Seated Male Nude with Extended Leg (recto); Sketch of Kneeling Male Nude and Divided Circle (verso)
1917/21
Medium
Charcoal (recto and verso) with stumping on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
47.3 × 62.3 cm (18 5/8 × 24 9/16 in.)
Classification
charcoal
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
112166
Art Historical Context
John Singer Sargent’s *Seated Male Nude with Extended Leg* (1917–21) offers a compelling glimpse into the artist’s lifelong fascination with the human form. Best known for his luminous society portraits, Sargent also produced charcoal studies that reveal his academic training and interest in sculptural volume. Created on ivory laid paper with stumping—a technique that softens charcoal into velvety tonal gradations—the drawing demonstrates his mastery of light and shadow to model anatomy with both precision and fluidity. The recto presents a seated male figure whose extended leg emphasizes ana...
About the Artist
John Singer Sargent · 1856–1925
John Singer Sargent, born on January 12, 1856, in Florence to American expatriate parents FitzWilliam Sargent, an eye surgeon and medical illustrator, and Mary Newbold Singer, an amateur artist, enjoyed a nomadic childhood across Europe. His mother nurtured his artistic inclinations with sketchbooks and museum visits, while he received early watercolor lessons from German landscape painter Carl We...