Description

Modigliani’s celebrated series of reclining nudes began in 1916. It was influenced by Italian Renaissance representations of Venus and other idealized female figures. In this painting the model’s stylized, outlined body, seen close-up and from above, spans the entire canvas; her hands and feet disappear outside the frame and her creamy skin glows against the dark red bed or couch. Modigliani provocatively presents his Reclining Nude without any such context, highlighting the painting’s eroticism.