Bust of a Young Girl (recto); Profile of a Young Girl (verso)
1886 (recto); c. 1886 (verso)
Medium
Red chalk transfer (recto), and red chalk (verso), on gray wove paper
Dimensions
31.4 × 23.5 cm (12 3/8 × 9 5/16 in.)
Classification
chalk
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
113023
Art Historical Context
This delicate double-sided drawing by French artist Paul Adolphe Rajon captures the quiet grace of youth through two studies of a young girl. Created in 1886, the recto presents a bust-length executed in red chalk transfer, while the verso offers a profile view rendered directly in red chalk on gray wove paper. Rajon, celebrated for his reproductive etchings after old masters and contemporary painters, here demonstrates his mastery of chalk as a medium for intimate, tonal studies. The choice of red chalk, or sanguine, lends a warm, lifelike quality to the figures, allowing subtle gradations o...