Head of a Woman Looking Down
Medium
chalk manner and tool work, printed in red, black, and blue
Dimensions
image: 50.8 x 37.4 cm (20 x 14 3/4 in.) sheet: 64 x 47.6 cm (25 3/16 x 18 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Ivan E. and Winifred Phillips in honor of Philip Conisbee
Accession Number
2003.27.1
Art Historical Context
This captivating print, created around 1788 by Gillesoine Demarteau after a design by François-André Vincent, exemplifies the sophisticated color-printing techniques of late 18th-century France. Demarteau, renowned for his mastery of the chalk-manner process, used specialized tools to mimic the soft, velvety textures of original chalk drawings. Printed in delicate layers of red, black, and blue, the work achieves a luminous, almost three-dimensional quality that brings Vincent’s sensitive portrait to life on paper. The subject—a woman with her head gently inclined downward—conveys quiet intro...