George Coatess approach to art was meticulous, “painstaking and obsessive.” He studied at the National Gallery School and in 1896, won the National Gallery of Victoria’s Travelling Scholarship which he used to relocate to Europe and further his studies at the Academie Julian in Paris.

‘Untitled (Nude Study)’ is a moment captured from drawing class, either in Australia or Europe. Coates sketches a figure who reaches beyond the borders of the frame – she is dynamic and powerful in a way Coates’s other figures were not. Rather than head down and eyes averted, this figure strives forward, an emblem of progress.

Husband to significant artist Dora Meeson, Coates is considered a kind of bridge between the Heidelberg School and Australian Modernism, having studied under Frederick McCubbin and going on to teach Max Meldrum and George Bell, ushers of Modernism. Elegant, quietly bold and art historically rich, ‘Untitled (Nude Study)’ is a rousing find for collectors of nudes, Australian modernism and drawings.

George COATES (1869 - 1930)
'Untitled (Nude Study)'
pencil on paper
Image Size: 48 x 33 cm
Dimensions: 77 x 61 x 2 cm
Signed: Signed 'George Coates' lower centre
Comes with Letter of Provenance
Condition:Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to the paint surface.
(c) The Artist or Assignee