Dormir is French for “to sleep”. Gottlieb chose a French name for his painting in part to honor a French painter whose work provided the original impetus for Gottlieb to paint his reclining nude. This classic subject and pose has countless guises throughout history from Titian to Manet and beyond, yet Gottlieb’s touch is unmistakeable in the glowing light that illuminates the sleeping girl from within and reveals her virtue in its most vulnerable state. His signature dark reds softly embrace her form and shelter it from the dark night above.
