John Singer Sargent (Florence, 1856 - 1925, London)
Study of a Seated Male Nude for a Cartouche for the Rotunda of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1916-1921
Charcoal on paper, 63.3 x 48 cm (24 15/16 x 18 7/8 in.)
This vertical charcoal drawing on off-white paper sketches the frontal, nude figure of a male seated on a barely rendered architectural element. The man’s body is lithe, yet muscular. He is leaning on his right arm, so that his torso tilts somewhat to our left. His left arm is upraised, but neither hand is drawn. His legs are bent, and his genitals are visible, but his left foot is not. His head is turned to our right and seen in profile, and his eyes appear closed. Some parts of his body, especially his head, right shoulder, torso, and legs, are outlined with dark lines. His body is shaded, except for his left leg, and this appears to be the body of a dark-skinned man with very short hair. The drawing is signed at the lower center by the artist.
Short Gallery
Commentary
In 1916, John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) met Thomas Eugene McKeller (1890–1962), a young, Black elevator attendant, at Boston’s Hotel Vendome. McKeller posed for most of the figures—both male and female—in Sargent’s murals in the Museum of Fine Arts. The painter transformed McKeller into white gods and goddesses, creating soaring allegories of the liberal arts that celebrated the recent expansion of the city’s premier civic museum. Sargent then gave several preparatory drawings of McKeller to Isabella Stewart Gardner, ensuring their preservation in perpetuity.
With quick and confident charcoal marks, Sargent captures McKeller’s face in profile and traces the contours of his muscular arms. Like the others in this series, McKeller’s pose does not correspond to a single painted or sculpted figure in the rotunda. Below, Sargent sketches the contours of the rotunda and one of its cartouche frames in profile.
With quick and confident charcoal marks, Sargent captures McKeller’s face in profile and traces the contours of his muscular arms. Like the others in this series, McKeller’s pose does not correspond to a single painted or sculpted figure in the rotunda. Below, Sargent sketches the contours of the rotunda and one of its cartouche frames in profile.