Sheet of Studies

Description

Quick, skillful sketches cover this sheet, showing fashionable young women, a formidable middle-aged woman, and a few male figures. Although Henry Somm was also a painter, his reputation largely rests on his work as a graphic and decorative artist. These figures are delightful variations on a formula, perched on the knife edge that separates the fashion plate from the caricature. The costumes, with their prominent bustles and comparatively narrow skirts tiered in ruffles, date the drawing to the 1880s.