Study for Summer or Nude in Profile in a Landscape

As of 1915, Suzor-Coté began to focus on the nude, sometimes depicted in the real but austere setting of his studio, sometimes transposed into dreamlike natural settings. This pastel is undoubtedly a study for an oil painting entitled Summer. The almost abstract landscape is primarily an arrangement of strokes of colour, shadow and light, against which the nude is thrown into relief. These effects are achieved with the same hues that provide the flesh tones and define the figure.