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Quiet, reflective, and studious, Lawton Parker painted with friends in Giverny, exploring the effects of sunlight on the human figure and capturing a rainbow of colors created when light filters through foliage, bending and reflecting. As with many creative inventions, a happy accident occurred when a long period of rain forced the artist indoors. The result was La Paresse (Idleness), a painting that combines Parker’s academic attention to anatomy with the Impressionist use of light and color. Exhibited in the 1913 Paris Salon, La Paresse was awarded the highest honor for foreign artists—the Gold Medal of the Société des Artistes Français. With the benefit of hindsight and research, we know that Parker often repeated compositional themes; however, his exact artistic approach when creating a painting remains unclear. The tightness of the pastel rendering and the complex use of yellow, blue, pink, and green along the figure’s legs, torso, and face suggest that Reclining Nude is not just a quick sketch, but a thoughtful study or possibly a precursor to La Paresse. Similar in design, both artworks feature a figure positioned in front of what is clearly the same window, with the bed sheets mirroring the curved outline of the female form. Reclining Nude depicts a more casual pose, implying not only a shorter sitting but also an informal atmosphere in the room. Parker has depicted his model at eye level, drawing her as his equal. Her hair is styled, almost as if she has somewhere to be afterward. Lounging back on cushions that support her arms, one hand rests lazily on her shoulder while the other stretches behind her raised knees; the model appears relaxed in thought, her face serene.
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