Georges Seurat (1859-1891)

As a young art student, Seurat drew studies from antique sculpture and live models, and copied the works of master artists such as Jean Auguste–Dominique Ingres, Raphaël, and Nicolas Poussin. The present work is an academic study, drawn when the artist was just 16 years old. The skillful rendering of the classical subject of a reclining nude demonstrates the artist's extraordinary talents as a draughtsman, years before he would reach artistic maturity.