Nude Figure (from Sketchbook) 1811 - 1893

This is John William Casilear's "Nude Figure," a pencil drawing from a sketchbook now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The drawing presents a seated nude figure sketched in delicate pencil strokes against a neutral background. The composition directs our attention to the interplay of light and shadow that defines the contours of the figure and the fluid drapery. Casilear's treatment of form invites a semiotic reading, wherein the body is less an object of desire than a study in classical form and line. There's an echoing of the anatomical studies of the Renaissance, yet Casilear destabilizes the established by embedding it within the intimate, provisional space of the sketchbook. The contrast between the detailed figure and the sketch-like setting calls into question traditional ideals of beauty and representation. Here, the nude exists as a space of constant re-evaluation, as a site for exploring the structural possibilities inherent in art making.