A large horizontal pencil figure drawing of a reclining figure — seen from slightly above and to the side, the composition focused on the upper body. The most prominent element is at the upper left: a hand resting on the body, drawn with exceptional care and specificity — each finger individually described, the knuckles and the slight tension of a relaxed hand all present. This hand is the finest single hand study in the reclining figure drawings.
Below the hand, the torso extends from upper left toward lower right, the forms described in clean contour with minimal shadow buildup. At the upper right, the head and shoulders are barely suggested — the hair a loose mass, the face absent. At the far right, the lower legs and feet appear, described with the characteristic toe-by-toe attention.
The composition makes a formal statement through its incompleteness: the two most described elements — the hand at the left and the feet at the right — frame a lightly described middle zone. The body is most real at its extremities, at the places where it touches and contacts the world.
The warm cream paper of this drawing is slightly different from the cool white papers of many 1000-series works — the warmer ground gives the pencil marks a more intimate quality.