Roger Fry was an artist, critic, author and lecturer. He became a key figure in the Bloomsbury group after a chance encounter on a train, meeting Clive and Vanessa Bell. In 1910 he began his assault on the English idea of polite taste with his exhibition of ‘Manet and the Post Impressionists’, term Fry coined himself.
The Reclining Nude (1917) is an important piece, as it shows the ways in which Fry was doing away with traditional conventions, the nude shown here was a shocking image when it was drawn as it showed an imperfect view of beauty, Nina’s cropped hair and slender body wasn’t typical of nude drawings at this time. There are obvious similarities with Matisse in this work and it is easy to see the modernism associated with the French avant-garde’s influence on Fry’s work. This sketch is of his lover Nina Hamnett who appears in many of his works including a large portrait on show in the main gallery.
Nina Hamnett was known by many as the ‘Queen of Bohemia’ she was one of Fry’s biggest inspirations. She was previously associated with the Paris art scene, establishing herself as both an artist and as a flamboyant and promiscuous figure, embracing the bohemian lifestyle becoming well known for such antics as dancing nude on a cafe table amid her drinking friends. Her reputation filtered back to London and on her return she joined Roger Fry and other Bloomsbury artists in the Omega workshop.