Nude reading 1931

Zinaida Serebriakova made this drawing, titled Nude Reading, in Paris in 1931. The pastel feels immediate, the visible strokes build up the form like you might coax someone into being, bit by bit. It’s like watching a thought take shape. Look at the bedsheets under her – quick, scribbled lines of blue and grey, so different from the smooth, luminous flesh of the figure. The contrast is striking. You can almost feel the softness of her skin against the cool, crisp cotton. The blue lines around her leg seem to define its shape, while also suggesting an atmosphere, like a heat haze. There's something quietly radical about the intimacy here. Serebriakova’s contemporary Paula Modersohn-Becker comes to mind, another artist exploring the female form with a similar blend of sensitivity and directness. It makes you think about how artists, across time, are always in conversation, sharing ideas, and challenging each other.