Graphite on paper
Image size: 7 1/2 x 9 inches (19 x 23 cm)
Carved gilt frame
Literature
Illustrated in Malcolm Bell's 'Sir Edward Burne-Jones, A Record and Review', London, 1899, p.127.
Provenance
Major Charles Sydney Goldman 1958
By descent to his Sons
John and Margaret Monck (John Goldman Monck) 1958-1963
Commander Victor Robert Penryn Monck (Victor Robert Penryn Monk Goldman) 1958-1963
Christie's London (Christie, Manson and Woods) 1963, John Monck and Cmdr Penryn Monck sale 26 April 1963 part lot 71
Sir John Richardson, 2019
Burne-Jones decided that the folds in the drapery in this study were too complex for the final painting and fairly soon after he simplified the draperies.
The work is a drapery study for the seated figures at the centre of Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones monumental The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon (Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico). The artist spent seventeen years working on the complex narrative, even moving his studio to a larger space to accommodate the canvas. Born as a commission from his patron George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle, to decorate a wall in his library at Naworth Castle, The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon was left unfinished in Burne-Jones’ studio upon his death. The work was bequeathed to a studio neighbour whose descendants sold it at auction in 1963, where it was purchased by Luis A. Ferré, politician and founder of the Museo de Arte de Ponce.
To his friends and family, Burne-Jones was known for his 'unpainted masterpieces'. Indeed, from his youth he made swift sketches, such as this study, that appeared effortless in contrast to his carefully crafted paintings and allowed him to work out ideas and refine details. He also drew outside of the studio, and his contemporaries remarked at his uncanny ability to do so while fully engaged in other activities. The painter W. Graham...
Category
19th Century Victorian Art by Medium: Graphite
