Two Nudes

Paris, spring 1909
Not on view
This painting of angular and somewhat androgynous figures is indebted to Cézanne’s depictions of bathers. As with other works of 1909, the figures are set in a measurable space, but Picasso leaves the location vague. The touch of green and rocky outcropping at the base of the picture hint at a landscape, while the angle behind the head of the figure at right suggests a window or doorframe. The neat patches of parallel brushstrokes in closely modulated hues construct a sense of tactile form, yet they also emphasize the flatness of the picture plane. This tension between illusionism and anti-illusionism is at the heart of Cubism.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Two Nudes
  • Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
  • Date: Paris, spring 1909
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 39 3/8 x 31 7/8 in. (100 x 81 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection, Gift of Leonard A. Lauder, 2025
  • Object Number: 2025.616.29
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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