- Very nice nude portrait - Very nice colours - High resolution Reading nude on bed, another reclining nude of Sjaantje van Ingen, reading in a book. Reclining nude shows Sjaantje van Ingen more or less caught during a moment to herself, possibly after a tiring day. She lies there unimpressed and unabashed, slender and silent, seemingly casually reading in a book. Like a body of flowers, she lies on a sofa covered by a sheet, no doubt aware that the painter is watching her, but otherwise unaware of any harm. Israëls portrays Sjaantje tenderly and intimately, as a paragon of subdued sensuality. It is almost visible that he must have loved her. For her part, Sjaantje seems completely at ease in his studio. She does not pose, but seems almost bodily present. The attentive reading in the book can be seen as a cultural act that neutralises any thought of 'indecency'. Israëls paints her with his characteristic loose impressionist touch, paying close attention to the feminine curves of her plump body and the pink colour of her skin. His brush modelled her body softly, with her red mouth as a bright accent in a sea of soft pink, beige and white. As a whole, the portrait can be seen as an aesthetic work, in which emotion, lust and lustlessness are allowed ample space.
