Design with Dancing Figures 1805 - 1840

William Pitts made this drawing on paper in England sometime between 1790 and 1840. It shows dancing figures and an angel. The image brings to mind the kind of Neoclassical imagery popular in Britain at the time, but in a rougher form. What was Pitts’ intention? Was he a student, learning to imitate the established style? Was this sketch intended as a plan for a more refined and finished work? It is likely that the artist was trained in the Royal Academy Schools, where drawing was seen as a fundamental skill. We might look to the history of British art education in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to understand the social conditions that shaped Pitts’ artistic production. By analyzing these works, we can understand them as the products of institutional forces rather than just the expressions of individual genius.