Standing Woman Leaning on a Table
Albert BESNARD
(French, 1849-1934)
Standing Woman Leaning on a Table
Dateca. 1896
Mediumcharcoal on rag paper mounted on cardboard
Dimensionsoverall: 17 1/4 x 11 3/8 in. (43.8 x 28.9 cm)
frame: 31 1/2 × 25 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (80 × 64.8 × 3.8 cm)
ClassificationDRAWINGS
Credit LineSBMA, Museum purchase
Object number1968.21.2
Collection
- 19th century French
On View
Not on viewLabel TextBesnard was a precociously talented painter and printmaker, whose academic training and graphic expertise was synthesized with a full embrace of the expressive possibilities of color. Trained in the studio of Alexandre Cabanel, Besnard spent a pivotal three years in London, where he was exposed to the colorism of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) and 18th-century British portrait painting. Upon his return to Paris, he was in great demand as a portraitist because of his brilliant brushwork and atmospheric use of color. Though never part of the group, Besnard’s colorism allied him with the Impressionists, while his moody, often psychologically ambiguous interpretations of feminine beauty earned him the admiration of Symbolist critics.
In this spirited study, Besnard captures a woman, perhaps a servant, as she leans on a table. It is difficult to say precisely what household task she is performing. At any rate, the artist captures deftly the fullness of her bodily weight through rapid strokes of the crayon, while her silhouetted bustle emphasizes its exaggeration of her uplifted backside. Besnard was known for such hints of erotic interest in his endless depictions of idealized feminine beauty.
