Summer

Frederick Carl Frieseke

1914 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

"Summer" is one of a series of large-scale nudes seen outdoors that Frieseke began to paint around 1908, when he settled in Giverny, the French village where Claude Monet was his neighbor. Frieseke’s composition and vibrant palette suggest that his model and her clothed companion have found relief from the summer’s heat in a shady area beside the water. The free rendering of the grass and foliage contrasts with the more academic treatment of the figure, whose solid form and clear contours recall alfresco images of nudes painted by the French Impressionist Auguste Renoir, whom Frieseke greatly admired.

Artist

Frederick Carl Frieseke

Date

1914

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

George A. Hearn Fund, 1966