Academic study of a man, half-length; Study of a kneeling male nude; Study of a nude male torso (recto) and study of a leg (verso); Studies of the legs and back of a labourer (recto) (illustrated) and study of a nude youth (verso)

Details

Benjamin West, P.R.A. (1738-1820)
Academic study of a man, half-length; Study of a kneeling male nude; Study of a nude male torso (recto) and study of a leg (verso); Studies of the legs and back of a labourer (recto) (illustrated) and study of a nude youth (verso)
one signed and dated 'B. West 1767.' (lower left); one numbered '26' (lower left)
black chalk and stump, two with white chalk, one on blue paper, all unframed
10¼ x 12½ in. (26.1 x 31.8 cm.); 14¼ x 10 in. (36.3 x 25.4 cm.); 16½ x 6¼ in. (41.9 x 15.9 cm.); and 10 x 12 in. (25.4 x 30.5 cm.) (4)

Provenance

The artist's family, and by descent to
Mrs P. Howard; Sotheby's, London, 22 March 1979, part of lot 7, where purchased by the present owner.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Lot Essay

The academic half-length study of a man, in this lot, may be an initial idea for the figure of Hercules in The Choice of Hercules (1764), now in the Victoria & Albert Museum (H. von Erffa & A. Staley, The Paintings of Benjamin West, New Haven and London, 1986, p. 37, no. 143, illustrated). An early drawing for this subject at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, shows Hercules leaning on a club, which may be the object on which the man's hand rests in the present drawing.

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