Technical information
- Title : Nude
- Date : 1929
- Technique : Charcoal
- Dimensions : 40 × 30 cm
- Location : Private collection
Biographical / historical context
In 1929, André Breuillaud stood at a turning point: the ZM vein, dominated since 1925 by urban fringes and figures of the Zone, now coexisted with a deliberate return to the fundamentals of figurative drawing. Alongside portraits and dark oils, he renewed his engagement with the nude—not as a vehicle for expression, but as a field of consolidation: anatomy, balance of masses, continuity of line, and the accuracy of attitudes.
This dual orientation—social observation on the one hand, study of the body on the other—is characteristic of the late 1920s. It allowed Breuillaud to strengthen an anatomical mastery that would later nourish, in an underlying way, a more constructed figuration. The date and signature on the sheet anchor the work in this period of structured graphic development.
Formal / stylistic description
The female model is represented standing, legs slightly crossed, the torso leaning forward, the head inclined to the left. The pose, simple and modest, establishes a climate of silent introspection rather than a sense of movement. Space is left bare: no setting, no anecdote, so that attention remains on the isolated human form against a neutral field.
The line is continuous, supple, and rounded, without breaks or hatching, drawing the silhouette in a single sustained gesture. Slightly tinged with a red-brown tone, the contour warms the whole and gives it an almost neo-classical softness. Modelling is intentionally lightened: a few gentle rubbings suggest the roundness of hips, the swell of the abdomen, and the presence of the torso, like a sculptural volume barely touched. The lowered face is rendered with extreme economy: a ‘whispered’ form that heightens the scene’s restraint.
Comparative analysis / related works
This nude continues directly from the academic sheets of 1927–1928, notably Seated Nude (1928), extending the search for a clear line and discreet modelling. In contrast to the expressive roughness of the ZM portraits, the sheet reveals another aspect of Breuillaud: a classical draughtsman concerned with bodily construction, stable volumes, and sobriety of pose.
The economy of means—absence of background, held contour, measured shadows—also announces a gradual move toward a more synthetic writing, in which the figure is less described than constructed.
Justification of dating
The inscribed date and signature make the dating certain. Formally, the softness of line, the lightened modelling, and anatomical maturity place the work naturally in continuity with the 1928 studies and within the graphic climate of 1929, with no element likely to contradict this attribution.
Provenance / exhibitions / publications
Private collection.