DescriptionBalthus has painted landscapes, portraits, and interiors, but the female sitter in various states—daydreaming, reclining, or sleeping, often nude or partly clothed, and typically charged with erotic content—is the subject most frequently in his oeuvre. "Nude in Front of a Mantel" is striking for the sculptural monumentality of the model, who seems to be carved from marble, and the soft silvery light that bathes the figure and fills the room.

ProvenancePierre Matisse Gallery, New York; acquired by Robert Lehman, New York in December 1958