European School, ca. 1920.

European School, ca. 1920.
“Cubist Nude”
Oil on canvas.
Provenance: PBA Collection (Pierre Bergé & Associés), Paris.
Measurements: 102 x 71 cm.

This painting from the 1920s depicts a reclining female nude, rendered in a style clearly influenced by Cubism. The figure is constructed from bold volumes, angular planes, and a marked geometric abstraction of the anatomy, particularly visible in the face, arms, torso, and legs. The composition eschews the naturalistic sensuality of the academic nude to offer a monumental, structured image with a powerful visual presence.

The body is integrated into a fragmented space, where the background, chair or bed, and figure are articulated through overlapping planes of ochre, black, earth tones, and yellow hues. This restrained palette, together with the faceted treatment of forms, places the work within the context of Cubist developments during the early decades of the 20th century, when numerous European artists reinterpreted its innovations through a more solid and expressive figuration.

Notable is the sculptural strength of the anatomy, with firm contours and intense modeling, as well as the tension between the model’s relaxed posture and the rigorous construction of the composition. The result is a highly modern image, in which the female body becomes a subject of formal experimentation, distanced from classical idealism and aligned with the explorations of the European avant-garde of the interwar period.