by-nc

Standing woman seen from the back

Maker

(artist)
1741-1825

Title

Standing woman seen from the back

Date of Production

(circa) 1796 - 1800

Medium

graphite, watercolour and white bodycolour on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 48.2 cm
Width: 30.3 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3937

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

This enigmatic back view of an unknown woman exudes an unsettling eroticism. Depictions of the human figure seen from behind had long been part of the stock-in-trade of artists working in the classical tradition. Fuseli engages with that heritage, but he also challenges it. Instead of complying with the idealised forms of antique statuary, these bodies have generous proportions. And rather than clothing of timeless simplicity, their informal attire and highly eccentric hairstyles leave us in no doubt of their modernity. The classicising dress and extravagant hairstyle, rendered in watery blues, are typical of the women who populate Fuseli’s richly imaginative and often disturbing work. The Swiss painter Fuseli was a member of the Royal Academy at the time when it occupied this building in Somerset House.

Provenance

probably given by the artist to the family of Susan, Baroness North, Petersham Castle (1797-1884), L.1947; Villiers David, London (1906-1985); anonymous sale (listed under 'Various Properties'), Sotheby's, 17 December 1947, lot 15; acquired there by Colnaghi (London) on behalf of Sir Robert Witt (1872-1952, London), L.2228b (£48); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Fuseli and the Modern Woman: Fashion, Fantasy, Fetishism, Kunsthaus Zurich, 24/02/2023-21/05/2023

Fuseli and the Modern Woman: Fashion, Fantasy, Fetishism, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/10/2022-08/01/2023

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

Englische Aquarelle, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie, and China, 1963-64

Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 17/11/1962-22/12/1962

Seventy Years of British Painting, London & England, 1960

L'Aquarelle anglaise, 1750-1850, Geneva and Zurich, 29/10/1955-17/03/1956

Drawings from the Witt Collection at the Courtauld Institute of Art, St James's Square, London; York City Art Gallery; Peterborough Art Gallery, 1953

Paintings and drawings by Fuseli, Arts Council, London, 1950

Paintings and drawings by Fuseli, 1741-1825, Roland Browse and Delbanco, London, 01/05/1948-01/06/1948 ...Less

Literature

Mantegna to Cezanne: Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 1983
cat. no. 117
ill. on p. 114

Schiff, Gert, Johann Heinrich Füssli, 1741-1825, Zurich: Verlag Berichthaus, 1973, 2 vols.
no. 1068

Anthony Blunt and Philip Troutman, Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, 1962
cat. no. 4
pl. 2 ...More

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 21

L'Aquarelle anglaise, 1750-1850, Geneva and Zurich, 1955-56
no. 57

Drawings from the Witt Collection at the Courtauld Institute of Art, St James's Square, London, York City Art Gallery and Peterborough Art Gallery, 1953
cat. no. 9

Powell, Nicholas, The Drawings of Henry Fuseli, London, 1951
pl. 46

Paintings and drawings by Fuseli, Arts Council, London, 1950
cat. no. 58

David H Solkin, Füssli, Mode, Fetisch, Fantasie, Verlag Scheidegger & Spiess, 2023
cat. no. 34
p. 124, p. 165

Solkin, Gottardo, Fuseli and the Modern Woman: Fashion, Fantasy, and Fetishism, The Courtauld Gallery, Kunsthaus Zurich, Paul Holberton Publishing, London, 2023.
cat. no. 34
pp. 78, 124, 164 ...Less

Inscriptions

Collector's mark: Verso: centre, stamped in black ink: Baroness Susan North (L.1947); lower left corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

Inscription: Verso: lower right corner, graphite: "#1" and Witt number "3937".

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