Nude Woman 

Jean-Léon Gérôme painted this scene, “Nude Woman,” with oil paints. The texture of the canvas is almost invisible, so smoothly has Gérôme applied the pigment. Gérôme was a master of illusionism, and here the subject seems to materialize before our very eyes. It is difficult to believe that the smooth skin is just colored paste applied with brushes. The way the artist’s skill conceals his labor is very much the point. Gérôme was working at a time when the rise of industrialization had fundamentally altered the experience of work, and yet academic painters like him carried on as though nothing had changed. His paintings are predicated on a fantasy that the artist is the lone genius, untouched by vulgar commerce. The reality, of course, was that Gérôme was running a business. He sold his paintings to wealthy patrons, confirming their social status. He was one of the most successful painters of his day. So, remember, when looking at paintings like this, technique and the social world are intimately connected.