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Female nude with a cast of the 'Venus de Medici'

Maker

(artist)
1787-1849

Title

Female nude with a cast of the 'Venus de Medici'

Date of Production

(circa) 1835 - 1837

Medium

black, red and white chalk with stumping on mauve wove paper, the lower edge made up, now laid down on Japanese tissue

Dimensions

Height: 59.3 cm
Width: 39.2 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3225

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

When Etty entered the Royal Academy Schools in Somerset House, students were only allowed to draw living models after a lengthy programme of study from antique casts. Constable and Turner introduced themed poses to the Life School. Arranged by Turner, this juxtaposition of a nude model and cast of a celebrated antique sculpture of Venus neatly encapsulates both aspects of the Royal Academy’s teaching. As well as serving as an artistic exercise, Etty’s image explores the real and the ideal in female beauty.

Provenance

Walker’s Galleries (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), n.d. (£10); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

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

D'Apres L'Antique - Beau Comme l'Antique, Paris & France, 16/10/2000-15/01/2001

Italy and British Art in the Age of Turner, London & England, 04/03/1998-24/05/1998 ...More

The artist's model: from Lely to Etty, Nottingham University Art Gallery and Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood, 1991

Turner and the human figure, Tate, London, 1989

The nude: 19th & 20th century paintings, drawings, sculpture , prints, Morley Gallery, London, 10/04/1975-24/05/1975

Turner 1775-1851, Royal Academy, London, 16/11/1974-02/03/1975

Etty and the Nude, Rye Art Gallery, 01/06/1974-13/07/1974

unnumbered typescript - title was possibly 'A Selection of Drawings from The Witt/Courtauld Collections [as exhibited in 1964 at University of Sussex, Falmer]', Nottingham University, 1966 ...Less

Literature

Gilchrist, Alexander, Life of William Etty, R.A., London 1855
vol. II, p. 59

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 18

Farr, Dennis, William Etty, London 1958
no. 321 ...More

Etty and the Nude, Rye Art Gallery, 1974
cat. no. 17
ill.

The nude: 19th & 20th century paintings, drawings, sculpture , prints, Morley Gallery, London, 1975
cat. no. 28

Turner and the human figure, Tate, London, 1989
cat. no. 4
ill. on p. 26

Blayney Brown, David, The art of Turner, London 1990
p. 33

Smith, Alison, The Victorian nude: sexuality, morality and art, Manchester 1996
p. 22
pl. 1 on p. 23

Italy in the age of Turner: "The Garden of the World", Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, 1998
p. 16
cat. 6 on p. 16

D'après l'antique, Musée du Louvre, 16 October 2000-15 January 2001, 2000-01
cat. no. 220
ill. on p. 416

Life, Legend, Landscape - Victorian Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, 2011
cat. no. 1
ill. on p. 42 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: paper too thick to check, though likely none.

Inscription: Mount: Verso: upper right, graphite: "1#"

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