TitleStudy of Male Nude with Staff
Artist
Walter Shirlaw
(1838-1909)
Date1871
MediumCharcoal on buff laid paper
DimensionsSheet size: 19 3/4 × 13 1/8 in.
Mat size: 22 7/8 × 16 3/8 in.
SignedSigned in charcoal at LL: "W. Shirlaw / 1871".
Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, Gift of Mrs. Walter Shirlaw, 1911
Object number1981.3
Label TextDuring his seven years of study at the Royal Academy in Munich beginning in 1870, Walter Shirlaw was so successful that he was hired as an instructor at the new Art Students League immediately after his return to New York in 1877. "Study of Male Nude with Staff" demonstrates Shirlaw's rapid progress in his first year abroad and the influence of contemporary German realism with its rich tonal contrasts and virtuosic technique. Although full-length figure drawings such as this one were the primary instructional tool in the life school throughout the nineteenth century, their purpose changed along with aesthetics. By Shirlaw's time, the objective was to capture the unique characteristics of each model, rather than to evoke an ideal representation of beauty. In the drawing's lower right margin, Shirlaw's instructor observed that the drawing was ausgezeichnet (distinguished).
