Nude Study of an Old Man (Père Bainville)

From the Getty Museum record

A nude man sits with his legs bent, his hands resting on his right knee and his head turning to meet the gaze of the unknown artist who made this sketch. The study depicts Père Bainville, a model who posed for artists and students associated with Paris’s famed École des Beaux-Arts, and it was likely undertaken during a life drawing class. The artist began this study with a rough outline of the figure before focusing on the model’s bearded face, the musculature of his arms, and the creases of his abdomen. Volume is created through stumping and selectively erasing media, resulting in sophisticated transitions between darkness and light. Finer details are articulated using sharpened black chalk, as can be seen in Bainville’s right eye, which is almost completely obscured by shadow.