Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/pablo-picasso-1767" aria-label="More by Pablo Picasso" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Pablo Picasso</a>
Seated Nude
Purchased 1949
abstraction
actions: postures and motions
adults
figure
from recognisable sources
people
sitting
woman
<p>In this painting a figure is shown sitting in a high-backed arm chair. It is an early example of cubism. Picasso brings different views of his subject together in the same picture. As a result, his seated figure appears fragmented and abstracted. Despite this revolutionary approach to perspective Picasso’s use of light and the pose of his figure reveal a commitment to the traditions of portraiture.</p><p><em>Gallery label, September 2019</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
28 September 2003 – 18 January 2004
2004-01-18
1 October 2003 – 18 January 2004
2004-01-18
2003-10-01
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
15 February 2004 – 9 May 2004
2004-05-09
2004-02-15
Nasher Foundation (Dallas, USA)
http://www.NasherSculptureCenter.org
2003-09-28
Picasso: The Cubist Portraits of Fernande Olivier
Loan-out
1 May 2006 – 15 April 2012
2012-04-15
1 May 2006 – 15 April 2012
2012-04-15
2006-05-01
Tate Modern (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
2006-05-01
States of Flux
Collection based display
21 October 2008 – 29 December 2008
2008-12-29
21 October 2008 – 29 December 2008
2008-12-29
2008-10-21
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Madrid, Spain)
2008-10-21
Actividad Contemporánea. La revista del GATEPAC
Loan-out
25 February 2009 – 7 June 2009
2009-06-07
25 February 2009 – 7 June 2009
2009-06-07
2009-02-25
National Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
2009-02-25
Picasso: Challenging the Past
Loan-out
15 October 2010 – 30 January 2011
2011-01-30
15 October 2010 – 30 January 2011
2011-01-30
2010-10-15
Kunsthaus Zürich (Zürich, Switzerland)
http://www.kunsthaus.ch/
2010-10-15
Picasso Ausstellung, September - November 1932
Loan-out
7 October 2015 – 24 January 2016
2016-01-24
7 October 2015 – 24 January 2016
2016-01-24
2015-10-07
Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie (Frankfurt, Germany)
http://www.staedelmuseum.de
2015-10-07
The Collection in Dialogue
Loan-out
5 November 2016 – 31 August 2025
2025-08-31
5 November 2016 – 5 February 2017
2017-02-05
2016-11-05
Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia)
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
18 March 2017 – 16 July 2017
2017-07-16
2017-03-18
Auckland Art Gallery (Auckland, New Zealand)
10 November 2023 – 14 April 2024
2024-04-14
2023-11-10
LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Westfälisches (Munster, Germany)
http://landesmuseum.lwl.org
23 November 2024 – 3 March 2025
2025-03-03
2024-11-23
Worcester Art Museum (Worcester, USA)
http://www.worcesterart.org
2016-11-05
Nude: art from the Tate collection
Tate partnerships & programmes
5 September 2017 – 9 September 2018
2018-09-09
8 March 2018 – 9 September 2018
2018-09-09
2018-03-08
Tate Modern (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
2017-09-05
Pablo Picasso 1932
Exhibition
17 October 2018 – 18 August 2019
2019-08-18
17 October 2018 – 25 February 2019
2019-02-25
2018-10-17
Musée National d’Art Moderne - Centre Pompidou (Paris, France)
http://www.centrepompidou.fr
31 March 2019 – 18 August 2019
2019-08-18
2019-03-31
Kunstmuseum Basel (Basel, Switzerland)
http://www.kunstmuseumbasel.ch
2018-10-17
Cubism
Loan-out
11 June 2022 – 25 September 2022
2022-09-25
11 June 2022 – 25 September 2022
2022-09-25
2022-06-11
Kunstmuseum Basel (Basel, Switzerland)
http://www.kunstmuseumbasel.ch
2022-06-11
Picasso - El Greco
Loan-out
Seated Nude
support: 921 × 730 mm
frame: 1199 × 1005 × 108 mm
Purchased 1949
<div class="text">
<p>In this painting a figure is shown sitting in a high-backed arm chair. It is an early example of cubism. Picasso brings different views of his subject together in the same picture. As a result, his seated figure appears fragmented and abstracted. Despite this revolutionary approach to perspective Picasso’s use of light and the pose of his figure reveal a commitment to the traditions of portraiture.</p>
</div>

Display caption
2019-09-24T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>Pablo Picasso</b><span> 1881-1973 </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/picasso-seated-nude-n05904" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05904</span></a> </span><b>Femme nue assise</b><span> (Seated Female Nude) 1910 </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>Inscribed 'Picasso | 9' b.l.</span>
<br/><span>Oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 28 3/4 (92 x 73)</span>
<br/><span>Purchased from the Galerie Pierre (Courtauld Fund) 1949</span>
<br/><i>Prov:</i><span>
With Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris (purchased from the artist 1910); Frank Haviland, Céret, 1910; with Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris, 1913; Wilhelm Uhde, Paris; Uhde sale, Drouot, Paris, 30 May 1921, lot 43 repr. (18,000 frs.); Christian Tetzen Lund, Copenhagen; Tetzen Lund sale, Frie Udstilling, Copenhagen, 18-19 May 1925, lot 101 as 'Figure dans un Fauteuil'; bt. Vil. Hansen DKR. 900; Alphonse Kann, St Germain-en-Laye; with Galerie Pierre, Paris</span>
<br/><i>Exh:</i><span>
</span><i>Picasso</i><span>, Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, June 1932 (61); Kunsthaus, Zurich, September-October 1932 (54); </span><i>Picasso</i><span>, Centro de la Construcción, Madrid, May 1936 (4, repr.); </span><i>Picasso</i><span>, Tate Gallery, July-September 1960 (53, repr.)</span>
<br/><i>Lit:</i><span>
Christian Zervos, </span><i>Pablo Picasso</i><span> (Paris 1942), Vol.2a, No.201, repr. pl.101; Douglas Cooper, 'Catalogue of the Courtauld Collection' in </span><i>Burlington Magazine</i><span>, XCVI, 1954, p.122; Pierre Daix and Joan Rosselet, </span><i>Picasso: The Cubist Years 1907-1916</i><span> (London 1979), No.343, p.254 and repr.</span>
<br/><i>Repr:</i><span>
</span><i>Jahrbuch der jungen Kunst</i><span>, III, 1922, p.121 (wrongly entitled 'Brustbild eines jungen Mannes'); </span><i>Burlington Magazine</i><span>, XCII, 1950, p.2; Trewin Copplestone, </span><i>Modern Art Movements</i><span> (London 1967), pl.10 in colour </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>A female figure seated in a high-backed armchair. </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>Though this picture is dated '9' (i.e. 1909), the original <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/photograph" title="Glossary definition for 'Photograph'"><span>photograph</span></a> in the Kahnweiler records is dated on the back 1910. According to D.-H. Kahnweiler, it was painted in the spring of 1910. The photograph in the catalogue of the Uhde sale of 1921 shows the picture without an inscription, so this was probably added later. </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>There is a similar but slightly taller and less finished <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> in the Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris (Zervos, op. cit., No.200) which must have been painted about the same time and in which the figure is more distorted. The body is broken up into a large number of very active, crowded facets but the background is simpler and more monumental. </span>
<br/></p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/><span>Ronald Alley, </span><i>Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists</i><span>, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, p.595, reproduced p.595 </span>
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-15T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
abstraction actions: postures and motions adults figure from recognisable sources people sitting woman