Studies of Feet [verso]

Executed with graphite, the artist renders fine gradations of tone to model the curvature of the toes and the subtle shadows cast by the ankle bones. The use of laid paper, with its faint ribbed texture, contributes a tactile quality that complements the precise, almost clinical line work characteristic of the creator’s draftsmanship.

The piece originates from the mid‑nineteenth‑century period when the artist was intensively studying the human figure. It belongs to a series of anatomical studies that were kept in the artist’s studio notebooks and later entered a public collection, where it is displayed alongside related sketches from the same sheet.

During the 1850s the artist, though later associated with Impressionism, identified himself as a realist and devoted considerable effort to drawing from life. Studies such as this one provided the foundational knowledge that informed his later, larger compositions of dancers and everyday scenes.