Recumbent Male Nude

Recumbent Male Nude
Recumbent Male Nude
Recumbent Male Nude
National Museum Wales, Cardiff
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Recumbent Male Nude
Date
c.1754-55 (undated)
Medium
Black and white chalk and stump on prepared grey paper, laid down on card with old washlines
Dimensions
Metric: 331 x 510 mm
Imperial: 12 15/16 x 20 in.
Accession Number
NMW A 1885
Wilson Online Reference
D355
Description
Study of a nude man with outstretched arm and splayed legs lying diagonally upper right to lower left. Two additional studies of hands appear at the upper and lower right.
Exhibited
Nottingham, University Art Gallery & London, Kenwood 1991, The Artist's Model in British Art from Lely to Etty (48)
Provenance
Purchased from P.& D. Colnaghi & Co. Ltd, May 1945
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Verso inscriptions
[1] Upper right, pencil: No 230 a
[2] Upper left, pencil different hand: 484
Related Paintings
P90 The Destruction of the Children of Niobe, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven
P90A The Destruction of the Children of Niobe, Private Collection at Ashridge, England
P90B The Destruction of the Children of Niobe, ex-National Gallery; destroyed 1944
P90D Studio of Wilson Apollo destroying the Children of Niobe, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
P90E The Destruction of Niobe's Children, Collection of Richard L. Feigen & Co
Critical commentary
This study was used for one of the central figures in several versions of The Destruction of the Children of Niobe. Drawn from the life, it may have been executed in Italy, where Wilson was a member of the Accademia del Nudo. However, he had previously been a member of the St Martin's Lane Academy in London, where the study could also have been made.
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
45.122
Bibliography
Burlington Magazine, Sept. 1944, pp. 211-213; WGC, p. 163, pl. 21a; J. Gage, J.M.W. Turner: 'A Wonderful Range of Mind', 1987, pp. 105 & 107, repr.
Link to WG Constable Archive Record
Condition/Conservation
A fine figure drawing but the surface is worn in places
Updated by Compiler
2020-06-30 00:00:00