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Study of two female figures

Maker

(artist)
1830-1896

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1860 - 1864

Medium

black and white chalk on blue wove paper

Dimensions

Height: 36.8 cm
Width: 25.2 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3084

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Known for his fascination with costume, Frederic Leighton used this study of two female figures as a chance to focus on the shapely curves formed by the sleeves and voluminous skirts of the Renaissance-style dresses. He may have drawn the same model twice in slightly varied poses. In the 1860s, Leighton and some other British artists favoured black and white chalk on blue paper for figure studies, materials commonly used by the Italian Renaissance artists they admired.

Provenance

Dr Carl Robert Rudolf, London (1884-1974); acquired from him (in exchange) by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b (on a former mount, now removed), n.d. (£8); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Life, Legend, Landscape - Victorian Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 17/02/2011-15/05/2011

Some British Drawings from the Collection of Sir Robert Witt, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1948

Literature

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 32

Life, Legend, Landscape: Victorian Drawings & Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, 2011
no. 6
ill. on p. 55

Some British Drawings from the Collection of Sir Robert Witt, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1948
no. 50

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Mount (removed, see photo): lower left and right, graphite: "Exhib. Arts Council. 1948/9 Lord Leighton PRA / 1830-1896".

Collector's mark: Mount (removed, see photo), Recto: lower left, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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