Artwork
Reclining Figure
Reclining Figure is an oil painting by the Cubism Synthetic artist Jean Marchand. It dates from 1920 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds the work, which is executed in oil on canvas.
Jean Marchand's 1920 painting Reclining Figure depicts a nude subject. As a work created during the early twentieth century, the piece presents a human form in a reclining posture, a common motif in modernist art that emphasizes the study of the body and form. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds the work, which is executed in oil on canvas.
The subject matter focuses entirely on the representation of the nude figure without additional narrative elements or symbolic attributes described in the available records.
Technique & Style
Reclining Figure is an oil painting on canvas created by Jean Marchand in 1920. The work depicts a nude figure and measures 100 cm in height by 81.3 cm in width. It is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
The painting was created in 1920 by Jean Marchand. It is an oil on canvas depiction of a nude figure and is housed in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where it remains on view. Specific details of the work's provenance prior to its museum acquisition are not documented in the available sources.
Context
Jean Marchand's Reclining Figure (1920) belongs to the early twentieth-century tradition of modernist figurative painting. Art historians situate it within Marchand's contribution to modernist explorations of the nude, though detailed critical commentary on this specific work remains sparse in the available records. Its inclusion in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection reflects its recognized place within the broader narrative of early twentieth-century painting.
The work's oil-on-canvas execution and dimensions of 100 cm by 81.3 cm align with modernist practice of the period.
Overview
Created in 1920, Reclining Figure is an oil painting by French artist Jean Marchand. Executed within the synthetic phase of Cubism, the work presents a nude form rendered with fragmented planes and a muted palette. It is part of the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Legacy
While not as widely reproduced as works by Picasso or Braque, Reclining Figure illustrates Marchand’s contribution to the evolution of Cubist painting in the 1920s. Its presence in a major museum collection underscores the continued scholarly interest in the lesser‑known figures who expanded Cubism’s visual vocabulary.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Jean Hippolyte Marchand (French pronunciation:; 21 November 1883 – 1940) was a French cubist painter, printmaker and illustrator with an association with figures of the Bloomsbury Group.
