Seated Male Nude (recto); Seated Woman with a Dark Blouse (verso)

Seated Male Nude (recto); Seated Woman with a Dark Blouse (verso) by Umberto Boccioni, executed in 1908, is a significant double-sided graphite on paper drawing. The recto presents a traditional academic study of the male form, capturing a seated nude figure. This detailed preparatory drawing reflects Boccioni's intense focus on mastering classical draftsmanship during a critical phase of his career, just prior to his pivotal involvement with the Futurist movement. The graphite lines are precisely rendered, demonstrating the artist's skill in modeling volume and muscle structure through subtle variations in shading and contour definition. This commitment to anatomical observation was a foundational element that underpinned the radical formal experiments Boccioni would champion in the following decade.

The artistic duality of the piece is further evidenced on the verso, which features Seated Woman with a Dark Blouse. While the recto adheres to strict classical instruction, the female figure suggests a different observational quality, perhaps a rapidly executed figure study or preliminary sketch for a genre scene. Both subjects showcase Boccioni's technical proficiency with the graphite medium, utilizing its capacity to capture light and texture efficiently across the sheet. Classified as a drawing by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it resides, this work offers crucial insight into the Milanese painter’s transition from his earlier Symbolist and Divisionist aesthetics toward his revolutionary Futurist ideology. It stands as a valuable example of early twentieth-century Italian draftsmanship preserved in a major public collection.