Female Nude
1902. Oil on canvas.Not on display
The nude young woman sits on a white cloth with which she covers her lap. The artist paints her in profile and avoids showing her face. This is one of many nude studies made by this artist, and it may well be the most lauded of them all. Several of its characteristic aspects have been praised for their exquisite mastery, including the rich palette —especially the greens, which vary rhythmically— the softness of the model´s skin, her hair, and the diaphanous light that bathes her, falling placidly onto her torso and arms. The lyricism with which this painting is conceived led some critics to see it as a depiction of a muse sitting in the woods. This work was presented at the National Exhibition of 1912 along with thirty-three other paintings. The group received the medal of honor and was immediately acquired for the Museum of Modern Art.