The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Study of a Reclining Nude

Study of a Reclining Nude

c. 1841
(French, 1813/15–1875)
Unframed: 72.5 x 92 cm (28 9/16 x 36 1/4 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

The languorous, sensuous pose of this woman is strongly reminiscent of Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres's popular paintings of odalisques, female slaves, and concubines in Turkish harems. Much of this canvas has been left thinly painted or entirely blank, suggesting that it was a figural study rather than a finished work of art. The French Academy in the 1800s viewed the depiction of the nude as the ultimate measure of an artist's skill. Because models changed poses frequently, students had to work quickly and without embellishment. Here the artist completed only those areas needed to emphasize the contours of the model's body.
  • M. Zamaron, Paris. Bought from him by Mrs. Cornelius Sullivan, New York, before 1938. Bought by Leonard C. Hanna Jr. as gift for CMA on 8 February 1939.
  • Detroit Institute of Arts. The Two Sides of the Medal; French Painting from Gérôme to Gauguin. 1954. Referenced: cat. no. 21, p. 21, Reproduced: p.20
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 491 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 169 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 169 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 204 archive.org
    Johnson, Mark M. Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980. Referenced: p. 76Reproduced: p. fig. 95, p. 76
    Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 488-491, Vol. II, no. 170
  • Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 19-March 23, 1980).
    French Nineteenth Century Oil Sketches: David to Degas. Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, Chapel Hill, NC (organizer) (March 5-April 30, 1978).
    Chapel Hill, William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center, University of North Carolina. French Nineteenth Century Oil Sketches: David to Degas (1978), no. 16 (repr.) (as anonymous).
    Art in the Making. Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME (organizer) (July 14-September 25, 1966).
    Waterville, Maine, Colby College Art Museum. Art in the Making (1966), 10 (as Couture).
    Man: Glory, Jest, and Riddle: A Survey of Human From Through the Ages. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA (organizer) (November 10, 1964-January 3, 1965).
    San Francisco, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. Man, Glory, Jest, and Riddle: A Survey of the Human Form through the Ages (1964-65), no. 161 (as Couture).
    Baron Gros, Painter of Battles: The First Romantic Painter. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 8-April 15, 1956).
    New York, Wildenstein. Nude in Painting (1956), no. 22 (repr.) (as Couture).
    Two Sides of the Medal: French Painting from Gérôme to Gauguin. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (organizer) (September 28-November 6, 1954).
    Hartford, Wadsworth Atheneum. The Nude in Art (1946), no. 14 (as Couture).
    19th and 20th Century French Art and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Loans. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 1, 1943).
    French Drawings and Watercolors from French Public and Private Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 6-February 15, 1942).
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
    San Francisco, Palace of Fine Arts. Golden Gate International Exposition (1940), no. 255 (repr.) (as Thomas Couture).
  • {{cite web|title=Study of a Reclining Nude|url=false|author=Isidore Pils|year=c. 1841|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1939.63