Seated Nude: The Black Hat
- Artist: Philip Wilson Steer
- Date: c.1900
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 508 x 406 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the “Seated Nude: The Black Hat” by Philip Wilson Steer, a work that captures a moment of playful intimacy in a studio. Steer, one of Britain’s most impressionist painters, often painted nudes in everyday settings, and here we see a woman seated, casually trying on a hat she’s found among the studio’s clutter. The model, believed to be Miss Geary, leans forward, her posture relaxed, while the hat rests on her head, adding a whimsical touch to an otherwise intimate study.
Steer himself never showed this piece publicly. According to his own account, friends at the time thought the hat “spoiled” the image, deeming it indecent for a nude to wear a hat. Consequently, it remained unseen until 1941, when Sir John Rothenstein, then director, acquired it directly from Steer’s studio on behalf of the Contemporary Art Society. The canvas, about 20 by 16 inches, is rendered with loose, vibrant brushwork that hints at light filtering through an interior window, a hallmark of Steer’s style.
The painting invites viewers to consider the tension between convention and spontaneity, a conversation that resonated over a century ago and continues to speak to us today.
See it in person
Seated Nude: The Black Hat is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
