1718
chalk
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Three Studies of a Woman's Head and a Study of Hands [recto] is a 1718 chalk by Jean Antoine Watteau, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows three quick drawings of a woman’s face and one of her hands. The faces are turned slightly, with loose curls and soft shading. The hands are drawn from below, fingers curled in a relaxed way. The paper has a light brown tone, and the artist used red chalk, black chalk, and a faint pink wash for color. The artist worked fast—you can see the rough lines and smudges. This wasn’t meant to be a finished painting but more like practice or notes for a bigger work. Next, check out Baroque to see how this style shaped art in the 1700s.
Jean-Antoine Watteau was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, as seen in the tradition of Correggio and Rubens.
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