Study for 'Summer Slumber': Sleeping Female Figure

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Drawing details

Title: Study for 'Summer Slumber': Sleeping Female Figure
Date: c.1893
Media: Black and white chalk on brown paper
Dimensions: 25.8 x 35.7 cm
Location: Leighton House Museum
Picture credit: Leighton House Museum, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Reference number: LHO/D/0737
Inscriptions: Inscribed lower right "Study for Summer Slumber" in pencil. Inscribed on reverse, centre left "421" encircled, in blue biro, crossed out in black biro. Inscribed on reverse, upper centre "SUMMER SLUMBER. 1894 / ACC NO 737" in black biro. Inscribed on

Interpretation

In her biography of Leighton, published in 1904, Alice Corkran refers to the collection of drawings at Leighton House Museum: "Generous donors have contributed to the task of gathering these records of the undying charm of line, of the exquisite charm of detail lovingly wrought out. The King, then Prince of Wales, gave one of the finest studies in the collection, that of 'Summer Slumbers' [sic]." This is the drawing that was purchased for Leighton House Museum in about 1897, by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII, d.1910). A photograph of the house, taken shortly after the acquisition of the drawing, shows it on display, on an easle, in the Music Room or Ante Room. A print of the completed painting and images of two other studies were displayed below it, and a royal crest was attached to the top of the easle.

Description

Full-length study for the reclining figure in the foreground of the painting 'Summer Slumber' (c.1894, private collection). 

 

Bibliography

• Barrington, Mrs. Russell, 'The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic, Lord Leighton', George Allen, London, 1906, volume II, illustrated opposite p.316
• Corkran, Alice, 'Frederic Leighton', Methuen and Co., London, 1904, illustrated opposite p.175
• Ormond, Leon+e and Richard, 'Lord Leighton', Yale University Press, London, 1975, p.172 (listed under catalogue number 382)
• Robbins, Daniel and Suleman, Reena, 'Leighton House Museum: Holland Park Road, Kensington', The Royal Borough of Kensington and Che 

Exhibition history

• 01 November 2001 to 27 January 2002, 'Exposed: The Victorian Nude', Tate Britain, London, catalogue number 121
• 18 February 2002 to 26 May 2002, 'Exposed: The Victorian Nude', Haus der Kunst, Munich, catalogue number [check the same?]
• February 2003 to August 2003, Prefectural Museum and Kobe City Museum, Kobe, and University Art Museum, Tokyo, catalogue number [check - the same?]
• 19 September 2005 to 09 December 2005, 'The Leighton Drawings Project: A Preview', Leighton House Museum, London