Seated Woman, Ka CoxStanding male nude with raised arms (verso)
- Artist: Duncan Grant
- Date: c. 1912
- Medium: oil on panel
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is the 'Seated Woman, Ka CoxStanding male nude with raised arms (verso)' by Duncan Grant. In this oil on panel from around 1912, you’ll notice the quirky way Grant uses the canvas: a chunk of aged wood—probably a fragment of a door—serves as the backdrop for a striking standing male nude on the verso. The front shows Ka Cox, the young woman who first crossed paths with Grant in 1911 and became a close friend of the Bloomsbury Group, including Virginia Woolf. She was a member of the Neo‑Pagans, a circle that celebrated rustic values and a simple life. Grant painted her several times, and this piece captures that intimate friendship.
This work was one of six contributions to Roger Fry’s Second Post‑Impressionist Exhibition at the Grafton Galleries in London in 1912, a pivotal moment in early modernism. The juxtaposition of the seated woman with the energetic male figure on the back hints at the playful dialogue between stillness and movement that Grant explored in his early career. The oil medium gives the figures a luminous quality, while the rough texture of the wood panel adds a tactile depth that invites closer inspection. Overall, it’s a fascinating glimpse into Grant’s experimental approach and his connection to the Bloomsbury circle.
See it in person
Seated Woman, Ka CoxStanding male nude with raised arms (verso) hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
