Lord Leighton PRA, A half-reclining male nude

A half-reclining male nude, 1861

Lord Leighton PRA (1830 - 1896)

RA Collection: Art

This group of life drawings are very similar in style and arrangement. One is inscribed 'Rome 1853' and it is very likely that the others were also made at life classes either in Rome or in Frankfurt where Leighton studied at the Städelsches Institut. Having completed his training with the Nazarene painter Edvard von Steinle in Frankfurt, Leighton arrived in Rome on the 19th November 1852 remaining there, apart from visits to his family in Germany, until 1855 when he moved to Paris.

Many of these life studies are drawn in pencil with a sharp outline and light modelling effected by the close-knit hatching of fine lines. The academic quality of the drawings derives from Leighton's rigorous training. In later years, Leighton retained a methodical approach to the preparation of his compositions but his life drawings became considerably less restrained and he favoured the more fluid medium of black and white chalks on brown paper.

All objects in this group

Object details

Title
A half-reclining male nude
Artist/designer
Lord Leighton PRA (1830 - 1896)
Date
1861
Object type
Drawing
Medium
Black chalk on light green toned laid paper
Dimensions

274 mm x 422 mm

Collection
Royal Academy of Arts
Object number
04/489
Acquisition
Given by Augusta Matthews 1896 and Mrs Alexandra Orr 1896
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