William Mulready enrolled as a student at the Royal Academy Schools in 1800 and it is possible that he carried out some of these drawings in the life class there. The drawings in this group are probably early in date and certainly bear some resemblance to examples of Mulready's student drawings in the V&A collection.

The young artist's talent as a draughtsman was acknowledged in 1806 when he was awarded the Academy's Silver Medal. Joseph Farington noted at the time that 'Mulready is reckoned to draw the best, but sets Himself high upon it as if He had done His business'. Mulready retained a great enthusiasm for life-drawing throughout his career, particularly from the 1840s onwards and , after his death, examples of these were purchased for the Royal Academy Schools as examples.

Related Works: There is a large collection of life studies and other drawings by Mulready in the V&A Museum.

All objects in this group