Nude Lying On Bed 1894

Anders Zorn created this watercolor titled *Nude Lying On Bed* in Paris in 1894. Zorn was part of a generation of artists who moved away from academic painting. This work allows us to consider the role of the female nude in late 19th-century art. The woman's body is presented intimately, in a private moment. How does the male gaze influence such depictions, and what does it mean for female artists portraying similar subjects? It’s not an accident that paintings by male artists of women in bed are so abundant. This composition invites us to question traditional power dynamics, as the woman's perspective and agency remain conspicuously absent. The vulnerability of the reclining figure is palpable. The painting is part of a long and complicated history of representing the female form, that both shapes and reflects societal attitudes towards gender, sexuality, and the body.