18 - Martha Leonor (20th century) | French

Martha Leonor (20th century) | French Le Chignon défait (Market Women), c. 1980's Oil on Canvas Signed: Signed ‘Martha Leonor’ (lower right); titled ‘Le Chignon défait’ and numbered ‘No 20’ on the reverse. Dimensions: Framed: 45 × 45 cm | 17.7 × 17.7 in Artwork: 40 × 40 cm | 15.7 × 15.7 in Provenance: Marc Labarbe, Toulouse, auction (label on the reverse). Acquired in France. Private Collection, Spain. Condition: Oil on canvas, unlined, on its original stretcher. The paint layer is stable and clean; a few small spots of surface dust in the lower part. Presented in a plain white wooden frame. Please contact us to request a detailed Condition Report. Conditions of Sale: All lots are sold as is, in the condition described. The condition summary is given as a courtesy; a full condition report is available on request before the sale. Attributions are governed by our Terms and Conditions. All enquiries must be made before bidding; no further information can be provided after the sale. By placing a bid you confirm that you have read and accept our Terms and Conditions in full, as set out in the terms of this sale. Shipping: Aurora & Athena coordinates professional, insured shipping for every purchase through vetted logistics partners: packing, transport, insurance and the export paperwork are arranged on the buyer's behalf and charged at the provider's cost. Buyers are equally welcome to collect in Barcelona or to appoint a carrier of their own. Lots are released once the total purchase price has been received. For shipments outside the EU an export licence may be required and Spanish export duties may apply to certain higher-value works; these are the buyer's responsibility. No export tax applies within the EU. Full shipping and export information is available on request. -- A market crowd seen through a haze of colour: women in shawls and long skirts sit and stand among their bundles and baskets, their faces turned towards us, while in the foreground a woman in a white dress and a pale headscarf walks away with her hair, the ‘chignon défait’ of the title, coming loose at the nape. The figures are drawn in loose, scratchy strokes over broad patches of ochre, rose and blue, and the whole square canvas glows like a sunlit textile. The dress and the bundles suggest a Latin American market, Andean or Mexican, and the handling, oil applied thinly and dryly almost like pastel, gives the scene the look of a memory rather than a report. Titled and numbered by the artist on the reverse.