Jean PUY (1876 – 1960), Nude from the Back, 1914

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. 65 × 45 cm.

A leading member of the Fauvist group, Jean Puy joined from 1905 the pictorial adventure of Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck, and Marquet. Trained under Tony Tollet in Lyon and Jean-Paul Laurens in Paris, he quickly developed a taste for bold harmonies and simplified forms, which he applied with ease to the theme of the nude and to the intimate life of the studio.

Painted in 1914, this Nude from the Back marks a pivotal moment when Fauvist exuberance gives way to a more structured, measured style. The female figure, seen from behind, stands softly against a subdued interior in muted greens, browns, and blues, still echoing the daring colorism of his early years. Through the supple modeling of the flesh, the restraint of gesture, and the balance of composition, Puy reveals both a sense of measure and a rare intimacy.
Between formal rigor and contained sensuality, this painting encapsulates the discreet poetry and quiet strength of Jean Puy on the eve of the Great War.

Represented in major French and international museums — from Paris (Musée d’Art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Petit Palais) to Saint-Tropez, from the MET in New York to the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg — Jean Puy holds an essential place in the history of Fauvism and early twentieth-century French painting.