Artwork
Cubist Nude
Cubist Nude is an oil painting by the Cubism Analytic artist Alexandra Exter. It dates from 1912 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Aleksandra Ekster’s 1912 work, titled Cubist Nude, is an oil painting that exemplifies the analytic phase of Cubism. Executed while the artist was active in both Kiev and Paris, the canvas presents a seated female figure rendered through fragmented geometry, reflecting the early‑twentieth‑century shift toward abstraction in European avant‑garde circles.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a nude woman seated with her arms folded and her head turned away, a traditional motif reinterpreted through Cubist principles. By deconstructing the body into intersecting planes, Ekster invites viewers to consider the figure from several visual angles simultaneously, challenging conventional representations of the human form.
Technique & Style
Ekster employs a palette of blues, greens, and earthy browns, applying oil in layered, angular shapes that intersect to suggest volume. The broken planes and overlapping facets convey a sense of dynamism, while the bold color contrasts accentuate the tension between surface and depth, hallmarks of analytic Cubism.
History & Provenance
Created during Ekster’s Parisian period, the painting aligns with her contacts among leading Cubists such as Picasso and Braque. Though rooted in the Russian and Ukrainian avant‑garde, the work reflects the cross‑cultural exchange of ideas that defined the era, and it remains a documented example of her contribution to early Cubist experimentation.
Artist & collection
Artist
Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Ekster (née Grigorovich; Russian: Алекса́ндра Алекса́ндровна Эксте́р; Ukrainian: Олекса́ндра Олекса́ндрівна Е́кстер; 18 January 1882 – 17 March 1949), also known as Alexandra Exter, was a Russian and French painter…
