In Artist and Nude, Milton Avery depicted himself with his back to the viewer, sketching from a nude model. The model stands on a bed, her figure framed by an open window. In keeping with his reductive aesthetic, Avery refined the pictorial elements into broad expanses of two-dimensional form and color. He also employed a technique called sgraffito, using the pointed end of his brush to incise design elements like the wood grain of the floorboards. The painting’s figural subject, bold colors, emphasis on decorative patterning, and prominently placed open window are reminiscent of the French fauve artist Henri Matisse.