Old Woman Leaning on a Cane, from Life-Sized Heads
1760
Medium
Mezzotint in black on buff laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 47.4 × 35.2 cm (18 11/16 × 13 7/8 in.); Plate: 50.5 × 35.4 cm (19 15/16 × 13 15/16 in.); Sheet: 52.8 × 37.8 cm (20 13/16 × 14 15/16 in.)
Classification
mezzotint
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
76025
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Frye's most important work in the graphic media was the mezzotint series of twelve life-sized heads. These monumental portraits are distinctive in the history of English mezzotints; not only is their life-size scale unusual, but they are also original portraits created specifically for the mezzotint medium. Only a few years after their creation, Frye's richly atmospheric mezzotints influenced portraits by Joseph Wright of Derby.
About the Artist
Thomas Frye · 1710–1762
Irish, Edenderry 1710/11–1762 London