1874
graphite
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Head of a Man with Curly Hair and Beard is a 1874 graphite by Alphonse Legros, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a man’s face in profile, drawn in loose, quick lines. His curly hair and thick beard fill most of the page, with faint shading to suggest shape. The paper has a textured look, like old paper with a slight yellow tint. The artist focused on movement—each strand of hair or beard seems to float slightly, not perfectly fixed. This style was common in the Romantic period, where emotion and mood mattered more than strict realism. Try looking up Romanticism to see how artists used loose lines to show feeling.
Alphonse Legros (French pronunciation: ; 8 May 1837 – 8 December 1911) was a French, later British, painter, etcher, sculptor, and medallist.
See the richer artist page
![Study of a Man's Head [recto]](https://pub-3a17a9933ad74fb28aa30fa758592f23.r2.dev/artworks/745204b66df421ed/thumb.webp)
