Sketches for Faith

About this artwork

Research in Progress

Art Historical Context

Francis Augustus Lathrop (1849–1909), an American artist of the late 19th century, produced these *Sketches for Faith* in 1893–94. Classified as figures, the works consist of studies of human forms that served as preparatory explorations for a larger composition on the theme of Faith. Created during a period of expanding American artistic ambition, such sketches were vital to developing allegorical or decorative subjects common at the time. They reveal an artist’s process of capturing gesture, expression, and pose before committing to a finished painting or design. Now in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, these drawings offer visitors a window into creative decision-making even as further research continues. They illustrate how preliminary figure studies helped artists of Lathrop’s generation give visual form to abstract ideas.