Watercolor, pen and black ink, pen and brown ink, and graphite on medium, moderately textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 13 7/8 x 7 1/4 inches (35.2 x 18.4 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B2012.16
Gallery Label:
George Richmond enrolled in the Royal Academy Schools at the end of 1823, when the Swiss-born artist Henri Fuseli was both Professor of Painting and Keeper of the Academy. As keeper, it was Fuseli’s job to pose the life models and oversee the students in the life class. His influence was tremendous, and he was always an extremely popular teacher with his students. Richmond profited from Fuseli’s teaching, and his early figure drawings, some made in preparation for biblical engraving, reflect this influence. In this instance, Richmond may have planned a print of the sower to illustrate the Parable of the Sower in the three synoptic Gospels. Richmond had recently returned from an extended stay in France, which had broadened his horizons. The style of this drawing suggests that he had studied the sculpture of Michelangelo available to him in France as well as the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. Gallery label for A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13)
