Studies for 'Greek Girls Picking up Pebbles by the Sea': Female Figures

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Drawing details

Title: Studies for 'Greek Girls Picking up Pebbles by the Sea': Female Figures
Date: c.1871-91
Media: Black and white chalk on blue paper
Dimensions: 30.3 x 22.2 cm
Location: Bewdley Museum, Worcestershire
Picture credit: Wyre Forest District Council Museum Service, Calderdale Museums and Arts
Reference number: 1974-370.12

Description

Left of sheet: full-length nude study for the female figure to the far right hand side of the painting 'Greek Girls Picking up Pebbles by the Sea' (c.1871, private collection). Lower left of sheet: full-length nude study for the figure right of centre of the painting. This figure differs from the figure in the painting as she holds her arms behind her back, whereas in the finished work her hands hold pebbles within the fabric gathered at the front of her dress. Upper centre of sheet: full-length nude study of a female figure, similar to the figure in the centre of the painting, but with hands behind her back, feet further apart and head turned slightly to the right. Centre of sheet: full-length nude study for the figure in the centre of the painting. Upper right of sheet: study of a figure, with back to viewer, head bowed down and right foot behind the left, and lifting off the ground as if walking. To the right of this figure is a rough study, possibly related to the female figure in the painting 'Perseus and Andromeda' (c.1891, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool). In this sketch the upper body and legs twist to the left, whereas in the painting, both twist to the right. Centre right of sheet: full-length nude study for the female figure to the far left of the painting 'Greek Girls Picking up Pebbles by the Sea'. Lower right of sheet: three-quarter length draped study for the female figure, right of centre of the same painting. The upper half of the figure is nude, however, lose fabric is draped from the hips. The figure's hands hang loosely in front of her hips. 

Provenance

Presented to Bewdley Museum, Worcestershire, in the early 1930s 

Exhibition history

• 25 March 2005 to 03 May 2005, 'Lord Leighton: Nymphs and Nudes', Bewdley Museum, Worcestershire, Bewdley