Study of a Seated Nude Woman, variant

Study of a Seated Nude Woman, variant by Pierre Auguste Renoir French, 1841-1919, is a delicate example of the artist's late-career graphic work. Created sometime between 1899 and 1909, this print is a lithograph executed in black ink upon off-white wove paper. Renoir, an essential figure in Impressionism and later in the development of Modern art, dedicated substantial time in his final decades to mastering the printmaking process.

The piece focuses intimately on the female form, a recurring subject matter throughout the artist's prolific output. Unlike the intense colors found in his famous oil paintings of the 1880s, this particular study relies solely on line, contrast, and shading to define the figure's volume and pose. The lithographic technique allowed Renoir to achieve the soft, granular tonal variations characteristic of the medium, rendering the seated nude woman with a gentle, yet sculptural, quality. The composition emphasizes the curve of the body, suggesting a momentary observation common in academic figure drawing traditions.

Produced in France during a period of widespread print experimentation, this lithograph demonstrates Renoir’s continued commitment to representing classical subjects within modern contexts. As a valuable example of early 20th-century French prints, the work resides in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Because this specific piece was created over a century ago, high-quality images of Renoir’s drawings and related prints are often made available through public domain initiatives, ensuring widespread scholarly and public access.