#artists reference

 A different set of artists’ reference photographs, donated by Yanni - I’ve featured these photographic compilations before, though these seem to be mostly new poses with only the upper right having appeared on a previous sheet.

With remarkable clarity and detail for such an early photograph, this was taken in 1869, by Gaudenzio Marconi (1841 - 1885). 

Thomas Eakins (left) and John Laurie Wallace, 1883. Pleasantly ordinary-looking gentlemen, both - not perfect boyish youth or highly developed athletic bodies, just average chaps looking very natural and relaxed in front of the camera.

Tom White posing nude on Newporth beach, Cornwall, in 1917; one of a series of photographs taken in association with the painter Henry Scott Tuke. Although they may only have been created to aid the artist with his work, the images have a timeless beauty all of their own.

A further addition to the 1855 set of reference photographs taken by Jean Louis Marie Eugène Durieu, for the famed artist Eugène Delacroix. 

A second artist’s reference image of this tall and well-toned model posing for Jacques de Lalaing, some time in the 1880s or 1890s. This print has been neatly drawn over with a grid pattern, which proves its former usefulness to the artist, even if it does distract somewhat from the aesthetic appeal of the shot, and the model’s good looks!

A further page of Louis Jean-Baptiste Igout’s reference photographs for artists, published between 1870 and 1880 by A. Calavas as an affordable and convenient alternative to life models, and especially useful for amateur artists working at home.

An artists’ model photographed in the studio of Belgian sculptor Jacques de Lalaing, pencilled over with a grid to assist in converting image into artwork.

Two of Thomas Eakins’ art students boxing, while their laid-back companions look on. 1883.

Unlike Eakins, who created his own reference photographs using his friends and students to act out the required poses, Louis Jean-Baptiste Igout took artfully lit pictures of artists’ models in his studio, which were then sold to those in need of anatomical reference material. Much cheaper than hiring a life model, a great many artists and students were able to make use of these helpful prints, published by A. Calavas of France, c1880.

Another set of artists’ reference prints by Louis Jean-Baptiste Igout, circa 1880 - I like the final pose best of the four.

A third from Thomas Eakins’ 1883 outdoor photography session with his art students, the others can be seen hereand here.

Four different reference photographs of artists’ models wrestling, seeming to be a continuation of the set shown here. Louis Jean-Baptiste Igout, France, 1870s.

The anonymous model from Jean Louis Marie Eugène Durieu’s  1855 set of photographs created in co-operation with artist Eugène Delacroix, who used the images as anatomical reference in lieu of hiring the model to pose live so many times over.

A trio of anatomical studies by Thomas Eakins, circa 1885, his model photographed standing square and with his weight shifted from one foot to the other, allowing the artist to observe the tilting of hip and bending of knee required for different poses he wished to capture in his work. Even though they were intended merely as reference, there is a rough beauty in the images, tatty edges and all,

A further photograph by Henri Rupp, from the distinctly recogniseable art studio of French painter Gustave Moreau, This one of the simpler poses, many include boxes and furniture to elevate the sitter to suit the landscape into which his painted counterpart would be placed - earlier posts from the studio can be found here.

With softly faded edges adding an atmospheric hazy quality, and a bright overhead light which draws deep shadows on their anatomy, this is a lovely photograph despite only being taken for artistic reference. I recognised these two men (and the fully articulated cat skeleton propped in the background!) as familiar from this photograph posted a year previously.

A notable early photographic session by Jean Louis Marie Eugène Durieu in 1855, many of the images of this particular model survive to this day, his powerful poses enacted in the studio to aid artists in figure drawing without the need to hire a live model.

It has been a while indeed since I last brought you one of Thomas Eakins’ reference photographs, this another from this marvellous outdoor photoshoot for The Swimming Hole, in 1883. Though they were created to assist with his painting, there is an undeniable beauty to each image in its own right, the spontaneity of each shot as the models enjoy their swim, the composition and lighting every bit as lovely as in the work based upon these scenes. 

A sixth shot from Henri Rupp, in the studio of Gustav Moreau - this the more slender of two models who can be seen in the same setting. I believe I still have a couple more to share, though I admit keeping track of what I have not yet added becomes increasingly difficult as I often discover these faster than I am sharing them.