Nuns

mid-1800s

Nuns, mid-1800s. Anonymous. Black and white chalk on gray laid paper; sheet: 18.8 x 21.2 cm (7 3/8 x 8 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2019.60 In this drawing, a group of young nuns gather to pray. The unknown French artist used white chalk to delicately highlight the central figure with clasped hands. The work suggests the new style and subject matter that proliferated throughout France during the mid-19th century when an emerging middle-class audience became interested in collecting art and viewing it in exhibitions such as the Paris Salon. This drawing’s anonymous artist used a combination of black and white chalk to create a dramatic pattern of highlights and shadows.