Nude Sitting on a Divan portrays a partially draped woman seated with crossed legs against a warm red background. The portrait was one of a series of nudes painted by Modigliani in 1917, which caused a sensation when exhibited in Paris that year. The Paris show of 1917 was Modigliani’s only solo exhibition during his lifetime and is “notorious” in modern art history for its sensational public reception and the attendant issues of obscenity. The show was closed by police on its opening day, though it continued thereafter, most likely after the removal of paintings from the gallery’s storefront window. It is believed seven of Modigliani’s nudes were exhibited in the 1917 show, with Nude Sitting on a Divan being one of the most provocative samples. The sitter is displayed boldly, with only the faintest suggestion of setting. She is neither demure nor submissive, but depicted with a degree of objectivity. Yet the uniformly thick, rough application of paint, as if applied by a sculptor’s hand, is more concerned with mass and the visceral perception of the female body than with titillation and the re-creation of translucent, tactile flesh. She is caught in a single moment of either putting on a small white garment, or taking it off, the varied meaning of either action adding to the allurement of the painting.
On November 2, 2010, the painting was sold at a New York auction for $68.9 million, a record price for an artwork by Modigliani at that time.