Sonia Delaunay, Yellow Nude, 1908, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes
Image courtesy of Tate Modern
The reclining nude has been one of the quintessential motifs in art history that has evolved since Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus c. 1510. Manet’s Olympia marked a key moment in the historic representation of the woman in repose – her gaze is direct to the viewer, and her hand indicates that she is a contemporary woman, nude, for sale. This was shock art c. 1863.
Fast forward 50 years to Sonia Delaunay’s Yellow Nude, dated 1907, just shown (through 9 August) at the Tate Modern as one of a five part series of retrospectives to insert women painters into the narrative of art history. This is long overdue, as Sonia was very much a part of what was created by her husband, Robert Delaunay. Sonia was the one who pushed their creative explorations into a bold new direction using geometric forms and blocks of color to create a theory that they called Simultaneism. She gave up painting, in deference to her husband’s work, which expressed that concept for many years.
Below, we wanted to share a few other reclining nudes we have had the opportunity to handle for our clients.
Pablo Picasso, Reclining Nude, 1966, graphite with oil pastel and black conté crayon on wove paper. Verso: Three Male Figures, Graphite, 10 ½” H x 20”
Image courtesy of Suzanne Lovell, Inc.
Tom Wesselmann, Monica, 1996, Oil on Canvas, 48” x 64”
Tom Wesselmann, effectively with a single line, communicates a humorous and relaxed expression of the everyday. His paintings capture the pleasure to be taken from the abundance of the norm.
Image courtesy of Suzanne Lovell, Inc.
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