Nonda - 1950's Postwar Paris

1950's Postwar Paris

“Paris, Pigalle, Place Blanche, Place du Tertre- that’s where my life is!” With these words in a letter home, Nonda conveyed his love for the city of Paris which expressed itself in his work through vibrant and sensual images of Montmartre and the street life of Paris in those years. He began producing freer, Expressionist works that reflected his turbulent life as well as his deepening confidence as an artist. His accidental discovery of the interesting use of blood and charcoal as a medium for painting also began in this decade. These merged into a different period of highly textured painting that is often described as “fresco-like”. He was ceaselessly experimental with different mediums in his art, using oils, powders wood and sand sand, as well as numerous invented combinations. This was the beginning of a deep and long-lasting interest in varied surfaces and ways of manipulating, combining or treating paints with other mediums. Nonda moved on to introduce images of powerful “Amazonian” women which contrasted the delicate “Parisiennes”. A significant number of these images depicted “woman and bull”, the erotic metamorphosis between humans and animals, a link to ancient art and myth as well as a series inspired by Africa.