This drawing belongs to the first period of André Lhote’s career, who exhibited his work for the first time at Galerie Druet in Paris in 1910. The figure of the woman lying on the ground has a marble-like appearance. The rotund volume of her thighs, breasts, and forearms contrast with her hands and her face, resolved by the artist in a schematic fashion akin to an African sculpture.

A bold foreshortening, in this drawing Lhote plays with figurative and abstract elements, flat representation and volume, and with lines and chiaroscuro. The artist sought to create the effect of depth by placing one of the figure’s legs in the foreground and forcing her body into a complex torsion that allows the model to face the viewer. Despite the complexity of the composition, the woman appears relaxed and effortless.

Lhote used the figure in this drawing in two oil paintings—from 1910 and 1912—that incorporate a rural background in which he treated volumes, lights, and shadows in a Cubist style. Along with the figure, he painted combinations of different elements: cards, fruit, a plate of grapes, and a hand-fan.