined forms and symbolic props recall Surrealism and the bold contours of Gauguin.

A nude woman crouches at the lower left, her face hidden against her knees. Before her lie a playing card, the nine of hearts, and a pale sphere. Bare ochre trees with stunted branches rise against blue hills. A crow perches on one, and among them stands a small haloed figure with folded hands.

Watercolour and gouache on paper, signed and dated lower right ‘Epoly 92’. Window-mounted in buff with a fine inner border, in a limed and stained wooden frame. There is a small water stain on the mount at the top right.