Nude Reclining on Curtained Bed [Emma Hamilton (?)] 1797

Editor: Here we have Adam Buck's 1797 print, "Nude Reclining on Curtained Bed [Emma Hamilton (?)]". I'm immediately struck by the contrast between the soft, almost vulnerable pose of the figure and the dramatic lighting. What are your initial thoughts on the composition? Curator: Note the economy of line, achieved within the printmaking medium. Consider the stark contrast in tonal values; this dramatically divides the composition into fields of dark and light. This not only models the figure, it uses lighting for pictorial structure and rhythm. How does the arrangement of light, shade, and line guide the viewer’s gaze? Editor: I see how the light draws you from the curtains down to her body and then to her face, directing the eye across the scene. Does the treatment of her body – the careful contours and rendering of form – reflect any particular academic ideals of beauty at the time? Curator: Precisely. Observe the linearity of her limbs, her back; note also how light accentuates the convexities of her body against the flat plane of the paper. These linear elements give this print its graphic power. Might these calculated linear forms be also seen to echo established classical aesthetic principles? Editor: It’s interesting how a formal analysis reveals the connections to established academic traditions and, even further back, to the classical world. I learned to observe how those details are deliberately composed. Curator: Yes. Attending closely to Buck’s aesthetic architecture in its specific use of tonal contrast and line reminds us to scrutinize what appears at first glance simply representational.