Description:

signed and dated (verso): October 1887 / ...dorff / Harald Lonborg / 26 Oktober 1887.
charcoal
525 x 370 mm

Note:

This charcoal study of a model of a hand synthesises the timelessness commonly associated with late 19th-century Danish art and Harald Løngborg’s technical accuracy as a photographer. The hand is anatomically rendered with particular attention paid to the underlying bone-structure, skinfolds, and shadow cast on the supporting plinth and fingers. The production of charcoal studies of this kind after plaster casts of classical sculpture formed a key component in academic training, and Løngborg’s drawing attests to his nascent promise as a 20-year-old student. The cast in question is perhaps inspired by the isolated hand of the Colossus of Constantine in Rome.