Untitled (after Courbet, Balthus, Degas, Valadon & Matisse)
- Artist: Lisa Brice
- Date: 2023
- Medium: Gouache and polyvinyl acetate paint on 5 canvases
- Dimensions: support, each: 1842 × 611 × 31 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
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About this artwork
This is the “Untitled (after Courbet, Balthus, Degas, Valadon & Matisse)” by Lisa Brice. Brice, born in 1968, layers gouache with a glossy polyvinyl acetate medium across five canvases, creating a shimmering, almost translucent surface. She draws on the legacy of the great French painters listed in the title—Courbet’s earthy realism, Balthus’s uncanny stillness, Degas’s fluid movement, Valadon’s candid intimacy, and Matisse’s bold color. In 2023, she blends those echoes into a contemporary dialogue about the human figure, turning the canvas into a study of form and gesture. The five panels sit side by side, almost like a collage of studies, allowing the eye to wander from one reference to another. Brice’s work feels both reverent and playful, reminding us that the past is never truly finished, just waiting for a new hand to pick it up.
See it in person
Untitled (after Courbet, Balthus, Degas, Valadon & Matisse) is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, 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.
