Study of a Nude Figure for Painting. c. 1875. Pencil on grey paper; 18 ⅜ X 22 ¾ inches (46.5 X 57.8 cm). Collection of Scott Thomas Buckle, London, U.K.
It is unknown whether this study was ever worked up into a finished watercolour but it appears such a work might have been intended as a companion piece to Music since the two drawings are so similar, including their size. It is a study of a reclining nude seated upon a recamier and holding a palette. Like Music the figure is crowned with laurels and carries the instruments of her artistry.
Since he was a young man art and music were Holiday’s major interests in life. Holiday exhibited cartoons for Theology, Music, and Painting at the winter exhibition of the Grosvenor Gallery in 1881 and this study could possibly relate to the cartoon for Painting. If this drawing does indeed relate to the cartoons displayed at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1881 The Magazine of Art commented on their desire to create beauty: “”Mr. Henry Holiday decorates in a style altogether different. His large single allegorical figures are designed in a very pure school, and his aim is beauty rather than quaintness” (181).
Bibliography
“The Winter Exhibition of the Grosvenor Gallery. ” The Magazine of Art IV (1881): 177-82.
Created 19 January 2023