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Figure of a Turk (or Greek?)

Maker

(artist)
1812-1845

Title

Date of Production

1800 - 1899

Medium

graphite and watercolour on wove paper, laid down on card

Dimensions

Height: 20.6 cm
Width: 11.3 cm

Accession Number

D.2010.XX.34

Mode of Acquisition

Helen Martin Leake, gift, in memory of her husband, Kenneth Martin Leake, November 2010

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

The Bristol-born painter James William Müller, is known for his particularly vibrant and expressive watercolour technique. After studying painting he focused in his early oeuvre on landscapes of Gloucestershire and Wales. In 1833 he first exhibited at the Royal Academy and then started to travel extensively in Europe and North Africa including Greece, Turkey and Egypt. During these trips he not only drew the scenery but also figure studies. This sheet represents a man, probably a peasant, in ‘oriental’ dress. Typically for Müller's sketches he described the subject in a handwritten note at the bottom, identifying the place where he made the drawing as "Athens". As Müller visited the city in the autumn of 1838 the sheet may be dated to this year. The choice of the three primary colours blue, yellow and red, the balanced upright posture and the pensive air of the man gazing downwards to an object on the floor (yet to be identified) - lend beauty and dignity to the subject.

Provenance

Christie's (according to Acquisition Report, the frame had a stencil "970HN" and white chalk "200" on the verso from Christie's); purchased in Kensington Church Street by Kenneth Martin Leake (1919-2008), before 1980 (but no earlier than 1950s - no surviving invoice); by descent to his wife, Helen Martin Leake; Leake Gift 2010

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: unable to check due to thickness of card support.

Inscription: Recto: lower centre, graphite: "man in employ as [unclear word] / Athens - 19.". Frame (removed and now missing, recorded in Acquisition Report), Verso: black stencil: “970 HN” and white chalk “200” from Christie’s sale.

Collector's mark: none.

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