Part 1 of Essay
In the Philadelphia Museum of Art are five paintings by Gustave Courbet; of all of these I found Reclining Nude (1868, Oil on canvas, The Louis & Stern Collection, 63-81-20) the most interesting. It depicts a nude woman lying on the beach beneath a billowing canopy. A dark, but tranquil sea is in the background. The sk ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... are crossed languidly over her head. Because her arms are crossed over her head, her face is almost completely in the shadows; this shadowing covers the detail of her face in such a way that she could be almost anyone. She gazes wistfully at the ground to her left. The woman is rendered very softly and is in a very sensuous pose. This picture would have been found scandalous for its sexual overtones as was Courbet's La Demoiselles au bord de la Seine. A scarlet cloth lies in front of her; it has a very r ....