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Two studies of seated women

Maker

(artist)
1734-1802

Title

Date of Production

1700 - 1799

Medium

graphite and brown ink on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 41.2 cm
Width: 30.2 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3448

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

Unlike iron gall ink, which is black when first applied and turns brown with age, bistre is brown when first applied; it is also slightly more transparent than iron gall ink. Bistre is made from the soot left by burning wood, and will vary in colour according to what type of wood produced the soot. Having sketched the figures roughly in pencil, Romney has drawn the ink lines entirely with a brush, rather than a pen. He used the brush full of ink in the areas of shadow around the chest of the woman in profile, and allowed it to run slightly dry as it reached the end of the strokes describing the softly folded drapery of her skirt.

Provenance

Leonard G. Duke, London (1890-1971); purchased from him by Colnaghi (London), 4 January 1944; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, 8 January 1944 (£7); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Material Evidence, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/10/1998-24/01/1999

Zwei Jahrhunderte Englische Malerei: Britische Kunst und Europa 1680 bis 1880, Haus der Kunst, Munich, 21/11/1979-27/01/1980

Literature

Zwei Jahrhunderte Englische Malerei: Britische Kunst und Europa 1680 bis 1880, Haus der Kunst, Munich, 1979-1980
cat. no. 62

Zwei Jahrhunderte Englische Malerei: Britische Kunst und Europa 1680 bis 1880, Haus der Kunst, Munich, 1979-1980
no. 162
ill. on p. 286

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 41

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: Recto, left centre edge and left upper edge: "IV R " (no match found in Heawood or Churchill; IV = initials of Jan Villedary, used 1668-1812, R is perhaps for Adriaan Rogge (1704-1803)?).

Inscription: Verso: upper left corner, graphite, over an earlier inscription which included an "H": "R15".

Collector's mark: Verso: lower left corner, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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