Married Life (La Vie conjugale)
1913
Oil on canvas
119.4 × 151.1 cm (47 × 59.5 in)
SEE IT IN PERSON
● On view now — Collection Gallery, Room 22, North Wall
Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia · verified July 2026
Discussion
FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG
In the cubism of La Fresnaye, objects from the natural world are translated into stylized forms; here, for example, fingers take on the same shape as a pile of books. Painted in 1913, this work seems to sum up the standard gender roles assigned to men and women in traditional representation. With a newspaper open on his lap, the fully clothed man participates in the realm of culture and intellect, while the woman, her naked body in dreamy repose, is all physical sensuality.
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