Study of Three Male Nudes
Artist
Charles De la Fosse
(French, 1636-1716)
Datecirca 1700
CultureFrench
MediumRed chalk with traces of black chalk
ClassificationDrawings
Credit LineMuseum purchase, 1983
Object numberSN984
Academy drawings were almost always executed in red chalk. It is medium that not only approximates the warm tones of flesh, but its organic flexibility makes it easy to work with-ideal for an artist depicting a nude in motion. In the Ringling sheet, Charles de la Fosse, works across the page, exploiting the chalk's descriptive potential. The complexities of muscle structure are explored through the broad, smooth application of the medium, and the modeling of flesh is achieved through a softer, more subtle stroke (across the middle figure's inner thighs, for example).
Employing the trois-crayons technique (black, white, and red chalk), De la Fosse achieves an even larger range of tonal contrast. Notice how well the volume of the left figure's right leg is suggested by the hatching and cross-hatching of black and red chalk.
On View
Not on viewFRAMED: 25 1/2 x 29 5/8 in. (64.8 x 75.2 cm)
