Academic Nude, Reclining on a Sofa (c. 1855): Art, History and Details

Academic Nude, Reclining on a Sofa (c. 1855) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Auguste Belloc (French, 1801-c. 1868).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Before becoming a photographer and writer on photographic theory, processes, and techniques, Belloc produced watercolors and miniatures. By 1851, he had established a commercial studio in Paris, specializing in portraiture and nude studies. In this example, he carefully positioned his model with favorite props, such as a chaise longue and copious amounts of rich drapery. Natural illumination in the skylit studio clearly defines her sensuous body with bright highlights and rich shadows. The luxurious flesh tones and the suggestive pose add to the picture's eroticism. Shown in exhibitions and purchased by wealthy voyeurs, Belloc's images of nudes were also sought by painters wanting to avoid the expense of a live model.

Object facts

• Title: Academic Nude, Reclining on a Sofa
• Date: c. 1855
• Creator attribution: Auguste Belloc (French, 1801-c. 1868)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: salted paper print from wet collodion negative
• Dimensions: Image: 15.8 x 21.2 cm (6 1/4 x 8 3/8 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.)
• Collection: PH - French 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 1998.55

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.