Reclining Nude (On the Left Side) (Nu couché sur le côté gauche)

Description

In Reclining Nude (On the Left Side), Amedeo Modigliani depicts a woman with her back toward the viewer, turning her dark-haired head to look outward. Her bent knees and extended foot carry the body across a crumpled white sheet, while a blue-green area steadies the space behind her. The pose makes the figure’s length and the return of her gaze equally important within the broad composition.

Known as Nu couché sur le côté gauche, the painting belongs to Modigliani’s exploration of reclining nudes. The figure’s continuous shape allows the eye to travel through the composition rather than settle only on the face. Its appeal comes from that balance between human presence and pictorial rhythm. The work makes the body something to consider through the painter’s particular arrangement, giving a familiar subject a distinctive sense of scale, continuity and concentrated attention.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Amedeo Modigliani collection.