Study for "Gil Blas and the Archbishop" (from Sketchbook of Figure and Landscape Subjects)
ca. 1839
Medium
Graphite on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
6 5/8 x 8 1/4 in. (16.8 x 21 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Sheila and Richard J. Schwartz Fund, 1987
Accession Number
1987.196.3d
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate graphite sketch by American artist Francis William Edmonds, created around 1839, offers a fascinating glimpse into the creative process behind a finished painting. Drawn on off-white wove paper from a sketchbook of figure and landscape, the work measures just6 5/ by 8 14 inches. It two male figures in a scene titled "Gil Blas and the Archbishop," reflecting Edmonds’s interest in narrative subjects drawn from literature. As a preparatory study, the drawing highlights the artist’s careful attention to pose and composition. Graphite allowed for fluid lines and subtle shading, makin...
About the Artist
Francis William Edmonds · 1806–1863
Francis William Edmonds, born on November 22, 1806, in Hudson, New York, into a prominent Quaker family as the seventh child of storekeeper and public servant Samuel Edmonds and Lydia Worth Edmonds, displayed remarkable artistic talent from youth. After Quaker schooling and farm work, he entered banking in 1823 as a clerk at the Tradesmen's Bank in New York City under his uncle Gorham Worth, a pat...