Bather Turned to the Left

This early academy study from around 1805 by William Etty presents a female figure turning away from the viewer — an unusual rear-view pose that challenged the conventions of figure painting by eliminating the face as a primary site of expression. Born in York in 1787, Etty arrived in London around 1805 to begin his Royal Academy training under John Opie, and these early studies document his immediate immersion in the life-drawing practice that would define his entire career. Unlike most of his contemporaries, who regarded the life class as a foundation to be quickly transcended, Etty attended the Royal Academy life class for the remainder of his life — reportedly continuing well into his fifties. The Lady Lever Art Gallery at Port Sunlight, built by Lord Leverhulme to house his personal collection, acquired several Etty works reflecting the Victorian industrialist's taste for Etty's flesh painting. York-born Etty remained virtually alone among British artists in devoting his entire career to the nude figure, earning both admiration and repeated moral censure from critics and the public.

Etty models the figure with rich, warm flesh tones built up through successive glazes, a technique he learned from studying Titian and Rubens during his Italian travels. The turned pose allows him to explore the play of light across the broad plane of the back. His brushwork is fluid and confident in the figure, contrasting with the more summary treatment of the background.