Hugh Henry Breckenridge, Nude Study

Although he is best known as a modernist painter of abstract form and intense color, Breckenridge would sometimes work in the manner of Impressionist realism. Here, for example, he conveys the unidealized sensuality of a nude figure who turns away from the viewer, as if unposed. The volumetric, fleshy forms of the body in pink and beige occupy a shallow space: a sculptural presence between a foreground table and a rich, earth-colored brown curtain. The application of paint is gestural throughout.