Seated Nude epitomizes David Hare’s early work in experimental photography, before he became well-known as a sculptor and later, a painter. By melting select areas of his negative—a process Hare liked because he could not completely control the results—the artist optically assaulted the nude’s body. Hare was influenced by several European Surrealist artists who immigrated to the United States before and during World War II. His Seated Nude was one of twelve works on paper—and the only photograph—to be issued in a portfolio in 1942 to fund the publication of the American Surrealist journal VVV.