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Bradley Walker Tomlin

American Art

To render the three-dimensional volume of the female form, Bradley Walker Tomlin created delicate tonal modulations by dragging and rubbing a Conté crayon across the textured surface of the paper. Intersecting Cubist planes, lightly sketched on the figure’s lower back, hint at an underlying abstract structure, while accents of watercolor around the figure add a decorative touch.

Best known for his mature Abstract Expressionist paintings, Tomlin destroyed much of his early work, of which Back is a rare surviving example.
MEDIUM Conté crayon and watercolor on medium, beige, moderately textured, laid paper paper with watermark
DATES ca. 1925
DIMENSIONS sheet: 11 1/2 × 11 5/16 in. (29.2 × 28.7 cm) frame: 23 × 17 × 2 in. (58.4 × 43.2 × 5.1 cm)  (show scale)
SIGNATURE Signed in graphite, lower right: "Tomlin"
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 25.520
CREDIT LINE Gift of Frank L. Babbott
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Bradley Walker Tomlin (American, 1899-1953). Back, ca. 1925. Conté crayon and watercolor on medium, beige, moderately textured, laid paper paper with watermark, sheet: 11 1/2 × 11 5/16 in. (29.2 × 28.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Frank L. Babbott, 25.520 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 25.520_PS3.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 25.520_PS3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2011
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Orphaned work
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