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Head of a Female Figure in Profile, Turned to the Right
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Like the sheet shown nearby by Greuze, this drawing belongs to a type of work known as an expressive head (tête d'expression). Capturing the representation of a specific emotion on the human face became a standard exercise for artists in France and was especially popular during the second half of the 1700s. In 1758, a special prize for drawing the expressive head was established at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Although we have no documentation regarding the specific emotion Taraval wanted to capture here, the work may represent admiration or adoration.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineHead of a Female Figure in Profile, Turned to the Right, c. 1763–1770?. Hughes Taraval (French, 1729–1785). Charcoal with red and white chalk and stumping ; sheet: 37.4 x 26.2 cm (14 3/4 x 10 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin, 2008.363
