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Alfred Edward Chalon

The Life Class, 1832

Description

Maker

  • Alfred Edward Chalon, 1780-1860, English

Title

The Life Class

Year

1832

Medium

Watercolor over graphite on paper mounted to card

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • watercolor

Dimensions

52.2 x 37.1 cm (20 5/8 x 14 5/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

In watercolor, signed LR: "AE.C. Nov. 1832"

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Drawings and Watercolors

Credit

Anonymous gift

Object Number

62.038

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Changing Poses

November 12, 2010 - June 6, 2011

With her head modestly lowered and gaze averted, a beautiful female model sits nude before a group of young art students; the hourglass nearby would have governed the length of each pose. In the 1830s London offered many opportunities for life-drawing classes of this type, at institutions including the Royal Academy and numerous smaller private art schools and clubs. Alfred Edward Chalon, the painter of this watercolor, organized and ran one such club out of his own home, primarily for specialists in history painting, genre scenes, and portraiture, categories of art for which skill in drawing the human figure was essential. It is therefore not surprising that all the students in this life class are male, as social taboos continued to exclude women artists from working from the nude.

Recent Accessions

September 3-22, 1963

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is The Life Class with the accession number of 62.038. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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