At the height of his artistic maturity in the 1960s, the Chinese émigré artist in France, Sanyu (1901 – 1966) painted Nu Rose sur Tissus Chinois. This was to be his last nude painting. The work reveals the beauty of Sanyu’s distinctive expression, which he achieved by blending the artistic styles of East and West. The delicate posture of the nude resonates with the Western classical tradition while the exaggerated deformation recalls the modernist works of the Impressionist, particularly Matisse or Picasso. Eastern influences appear in the bold outline of the figure balanced against a blank background, an effect that enhances the depth of the painting.

A legend in Asian art history and a luminary in Western art history, Sanyu spent much of his life as a drifter in Paris amid the golden age of modern art. In the 1920s, he went to the city along with fellow Chinese art students—among them Lin Fengmian, Wu Dayu, and Xu Beihong. Together they would write a glorious chapter for Chinese émigré artists in France.

By the 1930s, Sanyu had already achieved prominence on par with the Japanese artist Leonard Foujita’s, thanks in part to recognition by French writer Henri-Pierre Roché and Dutch composer Johan Franco. However, Sanyu’s personality and fate would keep him from both the fame and fortune that he deserved during his lifetime. Even so, he persevered in his personal artistic vision, which earned him the respect of both his contemporaries and later artists. He remained a purist through to old age in the 1960s, disregarding external judgment as he closed on the final chapter of his creative career. Nu is Sanyu’s final masterpiece and the ultimate expression of his artistic vision.