Life Study 1891

John Singer Sargent made this oil painting called "Life Study." Sargent was an American artist but studied in Paris, and his work often reflects the academic style he learned there. The subject is a nude female figure, a common subject in art schools during the late 19th century. Art schools like the Académie Julian aimed to revive classical ideals of beauty and the nude human form was central to that project. Sargent's study represents an attempt to recapture the kind of training available in French ateliers. Yet while the painting reflects established artistic norms, it also hints at social tensions of the time, when women's roles were being hotly debated, and the female body became a site of cultural contestation. Understanding the public role of art in a given time requires us to look at exhibition reviews, private letters from artists, and even the history of art education itself. In so doing, we might come to appreciate the complex social conditions that shape artistic production.