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"Seated Male Figure, Beachside, " Early Drawing by John B. Lear with Cabana

About the Item

Finely and beautifully captured, this depiction of a shirtless young man, handsome and pensive, sitting on the beach with his legs grasped in his arms, is a rare, early drawing by John B. Lear. Over his long career, Lear liked to depict nude or half-nude male figures set in fantastic or exotic environments such as the circus, carnival, deserted beach, or Dali-esque setting. A contemporary of Paul Cadmus, and like him, highly focused on depicting the male figure in various settings and positions, Lear never gained fame beyond his circle of admirers in the Philadelphia area. Here, a certain surrealist comes from a second male figure, in the distance, stepping into a changing area in the form of a narrow, vertical cabana. This figure gazes at the main figure in a way that is reminiscent of the early multiple-figure works of Paul Cadmus. The drawing is pencil on paper. (Dimensions include matte and frame; visible drawing is 11.5 inches high by 9.5 inches wide).
  • Creator:
    John B. Lear (Artist)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 17.5 in (44.45 cm)Width: 15.25 in (38.74 cm)Depth: 0.5 in (1.27 cm)
  • Style:
    Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    circa 1960s
  • Condition:
    Minor wrinkling of paper on upper half of image.
  • Seller Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU865124142952

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