Standing Female Nude Seen from the Side

Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Antwerp, January-February 1886

pencil on paper, 50.4 cm x 39.2 cm

Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

In a striking departure from the usual practice, Van Gogh used angular lines here to depict a woman's curves. He also used dark shadows to emphasise the muscles and joints. This makes the woman look robust – notice the size of her feet.

A few weeks later, Van Gogh acknowledged that his drawings so far had been fairly unrefined. He wrote that angular figures like this one 'in spite of myself ... have something of the peasant or woodcutter about them'.

F-number
F1699
JH-number
JH1013
Object number
d0022V1962
Dimensions
50.4 cm x 39.2 cm
Provenance
With his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, after February 1886; after his death on 25 January 1891, inherited by his widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, and their son, Vincent Willem van Gogh, Paris; administered until her death on 2 September 1925 by Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Bussum/Amsterdam/Laren; transferred by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren, to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam, 10 July 1962; agreement concluded between the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and the State of the Netherlands, in which the preservation and management of the collection, and its placing in the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, to be realized in Amsterdam, is entrusted to the State, 21 July 1962; given on loan until the opening of the museum on 2 June 1973 to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; on permanent loan to the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh from 2 June 1973 and at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, since 1 July 1994.
artist
Vincent van Gogh
Credits (obliged to state)
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh aan het werk, 1 May 2013-13 January 2014

Vienna, Albertina, Vincent van Gogh. Gezeichnete Bilder, 4 September-7 December 2008, no. 33

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh. The Drawings, 12 October-31 December 2005, no. 32

Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh tekenaar. De meesterwerken, 2 July-18 September 2005, no. 32

Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Vincent van Gogh. Die Pariser Zeichnungen, 22 March-16 June 2002, no. 14

Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Vincent van Gogh tekeningen. Antwerpen & Parijs, 1885-1888, 28 September 2001-6 January 2002, no. zonder nr.

London, Marlborough Fine Art, Van Gogh's Life in his Drawings. Van Gogh's Relationship with Signac, May-June 1962, no. 31

Standring, Timothy, Tilborgh, Louis van, Kelly, Simon, Kendall, Richard, Meedendorp, Teio, Coon, A.R., Becoming van Gogh, 2012, p. 74-75

Uitert, Evert van, Hoyle, Michael, Crimpen, Han van, The Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, 1987, p. 431

Schröder, Klaus Albrecht, Widauer, Heinz, Heugten, Sjraar van, Vellekoop, Marije, Leeman, Fred, Bailey, Martin, Van Gogh : gezeichnete Bilder, 2008, p. 188-189

Schröder, Klaus Albrecht, Widauer, Heinz, Heugten, Sjraar van, Vellekoop, Marije, Leeman, Fred, Bailey, Martin, Meedendorp, Teio, Van Gogh : heartfelt lines, 2008, p. 188-189

Vellekoop, Marije, Bakker, Nienke, Dijk, Maite van, Hendriks, Ella, Van Gogh aan het werk, 2013, p. 102-103

Vellekoop, Marije, Bakker, Nienke, Dijk, Maite van, Geldof, Muriel, Hendriks, Ella, Reissland, Birgit, Van Gogh at work, 2019, p. 102-103

Heugten, Sjraar van, Vellekoop, Marije, Zwikker, Roelie, Van Gogh tekenaar : de meesterwerken, 2016, p. 80, 187

Heugten, Sjraar van, Vellekoop, Marije, Zwikker, Roelie, Hageman, Monique, Vincent van Gogh drawings : volume 3 : Antwerp & Paris 1885-1888 : Van Gogh Museum, 2001, p. 71-82

Heugten, Sjraar van, Vellekoop, Marije, Zwikker, Roelie, Hageman, Monique, Vincent van Gogh tekeningen : Antwerpen & Parijs 1885-1888 : Van Gogh Museum : 3, 2001, p. 71-82

Naifeh, Steven, Van Gogh and the artists he loved, 2021, p. 231, 236

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