Female life studies

These figure drawings may relate to the period that Swanzy spent in life classes in Paris in the summers of circa 1906 and 1907. She studied first in the women's atelier of Delacluse, but the models there tended to be draped. So the drawings could have been made in the studio of De La Grandara, Colarossi or La Grande Chaumière (yet the lightness and sense of ease in the drawings could date them to a later period in Swanzy's career). These life studies illustrate the qualities of draftsmanship: sureness of line and sense of volume, combined with a lightness of touch and an elegance, showing that drawing came naturally to Swanzy. These qualities remained with her, and can be seen in her figurative paintings through various stages of her life.
J.C.