Nude Figures
At the Slade, drawing from the nude was an intense course and Richard won a prize for his work. However, when left to himself, his nudes were often somewhat attenuated and softened.
When he started painting beach scenes, naked figures would often appear among fully clothed groups... the play of shapes and tones varied the surface and often gave liveliness and humour as well as an occasional gravitas.
It is the presence of nudes, overt and hidden, that often adds the element of strangeness to the paintings in the set we call 'Strange Pictures'.
Nude Boy in a Bedroom (1928)
pencil tinted with watercolour on paper - 36.7h x 26.4w (cm)
The Three Graces (1927)
pencil and red crayon on paper - 40h x 24w (cm)
Nude Woman with Bird (1926)
oil on canvas - 25.1h x 20.1w (cm)
Mother and Children, Day at the Beach (1926)
oil on board - 45.7h x 25.4w (cm)
Figure in Elm (c1926)
elm wood - 70h x 15w (cm)
Carving of Woman's Torso (c1926)
wood - possibly elm - 18h (cm)
Carving of Youth's Torso (1925)
wood on alabaster base
Standing Male Nude, back view (1925)
pencil on paper
Sailors and Other Figures Carousing by a Quay (1925)
oil on canvas - 91.5h x 122w (cm)
Seated Male Nude (1925)
pencil on paper
Two Standing Male Nudes (1925)
black chalk and red chalk on paper
Standing Male Nude (1925)
red chalk, black chalk and pencil on paper
Figure (1917)
oil? on thin card - 15.3h x 23.3w (cm)