Nude on the Chair 1938

Iosif Iser painted ‘Nude on the Chair’ at some point in his career with what looks like oil on canvas, using this beautiful ochre and blue palette. It's got that feeling like you're watching someone paint, right? The paint application here is just so raw and direct; you can really see the hand of the artist in every stroke. There's this tension between the immediacy of the brushwork and the classical subject matter. Look at the way the light hits her torso, these thick, juicy strokes of yellow ochre, and then those darker blues and browns that define the shadows. It's almost sculptural in its handling of form. It reminds me a little of Paula Modersohn-Becker, not in terms of subject matter, but in the way she approached the figure with this earthy, sensual quality. Ultimately, it's this combination of vulnerability and boldness that makes Iser’s nude so captivating.