ticketsMember | Make a donation

Nude

Brassaï French, born Romania (Transylvania)
1931–34
Not on view
One of the most radically abstract of Brassaï’s nudes, this image was published in 1933 in the inaugural issue of the avant-garde magazine Minotaure. With the figure’s head and legs cut off by the picture’s edges, the twisting, truncated torso seems to float in space like an apparition—an ambiguous, organic form with an uncanny resemblance to a phallus. This transformation of the female figure into a fetish object is a hallmark of Surrealism that reflects the important influence of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory on European art of the early twentieth century.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Nude
  • Artist: Brassaï (French (born Romania), Brașov 1899–1984 Côte d'Azur)
  • Date: 1931–34
  • Medium: Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions: 14.1 x 23.5 cm (5 9/16 x 9 1/4 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Twentieth-Century Photography Fund, 2007
  • Object Number: 2007.226
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Estate Brassaï Succession – Paris
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Colonne de Vendôme
Brassaï
1936
Matisse dessinant un nu couché dans l'atelier que lui avait prêté Mrs. Callery a la Villa d'Alesia
Brassaï
1939
Henri Matisse à Saint-Paul de Vence dans le jardin de la Villa "Le Rêve", Brassaï French, born Romania (Transylvania), Gelatin silver print
Henri Matisse à Saint-Paul de Vence dans le jardin de la Villa "Le Rêve"
Brassaï
1946
Une femme-peintre naive
Brassaï
1950, printed 1960s
Chartres from one of the Cathedral Tower, Brassaï French, born Romania (Transylvania), Gelatin silver print
Chartres from one of the Cathedral Tower
Brassaï
1946

Related Content

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.