Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10

Herbert James Draper
Awakening - Important Royal Academy Oil Painting of Neoclassical Nudes Nymphs

$101,854.79
£74,000
€86,739.94
CA$139,051.14
A$154,688.70
CHF 81,089.75
MX$1,890,258.13
NOK 1,032,576.85
SEK 972,028.25
DKK 647,480.70
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

‘Awakening’ by Herbert James Draper (1864-1920). This monumental masterpeice oil painting – which depicts two wood nymphs rising to meet the morning sun – is signed by the artist and dated 1918 in which year it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. In its review of the highlights of the 1918 Royal Academy Exhibition ‘The Connoisseur’ magazine praised the painting’s “grace and refinement” and in his 2003 book ‘Herbert Draper, a Life Study’, Simon Toll (Senior Director at Sotheby’s in London) further discusses the painting; the artist’s last great full-length painting of neoclassical nudes… “An enigmatic dryad is seated against the foot of an ancient tree. A naked bacchante sprawls on a leopard skin in a bestial pose consistent with the temperament of Bacchus’ worshippers. The painting depicts the morning after the night before, the post-coital slumber of the orgiastic reveller. Are the women abandoned like Ariadne, or are their latest lovers like those of the kelpie, submerged lifeless somewhere amongst the leave mounds? The bacchante emerges from the dried leaves, from which she has spent the night after the previous day’s drunken orgies.” Herbert Draper entered the Royal Academy Schools in London in 1885, winning a silver medal for life drawing the following year. He first exhibited at the R.A. in 1887, and the following year won a travelling scholarship enabling him to complete his studies in Paris at the Académie Julian under Jules-Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger. In 1889 Draper won the Royal Academy Gold Medal and another scholarship, and spent much of 1890 travelling in Europe, visiting Spain and Italy. On his return to England, Draper found huge success with his paintings of mythological subjects, and he would go on to rival Lord Leighton and John William Waterhouse as one of England’s greatest painters of Academic Romanticism. Draper’s painting ‘The Lament for Icarus’, won the gold medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 and was purchased for the Tate Gallery in 1898. Academy Fine Paintings only offers artwork for sale in the finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned, conserved, and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary. Dimensions: (framed) 131cm x 229cm (51½” x 90”) Dimensions: (canvas only) 107cm x 205cm (42” x 80¾”) Medium: Oil on canvas. Provenance: 1918; exhibited as ‘Reveil’ at the Royal Academy in London (catalogue no.304). Thence in the private UK collection. Literature: 1918; ‘The Connoisseur’ magazine. 2003; ‘Herbert Draper 1863-1920: A Life Study’ by Simon Toll. Presentation: Fine quality bespoke gold metal leaf frame. Condition: Very good. Professionally cleaned, restored, and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
  • Creator:
    Herbert James Draper (1864 - 1920, British)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 51 in (129.54 cm)Width: 90 in (228.6 cm)Depth: 4 in (10.16 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Gerrards Cross, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU741316140812

More From This Seller

View All
Diana Nemorensis - 19th Century NeoClassical Oil Painting Ancient Roman Goddess
By Max Nonnenbruch
Located in Gerrards Cross, GB
‘Diana Nemorensis’ by Max Nonnenbruch (1857-1922). The painting – which depicts the Roman Goddess Diana of the Woods beside Lake Nemi – is signed by the artist and presented in a fi...
Category

Late 19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Amor et Pietas - Important 19th Century Royal Academy Exhibition Oil Painting
Located in Gerrards Cross, GB
‘Amor et Pietas’ by Ursula Wood S.W.A. (1868-1956). The painting – which depicts a group of children laying to rest their pet dog – is signed and dated by the artist. Ursula Wood’s ...
Category

1890s Aesthetic Movement Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

19th Century Neoclassical Exhibition Oil Painting of Ancient Greek Poet Sappho
Located in Gerrards Cross, GB
‘Melancholic Sappho’ by Arthur Hill RBA (1841-1908). The painting – which depicts the celebrated poet of Ancient Greece appealing to the Goddess Aphrodite, with the Parthenon on the...
Category

1870s Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Oil Painting King Arthur's Queen Guinevere Camelot
Located in Gerrards Cross, GB
‘Guinevere’ by Norman Prescott-Davies R.B.A, R.C.A. (1861-1915). The painting – which depicts an English medieval portrait of Queen Guinevere at Amesbury Priory contemplating her lov...
Category

Late 19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Vigilance, Loyalty & Devotion - 19th Century Oil Painting Society Beauty & Dogs
By Arthur Wardle
Located in Gerrards Cross, GB
‘Vigilance, Loyalty, and Devotion’ by Arthur Wardle R.B.C. R.I. (1864-1949). The painting – which depicts a young beauty surrounded by poppies and her three faithful canine companio...
Category

Late 19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Animal Paintings

Materials

Oil

Belle Epoque Beauty - 19th Century Oil Painting Portrait of French Flower Girl
Located in Gerrards Cross, GB
‘Young Beauty holding a Red Rose’ by Étienne Adolphe Piot (1831-1910). The painting is signed by the artist and hangs in a fine quality gold metal leaf frame. Academy Fine Paintings...
Category

Late 19th Century French School Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

You May Also Like

Jean Chaleye (French , b. 1878 - d. 1960) "River Nymphs" Oil Painting
Located in Philadelphia, PA
"River Nymphs" painting - Depicting two nudes lounging by the pond. - Oil on board, signed lower left and dated 1910. - Framed dimensions: 20 in x 17 in.
Category

Vintage 1910s Paintings

Materials

Canvas

The Dance 19th-century Large Antique Nude Oil Painting on Canvas, Signed & Dated
Located in Jacksonville, FL
Exhibited at the Paris Salon, exhibition label on reverse. Description: Édouard François Zier (1837-1924) was a French painter known for his captiva...
Category

Early 19th Century Academic Nude Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Nymphs and Cherubs in the Park
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Henri Paul ROLLAND (1891-1923) Nymphs and cherubs in the Park Oil on Wood panel signed low right Golden frame Size canvas : 70 X 81 cm Size frame : 90 X 100 cm ROLLAND Henri Paul(...
Category

Early 20th Century Academic Nude Paintings

Materials

Oil

Jean Chaleye (French, b. 1878- d. 1960) "River Nymphs" painting.
Located in Philadelphia, PA
"River Nymphs" Two nudes lounging by pond - Oil on board , signed lower left and dated 1910 - Framed dimensions: 20 in x 17 in.
Category

Mid-20th Century Paintings

Materials

Canvas

The bather and the artist: the bashful nude naturalist French oil painting
Located in Norwich, GB
It's just a little embarassing. Our young bather went for a skinny dip in the river and now needs to snatch her clothes without being spotted by the elderly artist on the river bank ...
Category

1880s Academic Nude Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Pre-Raphaelite Beauty - Victorian art nude oil portrait - British female artist
By Sara Wells Page
Located in London, GB
Painted by Sara Wells Page this is a large stunning half-length Pre-Raphaelite portrait oil painting of a semi clad young woman. It was painted circa 1900 by Page who worked and exhi...
Category

Early 1900s Victorian Nude Paintings

Materials

Oil