Victor Wehrle Anfruns (19th - Early 20th Century) Study of a Nude Boy .. circa 1900-1930

The low light levels and short days through the winter have taken their toll on an old dude approaching the big 78 but I’m up and at it again! I apologize for the lack of posts lately but life is full of challenges at my age and it takes time to recover from the “Winter Maiden’s” curse of low light. There is so much territory to cover so I would like to start with my very latest acquisition. It is an oils on canvas academic nude study of a boy from the early 20th century by the Spanish artist Victor Wehrle Afruns (Late 19th -Early 20th Century). The seller in Barcelona, Spain has listed a good number of academic nude paintings attributed to the same artist with the usual, somewhat boring, academic poses featured in the majority of academic nude studies but the pose captured in this painting of a nude boy struck my collecting eye as quite unique, one that these old eyes has never seen before. Standing nudes seem to be de rigueur, poses range all over the spectrum, standing, back side, front side, side views, and all those “losers late for class” views which nobody in their right mind would paint and which defy even Michelangelo to make the end product interesting! But a sitting male nude with full access to the most private parts of his sexual anatomy is just so much more inticing, interesting, down right naughty, and unique in the world of academic nude study. Now step back and take a close look at the overall format of this pose. Ask yourself: “Where is the center of gravity in this studio pose?“ (You will be forgiven if his “sex” is your correct answer). The model’s attention is poised on something on the top of his right foot (an imaginary tick?) but the astute viewer’s attention on the real focus of that pose is on that singular classic Greek acroposthion of the young lads penis! It’s right there, it’s in your face, and it’s as natural as the 3.5 million years of evolution that it took to produce it! It’s beautiful in its own right! It’s as natural as sunshine! Now ask yourself: How many times have you seen that pose in an academic nude study? I will wager “not very often” or if you said… “Never,” then I rest my case on why this painting is coming into my collection! Unfortunately there is not very much biographical information on the artist out there but his academic studies speak for themselves! Enjoy. ______________________________________________

___________________ Here are additional works listed for sale:

UPDATE: After a month of addition time which included additional fees for shipping and export licenses the painting finally arrived from the Art Gallery in Spain. When the package hit customs in Orlando, DHL socked me for additional import fees! And the moral of that story is if it has a home in Spain, then leave it there! My original intention was to send it out for restoration but after all the additional fees I am starting to wonder if it is worth the extra expense!