Head of a Man
c. 1766
Medium
Pen and black ink, over black chalk, on ivory laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper
Dimensions
8.3 × 7.3 cm (3 5/16 × 2 7/8 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
113557
Art Historical Context
Hubert François Gravelot's *Head of a Man* (c. 1766) is a delicate preparatory drawing that captures the refined elegance of 18th-century French Roc art. Gravelot, a prolific illustrator, engraver, and designer who worked in both Paris and London, was renowned for his intricate contributions to book illustrations, theater sets, and decorative arts. This small-scale work (just 8.3 × 7.3 cm) exemplifies his skill in portrait studies, likely created as a study for larger compositions or engravings during the waning years of the Rococo era, as tastes began shifting toward Neoclassicism. Executed ...
About the Artist
Hubert François Gravelot
Hubert-François Bourguignon, known as Gravelot (1699–1773), was a leading French Rococo engraver, illustrator, and designer whose elegant draftsmanship bridged the artistic worlds of France and England. Born in Paris to a tailor, he adopted his pseudonym from a godfather and grew up alongside his elder brother, the geographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville. After neglecting studies at the Col...