Nude by Window

The first reaction for me on looking at this picture is the extreme awkwardness of putting a bed at a diagonal angle in order to be closer to the window. It is as if the woman wants to get away from the walls and restrictions of the house and reach the openness of beach, sky and sea. But she doesn’t look like the free spirit this idea conjures up, but more like one of the resigned nude models at Camberwell School of Art, still wearing a wrist watch so she can see if the timing of the pose is nearly up.

I look again and see how the four verticals, wall, window, curtain, wall, need that diagonal to cut across them and I see the painting as having an abstract formality which hadn’t struck me at first. The more I think about this the more I realise that the equal play of light throughout and the calculated distribution of straight lines represent an exploration of a new form of vision for Richard reminiscent of Bonnard’s work.