Nude with Book 1909

Iosif Iser’s *Nude with Book* is an oil on cardboard, a common and accessible support for painting, especially for studies and preparatory work. The cardboard’s absorbency impacts the materiality, influencing the look and feel of the painting. Iser applied thin layers of paint, allowing the cardboard's texture to show through, creating a sense of immediacy. This imbues the painting with a raw, sketch-like quality that softens the contours of the figure. Notice how Iser used visible brushstrokes to build up the form, adding depth and volume to the nude. The color palette is fairly muted, but also consider the labor involved in grinding and mixing the pigments by hand. Iser’s choice of materials reflects an approach to art making that values process and direct expression, highlighting the act of painting itself. By emphasizing the materiality and the labor-intensive processes, Iser elevated the status of the medium, challenging the traditional hierarchy between sketch and finished work.