''The Pearl and the Wave'' (French: ''La Perle et la vague''), also known as ''The Wave and the Pearl'', is a painting by the French artist

Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry (7 November 1828 17 January 1886) was a French painter. Life Baudry was born in 1828 in La Roche-sur-Yon in the Vendée. He studied art under Michel Martin Drolling and enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts in 1845. ...

created in 1862. The painting shows a nude woman lying on the edge of a rocky sea shore, with her head turned to gaze backward over her shoulder towards the viewer. Waves are breaking in the background. ''The Pearl and the Wave'' was the subject of contemporary curiosity. The painting was met with praise from art critics for its technique and distinguishing quality. Artist

Kenyon Cox Kenyon Cox (October 27, 1856 – March 17, 1919) was an American Painting, painter, illustrator, muralist, writer, and teacher. Cox was an influential and important early instructor at the Art Students League of New York. He was the designer of t ...

described ''The Pearl and the Wave'' as "the most perfect painting of the nude" in the 19th century. Cox identified some features in the painting which he described as "grace of attitude", the well-rounded but slim body of a young woman, the visible dimple in the shoulder, the "savoring of subtle line", the "loveliness of the color", the "solid yet mysterious modelling", and the "perfection of delicate surface". Cox believed these features make this painting what he calls "a pure masterpiece". Art historian Bailey Van Hook identified ''The Pearl and the Wave'' as one of the examples of nude paintings where the subject woman is shown lying down sluggishly for the gratification of the looker-on who she describes as " voyeuristic viewer". Nineteenth-century French art critic

Jules-Antoine Castagnary Jules-Antoine Castagnary (11 April 1830 – 11 May 1888) was a French liberal politician, journalist and progressive and influential art critic, who embraced the new term "Impressionist" in his positive and perceptive review of the first Impression ...

commented that the woman in the painting may be "a Parisian ''modiste'' ... lying in wait for a millionaire gone astray in this wild spot." In 1863, Empress consort

Eugénie de Montijo ''Doña'' María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick, 19th Countess of Teba, 16th Marchioness of Ardales (5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo (), was Empress of the French from her marriage to Emperor Napo ...

bought the painting for 20,000 francs. It was her second most costly purchase of the paintings of that time. Today the painting is in the collection of the

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, the main Spanish national art museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl and the Wave 1862 paintings Erotic art Paintings of the Museo del Prado by French artists Nude art Water in art

See also

References