1870
Fusain sur papier
60 x 47 cm - 23 5/8 x 18 1/2 in.
Annotation : au milieu : " le bras moins long "
Collection particulière
Dernière mise à jour : 2022-03-17 11:39:27
Référence : MSb-112
Famille de l'artiste, Montpellier - Frédéric Bazille, neveu de l'artiste - Collection particulière.
Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1978, n° 58, repr. p. 117 - Montpellier, New York, 1992-1993, n° 29, repr. p. 124.
Sarraute, 1948, appendice n° 18 - Daulte, Bazille et son temps, 1952, n° 31, p. 198 (repr.) [Thèse sous la direction de Gaston Poulain] - Daulte, Frédéric Bazille : Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, 1992, p. 82 (repr.) [Réédition de 1952 avec photos en couleur] - Jourdan, Cat. exp. Montpellier, New York, 1992-1993, n° 29, repr. p. 124 - Bajou, Frédéric Bazille, 1993, p. 180 (repr.) - Schulman, Frédéric Bazille : Catalogue raisonné, 1995, n° 24 des dessins, repr. p. 257- Schulman, Frédéric Bazille : Catalogue raisonné numérique, 2022, n° 112.
This charcoal study depicts the bust of Ruth, her right arm extended, her left hand supporting her head. The modeling accentuates the forms of Ruth, which appears more alive and present than in most of Bazille's drawings treating the same subject. The eyes looking straight ahead, wide open, are expressive. It seems as if the character's attention is suddenly captured by an unexpected event.
Some clumsiness did not escape Bazille's eye. "The arm too long", he notes at the bottom of the sheet. It is true that this right arm, drawn several times, is too long, that the left arm plunges too far forward, and that Ruth's head rests on an invisible left hand, which makes the connection with the face even more awkward. As for the head on the right, it is just a simple pencil stroke that, without modeling, makes the character's expression rougher.
