Head of a Screaming Man (recto); Woman and Man Playing Cards (verso)
1792
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
1792
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Head of a Screaming Man (recto); Woman and Man Playing Cards (verso) is a 1792 by Benjamin West, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see two quick sketches on the same sheet: one side shows a man’s face twisted in a scream, the other a woman and man playing cards. West drew the screaming head as practice for a big painting the king wanted. He probably never saw anyone scream like that—he just imagined it. The card players feel looser, like a warm-up. Look up *chiaroscuro* to see how other artists used light and shadow to make faces pop.
Born in rural Pennsylvania, trained in Italy, and based in London for the entirety of his career, Benjamin West exemplifies the transatlantic character of colonial-era American art. In England, his success as a history painter propelled him to the position of court painter by 1772. West’s study of the head of a screaming man, believed to be done in preparation for a now-lost painting commissioned by King George III (1738–1820), was likely not drawn from life. It was modeled on the ideas of French artist Charles LeBrun (1619–1690), whose lectures on depicting the passions of the soul were…
Benjamin West was born into poverty in rural Pennsylvania, the youngest of ten children, but rose to become the first American artist to train in Italy and command a successful career as a history painter in England.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Your cart is empty
Explore artworks →
