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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.

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Details

  • Title: Study of a Reclining Nude
  • Creator: Isidore Pils (French, 1813/15-1875)
  • Date Created: c. 1841
  • Physical Dimensions: Unframed: 72.5 x 92 cm (28 9/16 x 36 1/4 in.)
  • Provenance: 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.
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1939.63
  • Medium: oil on fabric
  • Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
  • Culture: France, 19th century
  • Credit Line: Gift of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.
  • Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
  • Accession Number: 1939.63

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