Man Standing with Folded Arms
Medium
Black pastel, squared in black chalk, on blue laid paper
Dimensions
45.6 × 30.8 cm (18 × 12 3/16 in.)
Classification
pastel
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
46860
Art Historical Context
In the Prints and Drawings collection of the Art Institute of, *Man Standing with Folded Arms* by Henry Stacy Marks captures a poised, introspective figure in a simple commanding stance. Rendered in black pastel on blue laid paper, this undated drawing measures 45.6 × 30.8 cm and exemplifies the artist's skill in figure studies during the Victorian era. Marks, a British painter known for his lively genre scenes and avian subjects, here focuses on human form with economical precision. The work's medium—black pastel heightened by squaring in black chalk—reveals its preparatory nature. The grid ...
About the Artist
Henry Stacy Marks · 1829–1898
Henry Stacy Marks (1829–1898) was born on 13 September 1829 in London, the fourth child of coachbuilder John Isaac Marks and Elizabeth Pally. Initially apprenticed in his father's trade and briefly working as a clerk, Marks displayed early artistic talent, learning to paint heraldry for carriages. He began formal training around 1847 at James Mathews Leigh's art school in Newman Street, where he b...