Study of a female nude, seen from behind

Details

John Constable, R.A. (East Bergholt 1776-1837 Hampstead)
Study of a female nude, seen from behind
signed with initials 'JC.' (lower right)
black and white chalk on buff paper
16¼ x 13 in. (41.3 x 33 cm.)

Provenance

with Spink-Leger, London.
with Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York.

Literature

A. Shirley, 'John Constable and "The Nude"', Connoisseur, London, April 1933, XCI, pp. 213-19, no. 16.
G. Reynolds, The Early Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, New Haven and London, 1996, p. 126, no. 08.47, pl. 732.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

Sale room notice

Please note this drawing is with inscription 'J C' and not signed with initials as stated in the catalogue.

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Harriet West

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Lot Essay

Attending the Royal Academy Schools from 1799, aged 23, Constable was noted for his diligence, the diarist Farington recording on 16 November 1807 that 'he attends the life class every evening' (Farington, VIII, p. 3142), and Leslie also commented that 'I have seen no studies made by Constable at the Academy of the antique, but many chalk drawings and oil paintings from the living model, all of which have great breadth of light and shade' (C.R. Leslie, Memoirs of the Life of John Constable, R.A., ed. A Shirley, London, 1937, p. 13).

There are comparable life-drawings from Constable's time at the Academy Schools in the Colchester Museum, the Courtauld Institute (Witt Collection) and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

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