Female Nude in the Life Room
Female Nude in the Life Room
This red chalk drawing was probably made in the life studio of an art school, such as the Académie Julian in Paris, where several British artists studied in the last years of the 19th century and early years of the 20th, or perhaps the Slade School of Fine Art or Royal Academy Schools.
It would seem that a smoking tripod oil lamp lights the model to provide dramatic light and shade on the nude form, which the north light of a life room would otherwise light evenly. The sangiune red chalk often used at the time, for example under Henry Tonks at the Slade, was well suited to conveying such chiaroscuro, particularly when blocked in, as in the present work.
It is not unusual for an art school drawing of this period to be unsigned. The use of an oil lamp and the style of gathering the model's hair, which we see in Académie Julian and Slade life drawings of the time, would suggest a date of around 1900.
Dimensions:
c.1895-1905
Red chalk on textured watercolour-type paper
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