The Figure of Painting

Artist John Vanderlyn (1775 - 1852)

Dateca. 1815

MediumCharcoal and chalk on paper

Dimensionssight: 21 5/8 x 12 3/4 in. (54.9 x 32.4 cm)
Framed: 30 x 21 3/4 x 1 3/8 in. (76.2 x 55.2 x 3.5 cm)

ClassificationsDrawing

Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2007.152

Signedc.l.: sketch by J. Vanderlyn / for the Figure of Painting [indistinct]

Accession number 2007.152

On View

Not on view

Collections

Drawings and Watercolors: 18th and 19th Century

ProvenanceCatherine Vanderlyn; to Judge Augustus Schoonmaker, Executor of Catherine Vanderlyn; to Mrs. Lizzy Rioggen Schoomaker Lawton (his daughter); Mr. Fred Johnson, Kingston, NY; Lawrence Fleishman [1925-1997]; (Kennedy Galleries, New York, NY); John Driscoll, New York, NY; to (Babcock Galleries, New York, NY); purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2007
Label TextOverlaid on top of the figure is a simple, numbered grid, which allowed John Vanderlyn to break the body into smaller parts. Each isolated square appears as its own simple abstract form, which the artist could more easily transfer to a larger canvas for painting. This technique reveals how artists often create large paintings from much smaller preliminary sketches and drawings.