1970's
SPLEEN
From the 1950’s onward, the use of ox blood was to be a major component in both large and small scale canvases. He actually painted numerous early works on his hands and knees in the all night meat and fish markets of Les Halles, the former central market in Paris. Nonda used blood, charcoal and oil for smaller works on paper in the 50’s when materials were scarce, and explored the medium further in large compositions such as “Par la Fin” in the 1960’s. In the 70’s he completed his striking “Spleen” or ‘Sanguine” series which were the culmination of his experiments with this medium. While Nonda never painted the series with Baudelaire in mind specifically, there is certainly an interesting link between the dark tones of both poet and painter. As he himself was to explain, the dark hues of the blood, as well as the roughness, suited his temperament. In 1959, Jean Paul Crespelle writes in a feature story for the France-Soir newspaper, “Just as Picasso had his rose period and his blue period, so Nonda will be remembered for his period of spleen