Sketches of Heads (verso, left); Two Women (verso, right)

1772

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Sketches of Heads (verso, left); Two Women (verso, right) is a 1772 by John Brown, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: John Brown
When & what style?: 1772 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see two quick pencil sketches on the back of one sheet: a woman in a low-cut dress with men crowding around her, and two smaller head studies. John Brown drew this in Rome, where he lived in his twenties. The woman’s bare ankles and deep neckline were shocking for the time—he liked showing the rough, unpolished side of city life. The loose, scribbly lines make it feel like he caught the moment in a hurry. If you like this raw, shadowy style, look up *chiaroscuro*.

The story of this work

Overview

John Brown is known for a small group of monochromatic drawings imbued with sinister overtones. At the age of 20, the Scottish artist traveled to Italy where he spent the next 12 years. This drawing exemplifies his Roman street scenes which often depict women dressed in spectacular, billowing costumes. Here, a figure with bare ankles and plunging décolletage is surrounded by a crowd of men who leer at her. The reverse of the sketchbook sheet includes two independent drawings: a study of faces in fierce and intense expressions, and a pair of women wearing swirling gowns. One figure raises her…

Did you know?

John Brown meant for the dark background of this drawing to evoke the potential danger of Italian nights; the writer Johann Joachim Winckelmann had been murdered in Trieste in 1768, in the most conspicuous example of the period's widespread violence.

Read the full account in the museum source.