Albert Joseph Moore, A.R.W.S. (British, 1841–1893)
A Standing Female Figure
Colored chalk on brown paper, 11 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.
Signed lower right with anthemion
2014.8

Moore’s drawing, A Standing Female Figure, is typical of the British artist’s luxurious Classical compositions, which display idealized, placid female figures. An advocate of the theory of “art for art’s sake,” Moore emphasized color and form in this work over narrative content. This small sketch may be connected to the artist’s life-size painting Sapphires (1877, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery), or it may have been conceived as an independent work. Both share a similar composition, however the color scheme is entirely different in the final canvas.