“The Bush” is an artwork created by Marcel Duchamp around 1911 in France. It is executed in oil on canvas and is associated with the Fauvism art movement. The painting measures approximately 91.9 by 127.3 centimeters and belongs to the genre of nude painting (nu). The artwork is currently housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, PA, United States.
The artwork depicts two nude female figures set against a background of abstracted, leafy shapes, suggesting a natural environment such as a bush or forest. The figure on the left is seated, with her knees drawn up and her gaze directed forward, while the figure on the right stands with an assured stance, gazing in the same direction. Their forms are stylized and simplified, with bold contours and a reduced complexity in rendering the details of the human body. The use of vivid, non-naturalistic colors and strong outlines reflects the Fauvist movement’s embrace of color as an emotional force and its departure from realistic representation. The juxtaposition of warm and cool tones creates a dynamic and harmonious composition, emblematic of the movement’s innovative spirit at the time of the painting’s creation.
