Technical information
- Title : Seated Nude, Back View
- Date : c. 1939
- Technique : Oil on canvas
- Dimensions : 73 × 50 cm
- Location : Private collection *
Biographical / historical context
In 1939, Breuillaud deepened a group of studio nudes that marked a turning point in his practice: the figure detaches itself from narrative and becomes the site of sustained, almost meditative observation, in which the artist tests the weight of forms and the breathing of flesh tones.
In this context, the choice of a back view is significant: it shifts attention from the face to the architecture of the body and to the dialogue between flesh and ground, while preserving a sense of presence through the slight profile of the head.
The work belongs to this period of concentration, when the studio becomes a laboratory of matter and light, against the backdrop of a darkening historical climate.
Formal / stylistic description
The model sits curled in on herself, legs folded, shown largely from the back, with a turn of the neck that reveals a profile.
The broad, fleshy back forms the composition’s main axis, built from large, continuous modulations in which tonal transitions replace drawing.
Lit by diffuse light, the skin is constructed in warm pinks, milky ochres and beiges, veined with blues and greens in the shadows, lending the volume an organic density.
The blue‑green background, worked in rubbed passages and visible striations, acts as a cool counterfield that makes the flesh vibrate and sharpens the silhouette through light alone.
At left, a browner, more textured band introduces a vertical accent that counterbalances the rounded mass of the body and situates the figure within a reduced, almost enclosed space.
Comparative analysis / related works
Within the PG1 group, this *Seated Nude, Back View* is distinguished by the sobriety of its setup: no washing gesture, no central object, but a direct confrontation between the body’s volume and a heavily worked ground.
Compared with *Nude at the Basin*, where linen and the basin structure the scene, attention here concentrates on the curve of the back, the tension of the shoulders and the compression of the legs—like a study of living sculpture.
Set against *Nude Putting on a Sock*, brighter and more decorative, this canvas adopts a more muted range and a heavier, pastier handling, foreshadowing later explorations in which the body’s presence becomes more mental and inward.
Justification of dating and attribution
The dating to c. 1939 accords with the heavier paint and the palette characteristic of the immediate pre‑war years: warm flesh tones set off by cool counterpoints, and blue‑green grounds built in layers and rubbed passages.
The closed pose, the priority given to masses and the absence of a sharp contour correspond to Breuillaud’s language within the PG1 cycle, distinct from the brighter, more narrative nudes of the early 1930s.
The attribution is further supported by the way the flesh is “sculpted” in colour, the very physical approach to modelling, and the balance between a vibrating ground and a stable volume—recurring traits of his studio practice at this date.
Provenance / exhibitions / publications
Private collection *