Nude on a Couch

Caillebotte paints his model on a faded floral couch in his bachelor’s apartment in Paris. Her boots and clothes are cast to the side and her body still bears their traces: faint pink impressions on her feet and around her waist. Rather than returning the viewer’s gaze, the woman rests one hand along- side her face, casting it in shadow, and touches herself with the other. This provocative picture—the second-largest painting that Caillebotte ever made—was not exhibited publicly until 1967, when it was acquired by the Minneapolis Institute of Art.