James Stroudley R.B.A 1906-1985. British School 20th.Century. Large study of a reclining nude, the artist's wife Gillian. Charcoal on grey paper. Squared for transfer. Circa.1945. 72 by 44.5 cms image. 88 by 61.5 cms overall framed.
Stroudley was born in London. He studied at Clapham School of Art (1923-27) and then at the Royal College of Art (1927-30), where his teachers included Alan Gwynne-Jones and William Rothenstein. As a recipient of the first Abbey Scholarship he was able to spend three years in Italy from 1930, where he absorbed the influences of Giotto and Piero della Francesca. From 1934, he exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists, and was elected to its membership in the following year.
From the Second World War onwards (in which he worked with the Camouflage Unit) Stroudley taught at St Martin’s School of Art and was a visiting lecturer at the Royal Academy Schools. He married fellow artist and printmaker Gillian Thain, of whom this work is a study.