The drawing on the recto is a study related to Symphony in White, No. 3 [YMSM 061], but shows the figures in quite different poses.
The rough sketch on the verso is one of several, including A Composition: four nudes [M.0350], that may be ideas for an unrealised figure composition involving people listening to a musician.
The influence of Albert Joseph Moore (1841-1893) appears strongly in these drawings. Moore's The Marble Seat 1 , exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1865, includes similar figures, though not in this arrangement.
The drawing was torn in four pieces by the artist but rescued and repaired, probably by Thomas Way (1837-1915).
1: Private Collection. Sotheby's, New York, 5 May 2011 (lot 76).
Last updated: 17th April 2019 by Margaret