674. Four studies for Hermes

And yet again, an original drawing by Charles Shannon is on sale, this time in London at Roseberys in the auction of Old Master, British & European Pictures on 9 July. Lot 513 is described rather briefly as 'Studies of male nudes'.

The drawing is done in black and red chalk on paper and has a modest size: 24.7 x 34.2 cm. It is not dated but signed with initials ‘CS’ (lower left).

Charles Shannon, studies for a male nude (undated)

Actually, they are not studies of different male models, but clearly four variations for one figure.

In the centre is the largest sketch of a hunched and moving man who has raised his arms above his shoulders and neck. A separate sketch of the head is drawn in the lower right-hand corner. Top left is a study of his bent left arm. Below is a sketch of his other arm holding a staff.

The unusual pose and sketch of the arm with staff betrays the subject of this sketch: it is a portrait of 'Hermes and the Infant Bacchus'. Shannon counted this mythological theme among his favourites. He made at least three oil paintings with this subject in the thirty years after devoting a lithograph to it in 1897: 'The Infancy of Bacchus'.

Charles Shannon, 'The Infancy of Bacchus', lithograph, 1897

[British Museum: 1899,0321.10]

[Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license]

Obviously, in the lithograph the image is mirrored. The three paintings are all tondos in different sizes.

1.

‘Hermes and the Infant Bacchus’ (31 in. by 31 in.)

Date: 1906 [exhibited 1907].

Location unknown. 

2.

‘Hermes and the Infant Bacchus’ or ‘The Infant Bacchus' (78.5 x 78.5 cm; 43 in. by 43 in.)

Date: 1908.

Location: Tate Gallery, London. 

3.

‘Hermes and the Infant Bacchus’ (40 in. by 41 in.)

Date: 1926. 

Location: Usher Gallery, Lincoln 

Charles Shannon, 'Hermes and the Infant Bacchus' (1908)
[Location: Tate Gallery, London]

The leaf with studies is for one of these paintings and could date from 1905 to 1926. Roseberys' estimate is £500-£700 (opening bid: £340).