Standing Female Nude Seen from the Side
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Antwerp, January-February 1886
pencil on paper, 50.4 cm x 39.2 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
In a striking departure from the usual practice, Van Gogh used angular lines here to depict a woman's curves. He also used dark shadows to emphasise the muscles and joints. This makes the woman look robust – notice the size of her feet.
A few weeks later, Van Gogh acknowledged that his drawings so far had been fairly unrefined. He wrote that angular figures like this one 'in spite of myself ... have something of the peasant or woodcutter about them'.
- F-number
- F1699
- JH-number
- JH1013
- Object number
- d0022V1962
- Dimensions
- 50.4 cm x 39.2 cm
- Provenance
- With his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, after February 1886; after his death on 25 January 1891, inherited by his widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, and their son, Vincent Willem van Gogh, Paris; administered until her death on 2 September 1925 by Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Bussum/Amsterdam/Laren; transferred by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren, to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam, 10 July 1962; agreement concluded between the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and the State of the Netherlands, in which the preservation and management of the collection, and its placing in the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, to be realized in Amsterdam, is entrusted to the State, 21 July 1962; given on loan until the opening of the museum on 2 June 1973 to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; on permanent loan to the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh from 2 June 1973 and at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, since 1 July 1994.
- artist
- Vincent van Gogh
- Credits (obliged to state)
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh aan het werk, 1 May 2013-13 January 2014
Vienna, Albertina, Vincent van Gogh. Gezeichnete Bilder, 4 September-7 December 2008, no. 33
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh. The Drawings, 12 October-31 December 2005, no. 32
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh tekenaar. De meesterwerken, 2 July-18 September 2005, no. 32
Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Vincent van Gogh. Die Pariser Zeichnungen, 22 March-16 June 2002, no. 14
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Vincent van Gogh tekeningen. Antwerpen & Parijs, 1885-1888, 28 September 2001-6 January 2002, no. zonder nr.
London, Marlborough Fine Art, Van Gogh's Life in his Drawings. Van Gogh's Relationship with Signac, May-June 1962, no. 31
Standring, Timothy, Tilborgh, Louis van, Kelly, Simon, Kendall, Richard, Meedendorp, Teio, Coon, A.R., Becoming van Gogh, 2012, p. 74-75