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The Chalk Writer

Maker

(Artists)
1745-1806

Title

The Chalk Writer

Date of Production

(circa) 1788

Medium

medium : material : pastel; support : material : paper (mounted on canvas)

Dimensions

Height: 45.5 cm (canvas)
Width: 39.5 cm (canvas)

Accession Number

D.1945.XX.3

Mode of Acquisition

Joan Evans, bequest, 1945

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Label Text

In 1789, John Russell presented this pastel in his first exhibition as a full member of the Royal Academy. It shows a man wearing an artist’s cap resting against a slab of slate on which he has written the initials GR with white chalk in beautiful calligraphic script. With this reference to King George III, Russell pays tribute to the monarch and openly appeals for royal patronage. Celebrated as Britain’s leading pastellist, he juxtaposes the purely linear mark of the chalk writer with his own skilful lifelike modelling.

Provenance

Dr Joan Evans; bequest 1945.

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Unseen, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 15/01/2015-29/03/2015

Creative Quarters, Museum of London, 28/03/2001-15/07/2001

Literature

Whitlum-Cooper, Francesca, 'The Chalk Writer', unpublished MA essay, Courtauld Institute of Art, 2009

Creative Quarters, Museum of London, 2001

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