Provenance
Sold, Puttick and Simpson, London, February 12, 1915, to William F. E. Gurley (1854-1943), Chicago; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago for the Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection, 1943.
Accession Number
114901
Medium
Graphite on ivory wove paper, laid down on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
11.7 × 7.4 cm (4 5/8 × 2 15/16 in.)
Classification
graphite
Credit Line
The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection
Background & Context
Background Story
Two Struggling Figures (c. 1867) is a graphite drawing on ivory wove paper, a more refined version of the same subject as the black crayon drawing. The graphite technique allows for greater precision and detail, the intertwined figures rendered with careful attention to anatomy and the dynamics of their struggle.
Cultural Impact
The subject of struggling figures was a staple of academic composition studies, teaching artists to create dynamic interactions between figures.
Why It Matters
This graphite study of struggling figures focuses on the precise anatomy and dynamics of the composition.
