Ramón Casas Barcelona 1866-1932

Painted in Paris circa 1893, the present work is one of a select group of important studies of the nude that Casas executed during 1893-94, compositions that departed significantly from the accepted academic practices of the day. In Desnudo Casas combines an innovative approach - capturing the model from a highly unusual angle - with great painterly sensibility, finely expressed through his use of flesh tones. Executed with great spontaneity, the brushwork elegantly captures the sinuous outline of the model's limbs. The stark minimalism of the composition with the model isolated in the centre, complete the consumately Modernist atmosphere of this painting.