Seated Female Nude (With Right Hand on the Left Shoulder) (Sitzender weiblicher Dreiviertelakt (die rechte Hand auf der linken Schulter))
Alexei Jawlensky
Russian, 1864–1941
c. 1920
A lithograph by Alexei Jawlensky of a seated female nude in which the artist pares the body down to spare, calligraphic contours and textured strokes to express the sitter’s presence and mood.
What hits you first are the bold, charcoal-like lines and jagged hatchings that turn a simple pose into a rhythmic, almost decorative silhouette, while the downcast face and tilted shoulder lend a quiet, introspective feeling.
The print exemplifies Jawlensky’s Expressionist reduction of the figure to emotive line and rhythm, part of early 20th‑century modernism’s move toward abstraction and expressive approaches to printmaking.
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
composition (irreg.): 16 1/2 x 11 15/16" (41.9 x 30.3 cm); sheet: 21 1/8 x 16 3/4" (53.7 x 42.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Justin K. Thannhauser
Accession
270.1950
Palette
Exhibitions
