Open IIIF manifest What is IIIF IIIF viewers

Head of a man, in right profile

Maker

(artist)
1710-1788

Title

Date of Production

1700 - 1799

Medium

red chalk on laid paper, laid down on original mount with pink wash borders

Dimensions

Height: 26.4 cm
Width: 20.5 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.375

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

The art academies in France and England trained students to draw in red chalk because it could not be erased, forcing them to draw carefully and methodically. Red chalk was also harder than black chalk, and could more easily be sharpened to a point for small scale, fine work such as this. A disadvantage of red chalk was that it was easily smudged. Many artists would dampen a finished drawing on the back, cover it with a clean sheet of paper and run it through a press, so that any excess chalk would be transferred to the clean sheet, reducing the risk of smearing; the paleness of this image suggests this may have been done here.

Provenance

Tomkinson (per Witt card, but don't know this man's identity); F.R. Meatyard (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d. (17 shillings); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Material Evidence, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/10/1998-24/01/1999

Neo-Classical Drawings, The Courtauld Gallery, London, November 1972-December 1972

Loan exhibition of Dorset artists of the past, County Museum, Dorchester, 22/12/1933-27/01/1934

Literature

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 28

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Mount (original), Recto: lower right, graphite, erased, nearly illegible: "Flaxman [?]".

Collector's mark: Mount (historic), Recto: lower left corner, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.uk. Find out more about using and licensing our images.

____________________________

Buy a print from our collection