Nude Woman

This work is one of the few nude paintings that Chen exhibited. It is an example of her early classical training and highlights the skills and techniques she learnt as an art student. The focus of this painting is the model’s body. In contrast, the model’s facial features are indistinct, with her gaze turned away from the viewer. Chen emphasises the model’s curves and raised areas of her body through free, sweeping applications of thickly applied paint. This technique, called impasto, creates variation in textures. Examine the painting closely and you will see how the impasto rises above the canvas’ surface, creating dimension and volume. In doing so, Chen draws attention to the model’s hips and thighs, where a piece of fabric lies artfully draped. While Chen is well-known for her portraits, her nude paintings and sketches are very rare. This is the only oil painting of a nude by Chen that is currently known to exist in a public art collection. It is likely that Chen created this work during her formal art education in Paris, as with the nude sketches you see along this corridor. Figure studies were a foundational component in the curriculum during Chen’s academic training at the Académie Colarossi and Académie Biloul. Drawing and painting models in the nude, as opposed to working from plaster casts, was an important way for artists to develop their skills in representing the human form.