A Pastel Study of a Nude by Ralph Middleton Todd RA (1891-1966) c1945.
A painter and draughtsman, mainly of figures and portraits, Todd was born in Helston, Cornwall, and went on to be nationally renowned not just as an artist but as a great teacher of the arts as well. Todd was an artist of great perception, described by Robert Buhler as “by far the most sensitive and accomplished painter of his generation … modest and unambitious”.
He first showed at the RA in 1918, and from 1920-1921 studied under Henry Tonks at the Slade School of Fine Art. From 1936–1939 Todd was Head of Drawing and Painting at Leicester School of Art, and then went on to tutor at the Royal Academy Schools from 1946-1949, and the City and Guilds Schools from 1950–1956. Todd was elected to the RA in 1945.