George Vaughan Curtis “Female Nude in Hammock” Neoclassical Oil Painting, 1883

An exquisitely detailed and evocative 1883 neoclassical oil painting on canvas by English-American artist George Vaughan Curtis depicting a semi-nude female figure in beautiful, blissful repose upon a blanket-laden hammock.

Her sensitively rendered supine form with arms spread wide, toes grazing the floor, blushed cheeks, and the faintest hint of a smile, all suggesting a lovely, languid dream dancing behind closed eyes, or perhaps even one recently realized. Simultaneously dark and luminous, with the enchantingly angelic subject appearing to float within her deeply hued surroundings.

Meticulously executed fabric, embroidery, and lace details on entrancing display throughout, with much of the line work being literally a hair’s breadth or two wide. The painting’s relatively diminutive size means that every inch is packed with realistic revelations that reward closer inspection, from the trim and tassels of the inviting hammock, to the tops of her gold-crested velvet house slippers.

Signed and dated at lower left. In giltwood frame with linen mat.

Dimensions overall
Height: 14.13 in
Width: 12 in
Depth: 1.13 in
Sight is H 9.63 in. x W 7.63 in.; canvas is H 10 in. x W 8 in.

George Vaughan Curtis (b. 1859–1943) was born in Southampton, England, and studied at the private Parisian art school Académie Julian with Alphonse Legros and Benjamin Constant. He would later go on to teach art himself in Paris, before immigrating to the United States in 1894 and living and working in New York and Washington, D.C. Curtis was a member of the Society of Independent Artists, and his work is in the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Melun, as well as a large mural in Saint-Louis church of Villemomble in Seine-Saint-Denis.