George Frederic Watts RA, Studies of the arms and back of a female nude

Studies of the arms and back of a female nude

George Frederic Watts RA (1817 - 1904)

RA Collection: Art

A sheet of studies of a female nude in black and white chalk. Three of the drawings are details of the arms in various positions and the drawing on the top left shows the head and upper body of the model viewed from the back. The pose of the figure on the top right is similar to Watts' depictions of both Lady Godiva and Eurydice.

Watts often expressed the emotive force of his figures through their pose or drapery rather than by facial expression. This is apparent in the large number of figures depicted from the side or the back in both his paintings and his drawings. This group of drawings in the Royal Academy collection gives some indication of the large number of Watts's figure studies and preparatory drawings which concentrate on the back.

Watts's choice of poses seems to be part of the same impulse as his habit of obscuring the facial features of figures in his allegorical paintings. Both are part of an effort to universalise his subjects rather than focusing on their individual traits. His sometimes unconventional poses also reveal his dislike for relying on generic compositional rules, or what he called 'picture making'.

Further reading:

Veronica Franklin Gould ed., The Vision of G F Watts, exhib. cat., The Watts Gallery, 2004, pp. 72-74

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Object details

Title
Studies of the arms and back of a female nude
Artist/designer
Object type
Drawing
Medium
Black and white chalk on brown wove paper
Dimensions

390 mm x 487 mm

Collection
Royal Academy of Arts
Object number
04/93
Acquisition
Bequeathed by George Frederic Watts RA 1904
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