Zinaida Evgenievna Serebriakova

There are artist pinholes to the corners. The sheet has slightly discoloured. There is a scratch approximately 3.5cm in length above the upper right arm of the sitter. There are spots of paint loss to the left arm of the sitter. There is a light spot of foxing to the upper left frame edge and in places elsewhere. There are handling marks especially to the upper edge. Held in a gold painted wooden frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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Her uncle Alexander Benois considered Serebriakova's nudes 'the chief glory of her work, there is nothing quite like them. In these studies of the female body we find not merely natural quality but a special quality familiar to us from literature and music' (A. Benois, ‘Artistic Letters, The Union Exhibition’ in Rech, 13 March 1910). As the art historian Nadezhda Tregoub has observed, Serebriakova’s nudes, in contrast to Degas’ bathers, are never depicted in motion, rather they are in a state of languid inactivity, asleep or at rest. Her studies instantly communicate their inherent sensuality. Many such pastels were acquired directly from the artist workshop and have therefore never been exhibited.

The artist settled in Paris in 1924, where she was shortly joined by her son Alexander and her daughter Katya. In January 1934 the whole family moved to the apartment at 72 rue Blanche in the 9^th arrondissement. They remained here for nine years and thus it is this very address that we find inscribed on the reverse of this work. Serebriakova’s new life in the French capital marked a turning point in her artistic oeuvre: in was in this vibrant artistic centre that she produced the majority of her nudes.

In the present work, Zinaida Serebriakova accentuates the candid beauty of her young model by stripping down the composition. Nothing detracts from the languorous figure and only the blue drapery serves as a foil to her intense gaze. On the girl’s wrist a yellow bracelet echoes her golden hair in a gesture of ultimate coquetry. The appeal of this work stems from the subject’s confidence in her powers of seduction and the natural, relaxed air. The doll-like face, with great blue eyes and tousled hair, serves as an invitation to admire the sensuality of the body. Serebriakova realistically depicts the supple skin and the plasticity of the feminine curves, bathed by the soft pale light. The use of the pastel highlights the milky skin, with its rosy undertones, creating a vision of young blooming beauty.