Female Nude
1912
Most people know Auguste Rodin for his heavy bronze sculptures like The Thinker, but this delicate 1912 drawing shows his incredibly fluid side. Using barely-there watercolor washes and faint pencil lines, he captures a reclining female nude from behind, making her body look almost translucent against the aged paper. The only heavy, dark element is the abstract-looking blotch of hair at the top, grounding the otherwise ethereal figure. Rodin famously drew without looking at his paper, keeping his eyes locked on the model to capture raw movement rather than perfect details, a technique that feels very modern here.
- Technique
- Watercolor and pencil
- Material
- Paper