Study for 'The Garden of the Hesperides': Female Figure

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Drawing details

Title: Study for 'The Garden of the Hesperides': Female Figure
Date: c.1891
Media: Black and white chalk on grey brown paper
Dimensions: 20.6 x 26.7 cm
Location: Leighton House Museum
Picture credit: Leighton House Museum, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Reference number: LHO/D/1106
Inscriptions: Stamped lower left "LLC" encircled, in black ink. Inscribed on reverse, lower right "12" within a square box, in black ink, crossed out in blue biro.

Description

Full-length study of a female figure, probably the figure to the left of the painting 'The Garden of the Hesperides' (c.1892, Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight). The pose is very different to that of the finished work as the figure is slumped, the head falls forward, the knees are turned towards the viewer, the left hand rests loosely in the lap, and the right is on the ground. In the finished painting the figure's head is tipped backwards, she plays a lute, and the knees are turned away from the viewer. 

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