Study of Male Nude, with Leg Propped
Artist
Susan Watkins
(American, 1875 - 1913)
Dateca. 1897
MediumConté crayon on paper
Dimensions24 1/4 × 18 3/4 in. (61.6 × 47.6 cm)
Overall, Frame: 35 1/8 × 28 1/2 × 1 7/8 in. (89.2 × 72.4 × 4.8 cm)
Overall, Frame: 35 1/8 × 28 1/2 × 1 7/8 in. (89.2 × 72.4 × 4.8 cm)
ClassificationsAmerican art
Credit LineBequest of Goldsborough Serpell
Object number46.76.004
Terms
- Black
- White
On View
Not on viewLabel TextSusan Watkins American (1875-1913) Studies of Female and Male Nudes, ca. 1897 Conté crayon on paper Goldsborough Serpell Bequest 46.76.001, .004, & .005 The ultimate aim of academic art training in nineteenth- century Paris was the convincing depiction of the human form. Both in the government-run École des Beaux-Arts and in private Paris ateliers such as Raphael Collin's, pupils gained mastery in this area by drawing and painting from nude models posing in life classes. Traditionally known as académies, these simple life drawings and oil sketches were generally viewed not as finished works of art, but as ephemeral student efforts-studio studies that were often neglected or damaged through continued use, and even destroyed over time. Though Watkins' académies show the wear and tear typical of their type, they remain remarkably poetic evocations of the male and female form. In drawings like these, she gained a thorough knowledge of the figure-its anatomical logic, its luminary and expressive possibilities, and even its potential for movement. In the process, Watkins laid the groundwork for the figures that would populate her mature Salon portraits and genre paintings.
