Three Women (Nudes)

In Greek mythology, the Charites (Ancient Greek: Χάριτες), singular Charis (Χάρις), also called the Graces, are goddesses who personify beauty and grace. According to Hesiod (Ancient Greek: Ἡσίοδος, ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer), the Charites were Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, who were the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, the daughter of Oceanus. However in other accounts, their names, number and parentage varied. In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae. Hesiod has Aglaea as the wife of Hephaestus, and in the Iliad Hera promises to give a Charis named Pasithea to Hypnos as bride. Otherwise they have little independent mythology, usually described as attending various gods and goddesses, especially Aphrodite.

In Roman and later art, the three Charites are generally depicted nude in an interlaced group, but during the Archaic and Classical periods of Greece, they were typically depicted as fully clothed, and in a line, with dance poses.

The earliest representation of these goddesses was found in a temple of Apollo in Thermos, Greece, dated to the seventh to sixth century BCE. Another early representation of the Charites, from a relief (which marked the entrance to the old city) at the Paros colony of Thasos, Greece, dated to the beginning of the fifth century BCE, shows the Charites with Hermes and either Aphrodite or Peitho.

One of the earliest known Roman representations of the Graces was a wall painting in Boscoreale, dated to 40 BCE, which also depicted Aphrodite with Eros and Dionysus with Ariadne. The Graces were also common subject matter on Roman sarcophagi, as well as being depicted on several mirrors.

Kenneth Clark (1903 - 1983, The Right Honourable The Lord Clark, OM CH KCB FBA, British art historian, museum director and broadcaster whose expertise covered a wide range of artists and periods, but is particularly associated with Italian Renaissance art) writes that ‘For some reason the nakedness of the Graces was free from moral opprobium, and in consequence they furnished the subject through which pagan beauty was first allowed to appear in the 15th century’. Indeed, a large marble Graeco-Roman group, which was a key model in the Renaissance (when it was in the Piccolomini Library), is preserved and now displayed in Siena Cathedral.

The Charites are depicted, together with several other mythological figures, in Sandro Botticelli’s (c. 1445 - 1510) paintingPrimavera. (late 1470s or early 1480s, tempera on panel, 202 x 314 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy). Raphael (1483 - 1520) also pictured them in a small panting (c. 1503 - 1505, oil on panel, 17.1 x 17.1 cm) now in the Musée Condé, Chantilly, France and Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640) in a painting (1630 - 1635, oil on oak panel, 221 x 181 cm) in Museo del Prado, Madrid (the painting was held in the personal collection of the artist until his death, then purchased by king Philip IV of Spain and in 1666 it went to the Royal Alcazar of Madrid, before being moved to the Prado).

Among other artistic depictions, they are the subject of famous sculptures by Antonio Canova (1757 – 1822, Italian Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists, his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the classical revival) and Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770 – 1844, Danish-Icelandic sculptor of international fame, who spent most of his life, 1797–1838, in Italy). The vast majority use a variant of the closed group pose.

More recent artists, of international standing, who have been inspired by the ancient theme of the Three Graces are Paul Cézanne (1839 - 1906) and Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973). Alina Cohen MFA (Los Angeles-based American writer, copywriter and editor) writes (‘The Three Graces Have Inspired Centuries of Artists, from Botticelli to Picasso’, Artsy, 25 April 2019):

Creative freedom and originality can begin with old tropes. Working from age-old stories, artists make readymade subject matter distinctly their own. Such is the case for millennia of artists who have rendered the Three Graces in their work. Towering figures from Sandro Botticelli to Pablo Picasso have proven the timelessness of the gorgeous triumvirate, which they’ve interpreted in their own unique styles. In many ways, the Graces are an ideal aesthetic subject. According to classical lore, the group of minor goddesses—part of Aphrodite’s retinue—consists of Euphrosyne (joy), Thalia (bloom), and Aglaia (elegance or brightness). Together, they personify grace, beauty, and charm. While their attractiveness and rich symbolism make them easy artistic targets, the mythological characters also come in that most magical number—three. Visual harmony is nearly built into their likeness. Taking these three glamorous figures as a starting point, artists are already at an advantage to create a pleasing, balanced composition—a perennial goal across cultures and modalities. […] During the Modernist period —itself a kind of 20th-century Renaissance—artists again adopted the Three Graces as a subject. In 1923, Picasso painted them in grisaille, or grayscale. Scholars believe that his Three Graces inspired his 1925 Cubist canvas, The Three Dancers. In other words, working with an ancient trope probably enhanced his ability to construct a thoroughly modern composition.

Picasso’s 1923 painting (mentioned above) is of great interest in this context. Ragnhild Keyser was a student of Roger Bissière (1886 - 1964) and André Lhote (1885 - 1962) at Académie Ranson in the early 1920s and Fernand Léger (1881 - 1955) at Académie Moderne (1924 - 1926). She became inspired by Cubism and was influenced by Lhote and Léger. Maybe she also, during these crucial years, saw Picasso’s painting which, in that case, could have inspired her to produce her own version of the theme, based on the teachings of Lhote. However, as pointed out by Norwegian art historian Steinar Gjessing ( Norsk kunstnerleksikon, I-IV, 1982-1986), Keyser’s composition may also, mainly, be inspired by Lhote:

At the beginning of the 1920s, K. painted a number of compositions in which landscapes, houses and trees were transformed in a semi-cubist manner into a solid architectural whole (Cahors 1922). Several of the works are beautifully, if somewhat hesitantly, executed in a restrained colour scheme dominated by earthy brown, grey and olive green. Some smaller figure compositions from 1922-23 show the influence of her teacher André Lhote. In part, these are copies of his works.

Signed on reverse: ’Ragnhild’.
Probably executed in the early to mid 1920s

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