Medium
figures
Classification
figures
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Henrietta Haller
Accession Number
1904-16-79
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
**Figure** by Robert Frederick Blum (185–1903) is an early work from 1876, created when the American artist was just 19 old. Blum, a Cincinnati native who later became renowned for his exquisite watercolors and illustrations inspired by Venetian life and Japanese aesthetics, began his training at the McMicken School of and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. This piece, classified as a figure study, reflects the rigorous academic training of the era, where young artists honed their skills through detailed renderings of the human form to master anatomy, proportion, and expression. As a ...