''Study of a Nude'', or ''Suzanne sewing'' is an 1880 painting made by
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...
in Paris. It is currently in the collection of the
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ("ny" means "new" in Danish; "Glyptotek" comes from the Greek root ''glyphein'', to carve, and ''theke'', storing place), commonly known simply as Glyptoteket, is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The collection ...
in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. The painting depicts a young woman who is arranging a garment in undisguised nakedness.
Subject
The painting depicts a young, nude woman who is arranging a garment. The scene is set in a bedroom with the woman sitting on an unmade bed against a mauve wall that is decorated with a
mandolin and a
tapestry
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...
. The body of the model is a three-quarter perspective with the head in profile. He depicts her body realistically, without idealisation. We see a bigger stomach with rolls, and her hands are disproportionately larger.
History
Despite the impact the painting had on the
Impressionist exhibition, Gauguin was unable to sell it. His wife, Mette, refused to hang the painting in their home. However, when Gauguin left his family in Copenhagen, the picture was held by her until it was sold in 1892 to the Danish artist,
Theodor Philipsen
Theodor Esbern Philipsen (10 June 18403 March 1920) was a Danish painter of Jewish ancestry; known for landscapes and animal portraits. He also did small figures in wax and clay.
Biography
Theodor Philipsen was born at Copenhagen to a cultured me ...
.
In 1920, Philipsen donated the work to the
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, and since 1922, it has been in the collection of the
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ("ny" means "new" in Danish; "Glyptotek" comes from the Greek root ''glyphein'', to carve, and ''theke'', storing place), commonly known simply as Glyptoteket, is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The collection ...
.
References
{{Paul Gauguin
1880 paintings
Paintings by Paul Gauguin
Paintings in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
19th-century paintings in Denmark
Nude art
Musical instruments in art