Two Studies of a Man (from sketchbook)
ca. 1838 and after
Medium
Iron gall ink, graphite on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
6 5/8 x 8 in. (16.8 x 20.3 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Sheila and Richard J. Schwartz Fund, 1987
Accession Number
1987.196.3o recto
Tags
Art Historical Context
Francis William Edmonds, a19th-century American banker-artist, created *Two Studies of a Man around 1838 or later as part of his sketchbook practice. Rendered in iron gall ink and graphite on off-white wove papermeasuring just 6⅝ x 8 inches), these intimate drawings capture quick, observant studies of a male figure from angles. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing, the work reflects the growing tradition of American genre painting during the antebellum era, when artists like Edmonds drew inspiration from everyday life to build a distinctly national visual language. Edmonds...
About the Artist
Francis William Edmonds · 1806–1863
Francis William Edmonds, born on November 22, 1806, in Hudson, New York, into a prominent Quaker family as the seventh child of storekeeper and public servant Samuel Edmonds and Lydia Worth Edmonds, displayed remarkable artistic talent from youth. After Quaker schooling and farm work, he entered banking in 1823 as a clerk at the Tradesmen's Bank in New York City under his uncle Gorham Worth, a pat...