Nude Lying on a Couch

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

In May 1897 Toulouse-Lautrec moved to a new studio in northern Paris, which he hung with straw mats and furnished with a blue couch. This picture, painted just after the move, appears to be either a technical study of a reclining female figure or a workaday scene of a model posing in an artist's studio. The subject looks out beyond the left side of the composition with an impassive expression, making no eye contact with the viewer nor, presumably, with the artist. Toulouse-Lautrec, who favored redheaded models, contrasts the flaming color of her hair with the deep, cool tones of the couch.

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