Reclining Nude 1935

Zinaida Serebriakova made this Reclining Nude in Paris in 1935, and, you know, it's all about the colour for me! The way the blush in the skin warms the cool palette of blues and whites; you can almost feel the chill of the morning light. Looking at the drawing, it's interesting to note that the white of the paper is really the star of the show. Serebriakova lets the page breathe, allowing areas of exposed paper to stand in for reflected light. This is especially apparent in the rendering of the bedsheets and the background space, where the pastel is applied with a feathery touch. Notice the jagged strokes of blue pastel, they create a sort of halo effect that helps to set off the figure. There's something so delicate about the way this artist uses the medium, almost as if it were an extension of the body itself. She reminds me a little bit of Berthe Morisot, in the way that she embraces the immediacy of pastel to create a sense of fleeting beauty. Ultimately, it's a drawing about perception and the act of seeing.