A Portrait of Welby Sherman Asleep in a Chair

1828

A Portrait of Welby Sherman Asleep in a Chair, 1828. George Richmond (British, 1809–1896). Graphite with touches of watercolor; sheet: 16 x 13.2 cm (6 5/16 x 5 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Greene by exchange 1981.29 George Richmond’s study of his friend, the dozing artist, Welby Sherman, was endearingly inscribed, "As he may be seen after dinner." Dressed in a cravat and jacket and seated in a hard-backed chair, Sherman has momentarily drifted off, perhaps during a lull in friendly conversation. Minute touches of black wash define the bridge of his nose, eyelashes, and brow, and exquisitely subtle graphite hatching expresses the soft curves of the youthful sitter’s features. Touches of pink wash on the lips and cheek breathe life into the figure. Both George Richmond and Welby Sherman belonged to a group of artists who called themselves the Ancients, who looked to the Middle Ages for inspiration and celebrated the divine in nature.