Modern Chinese ArtistsObject Study 02

Sanyu / 常玉

Black Nude, White Nude

1945/1948

Two bodies become reciprocal silhouettes

Black Nude, White Nude by Sanyu, two reclining figures overlapping on a vivid pink ground
Image reference: Li Ching Foundation archive. Educational presentation.
Black Nude, White Nude100%
Black Nude, White Nude by Sanyu, two reclining figures overlapping on a vivid pink ground

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Enter the artwork study
06

Object in the Sanyu study

Date
1945/1948
Medium
Oil on masonite
Dimensions
37.8 x 45.5 cm
Collection / record
Robert Frank collection history
Catalogue / accession
LCF157

01 / Why this work matters

Two bodies become reciprocal silhouettes

Two reclining figures overlap across a hot pink band. One is painted as a black silhouette, the other in pale pink and white. Their poses echo and reverse one another: bent arms, raised legs, and diagonal torsos form a compact system of counterweights.

The title names racial difference directly, reflecting the diverse model culture Sanyu encountered in Paris. Yet individualized features are withheld. The painting organizes contrast through color and contour, making the bodies both distinct presences and interlocking abstract shapes.

02 / Formal analysis

Five ways to read the visible evidence.

Move from color and composition toward the material surface and the space the work asks you to inhabit.
01

Color and light

Grey, pink, black, and white laid down as visible brushed bands

02

Composition and rhythm

Hands and feet creating small knots in the broad silhouettes

03

Line and gesture

The figures overlapping without a clear front or back

04

Surface and material

The title names racial difference directly, reflecting the diverse model culture Sanyu encountered in Paris. Yet individualized features are withheld. The painting organizes contrast through color and contour, making the bodies both distinct presences and interlocking abstract shapes.

05

Space and scale

Two reclining figures overlap across a hot pink band. One is painted as a black silhouette, the other in pale pink and white. Their poses echo and reverse one another: bent arms, raised legs, and diagonal torsos form a compact system of counterweights.

03 / History and object record

Place the image inside a life, a period, and a documented record.

Historical interpretation

Sanyu, 1945/1948

The title names racial difference directly, reflecting the diverse model culture Sanyu encountered in Paris. Yet individualized features are withheld. The painting organizes contrast through color and contour, making the bodies both distinct presences and interlocking abstract shapes.

Ink-trained line, Parisian modern life, the nude, flowers, and animals are compressed into radical economy.

Exhibition and record history

What the cited record establishes

Recorded collection
Robert Frank collection history
Catalogue reference
LCF157
Exhibition chronology
The cited public record does not provide a complete exhibition chronology. Follow the primary record for provenance, display history, and future updates.

04 / Connections

Continue through neighboring works and parallel modernisms.

05 / Sources and further reading

Follow the object back to its institutional record.