Positioning the Body: Explorations in American Figural Studies - Cheekwood
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Positioning the Body

Explorations in American Figural Studies

This exhibition examines the development of figural studies in America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the “rise of athleticism” – which dawned with the first modern Olympics in 1896 – brought about a renewed interest in the physique of both the male and female body. This period was one of many that revived Classical ideals following the synthesis of aesthetic values and anatomical studies by Renaissance art academies, which firmly establishing the tradition of figure drawing as it is known today. Comprised of 17 works on paper, drawings as well as newer media such as photography are represented, and aspects of movement, gender, and history are considered.


Featured Image: Everett Shinn (American, 1876-1953), Girl Sleeping, c. 1905-1920, Conte crayon on paper, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin Caldwell, Jr., 1976.4.45.

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