A nude woman sits in a row of string instruments—a cello, viola, and violin—arranged from large to small, her soft curvature matching the carved shapes of the instruments. Her shoulders and hips mimic the adjacent wooden bodies. Her raised and hand arm mimic the neck of the instruments. She fits into the pattern of shapes, arranged from large to small.
The background fades slightly at the corners, and recedes to darkness at the base of the image. This expanse of plain, negative space isolates the four figures in the foreground. The result is a graphical image of undefined depth, centering attention on the immediate message.
Antique tones of sepia wash over the tableau. These subtle hues bring a bit of flavor to the black and white photograph. The monochrome treatment gives the artwork a timeless feeling.
Musical instruments have historically been used in art to represent love in its various forms. String instruments have a long history, appearing in art and myth, and often evoke feelings of poetry and worldliness. Man Ray’s Le Violon d’Ingres (Ingres’s Violin) features a nude woman with cello-like sound holes on her back.
Compare this image of a nude woman with a cello, viola, and violin to one of a guitar-wielding pinup for a different ambiance.
