Studies for 'Iostephane': Female Figures

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Drawing details

Title: Studies for 'Iostephane': Female Figures
Date: c.1879
Media: Black and white chalk on brown paper
Dimensions: 23.8 x 33.2 cm
Location: Leighton House Museum
Picture credit: Leighton House Museum, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Reference number: LHO/D/0715
Inscriptions: Stamped lower left "LLC" encircled, in black ink.

Interpretation

This drawing is a rarity as very few studies exist for the painting 'Iostephane' (c.1880, untraced). It is not clear whether there were once more drawings which are now missing, or whether further studies never existed.

Description

Left of sheet: full-length study of two nude female figures reclining. The figure to the right sits crossed legged on the floor, turned to the right. To the left a second female figure kneels and lies across the lap of the first figure. The upper body of the first figure is slumped over the second. Upper right of sheet: Study for the female figure in the painting 'Iostephane' (c.1880, untraced). 

Provenance

Bequeathed by the artist to his sisters, Mrs. Augusta Matthews (n+e Augusta Neunburg Leighton, 1835-1919) and Mrs. Alexandra Orr (n+e Alexandra Leighton, 1828-1903); purchased by the Fine Art Society in 1896; collection of Leighton House Museum