Artwork Page for Study after Nature

Details / Information for Study after Nature

Study after Nature

c. 1853–55

Julien Vallou de Villeneuve

(French, 1795–1866)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
waxed salt print from waxed paper negative
Measurements
Image: 16.1 x 12.2 cm (6 5/16 x 4 13/16 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1993.163
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

In the early 1850s, despite protests from moralists, photographs of nudes (known as académies) were discreetly produced under the guise of "artist's studies." Among those most skilled at making such studies was Julien Vallou de Villeneuve. A successful painter and lithographer during the 1820s and 1830s before turning to photography in the early 1840s, he created a new repertoire of poses for artists to use as compositional aids. Among his clients was the French realist painter Gustave Courbet (1819–1877).
A vertical waxed salt print depicts a seated woman from the knees up, her body angled slightly toward our right. She has a light skin tone and gazes downward to our left. A striped textile drapes over her head, while her torso remains bare. Her right hand rests near her left shoulder, and her left arm leans on a surface draped in striped cloth. Lace-edged fabric covers her lap in warm brown tones.

Study after Nature

c. 1853–55

Julien Vallou de Villeneuve

(French, 1795–1866)
France, 19th century

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