About this artwork

This study was made while McTaggart was a pupil at the Trustees’ Academy under the artist Robert Scott Lauder. Lauder was an innovative teacher who encouraged his students to paint from the live model, but forbade them from placing figures in imaginary settings, believing they must only paint exactly what they saw. This study demonstrates McTaggart’s skill in painting human flesh and forms. He modelled the figure with numerous delicate applications of thin paint, which contrast with the loose and sketchy treatment of the background studio and coloured draperies. McTaggart had a great ability to capture the psychological aspects of his sitters. Here the girl’s exposed, available body is contradicted by her detached, internalised gaze.

Updated before 2020

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  • artist:
    William McTaggart (1835 - 1910) Scottish
  • title:
    A Life Study of a Female Nude Model Seated on White Drapery
  • date created:
    About 1854
  • materials:
    Oil on paper laid on board
  • measurements:
    54.50 x 38.50 cm; Framed: 61.40 x 45.30 x 2.90 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Purchased 1994
  • accession number:
    NG 2639
  • gallery:
  • subject:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
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William McTaggart

William McTaggart