Sheet with two studies of a female nude
Maker
(artist)
1798-1863
1798-1863
Title
Sheet with two studies of a female nude
Date of Production
1847
Medium
graphite on laid paper; a touch of white bodycolour adjacent to the torso of the figure on the left sheet
Dimensions
Height: 26.2 cm
Width: 38.6 cm
Width: 38.6 cm
Accession Number
D.1978.PG.234
Mode of Acquisition
Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Copyright
Work in the public domain
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Label Text
The two female nudes juxtaposed on this study sheet relate to different projects that Delacroix was working on in the late 1840s. The figure combing her hair on the left was used in preparation of 'Le Lever', a painting praised for its sensuousness when it was exhibited in Paris in 1850–51. Delacroix’s inscription suggests that the figure on the right represents Eve reaching for the apple. The women’s bodies and movements are captured with great freedom, with loose yet assured graphite strokes, typical of Delacroix.
Provenance
sale of the artist, L. 838a (stamped three times), Hotel Drouot (Paris), 17-29 February 1864, probably lot 455 or 456 ('Compositions diverses' and 'Croquis divers' listed under heading of 'Divers sujets religieux'); acquired from the Parisian art market by Lucas Lichtenhan (Basel); purchased from him by Count Antoine Seilern (1901-1978), December 1954; Princes Gate Bequest 1978
Exhibition History
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Frick Collection, New York, 02/10/2012-27/01/2013
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/06/2012-09/09/2012
Special Display - French Drawings of the 19th century, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 08/02/2008-12/06/2008 ...More
French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 04/07/1991-06/10/1991
Delacroix : an exhibition of paintings, drawings and lithographs / arr. by the Arts Council of Great Britain in assoc ; with the Edinburgh Festival Society, Royal Academy only, 1964 ...Less
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/06/2012-09/09/2012
Special Display - French Drawings of the 19th century, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 08/02/2008-12/06/2008 ...More
French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 04/07/1991-06/10/1991
Delacroix : an exhibition of paintings, drawings and lithographs / arr. by the Arts Council of Great Britain in assoc ; with the Edinburgh Festival Society, Royal Academy only, 1964 ...Less
Literature
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, Frick Collection, New York and Courtauld Gallery, London London 2012-2013
no. 49
ill. on p. 223
French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1991
no. 15
ill. on p. 39
Johnson, Lee, The Paintings of Eugène Delacroix: A Critical Catalogue 1832-1863, vol. III, Oxford 1986
p. 7 under no. 168 ...More
Braham, Helen, The Princes Gate Collection [all Princes Gate works, the exhibited drawings listed separately as Selection A and Selection B], London, 1981
Appendix III, p. 138
Clark, T.J., The Absolute Bourgeois, London 1973
p. 138
pl. 97
dated c. 1847
Spector, Jack J., The Murals of Eugene Delacroix at Saint-Sulpice, The College Art Association of America, New York 1967
p. 31n18
dates drawing to March or April 1849
Delacroix : an exhibition of paintings, drawings and lithographs / arr. by the Arts Council of Great Britain in assoc ; with the Edinburgh Festival Society, Royal Academy, London, 1964
cat. no. no. 159
pl. 84
Royal Academy only
Seilern, Count Antoine, Paintings and drawings of Continental Schools other than Flemish and Italian at 56 Princes Gate, London SW7, London 1961; III
no. 234
pl. LIX
dated 1849-50 ...Less
no. 49
ill. on p. 223
French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1991
no. 15
ill. on p. 39
Johnson, Lee, The Paintings of Eugène Delacroix: A Critical Catalogue 1832-1863, vol. III, Oxford 1986
p. 7 under no. 168 ...More
Braham, Helen, The Princes Gate Collection [all Princes Gate works, the exhibited drawings listed separately as Selection A and Selection B], London, 1981
Appendix III, p. 138
Clark, T.J., The Absolute Bourgeois, London 1973
p. 138
pl. 97
dated c. 1847
Spector, Jack J., The Murals of Eugene Delacroix at Saint-Sulpice, The College Art Association of America, New York 1967
p. 31n18
dates drawing to March or April 1849
Delacroix : an exhibition of paintings, drawings and lithographs / arr. by the Arts Council of Great Britain in assoc ; with the Edinburgh Festival Society, Royal Academy, London, 1964
cat. no. no. 159
pl. 84
Royal Academy only
Seilern, Count Antoine, Paintings and drawings of Continental Schools other than Flemish and Italian at 56 Princes Gate, London SW7, London 1961; III
no. 234
pl. LIX
dated 1849-50 ...Less
Inscriptions
Watermark: Watermark: none.
Inscription: Recto: lower left edge, graphite, artist’s hand: “ou bien elle tient la pomme./ la maladie, les maux, le peché les attendent. la mort dans l'arbre de la science”; lower right edge, graphite, artist’s hand: “les faire après la faute. appuyés tristement à l'arbre / Adam consterné et assis”.
Collector's mark: Recto: appears three times - on left sheet at lower centre, on right sheet at lower left and lower right edges - stamped in red: Eugène Delacroix (L.838a).
Inscription: Recto: lower left edge, graphite, artist’s hand: “ou bien elle tient la pomme./ la maladie, les maux, le peché les attendent. la mort dans l'arbre de la science”; lower right edge, graphite, artist’s hand: “les faire après la faute. appuyés tristement à l'arbre / Adam consterné et assis”.
Collector's mark: Recto: appears three times - on left sheet at lower centre, on right sheet at lower left and lower right edges - stamped in red: Eugène Delacroix (L.838a).
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