970 - Monogrammist IL, woman in a deck chair against a cloudy sky, monogrammed and dated 1986

Monogrammist IL, woman in a deck chair against a cloudy sky, monogrammed and dated 1986 Mixed media on canvas, monogrammed “IL” and dated “(19)86” lower right. A woman leans far back in a deck chair, her head turned upwards in profile, the lips picked out in red, the hair dark brown. She wears black clothing and a veil. Behind her stands a pale blue sky with white and blue moving banks of cloud, in the lower part of the picture the light struts of the deck chair cross. Good condition. Image 32 x 40 cm (HxW), mount, behind glass, framed, overall size 57.5 x 67 cm (HxW) The picture shows a woman in a deck chair beneath a wide cloudy sky, a motif of 20th-century leisure culture. The deck chair was originally a chair for passengers on liners and cruise ships, which its English name still recalls; with its folding wooden frame and covering of canvas or linen it became a seat and lounger for beach, garden and terrace. The fixed beach or sun lounger serves the same purpose, resting and sunbathing in the open air. As a painted scene of everyday life, the figure picture dated 1986 stands in the tradition of genre painting, here with the summery theme of rest outdoors.