Study of a Woman's Head and Hands
ca. 1717
Medium
Red and white chalk and graphite on off-white laid paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 7 1/2 x 5 in. (19 x 12.7 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2012
Accession Number
2012.150.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
Antoine Watteau, a master of the French Rococo style, created this delicate *Study of a Woman's Head and Hands* around 1717, during the vibrant Regency era following Louis XIV's death. Known for his enchanting *fêtes galantes*—scenes of elegant revelry in pastoral settings—Watteau was equally celebrated for his preparatory drawings, which captured the fluid grace and emotional subtlety of the human figure. This intimate sheet, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, exemplifies his genius in translating three-dimensional form onto paper with remarkable tenderness. Executed in red and white cha...
About the Artist
Antoine Watteau · 1684–1721
Jean-Antoine Watteau, born in 1684 in Valenciennes to a modest family—his father a roofer named Jean-Philippe Watteau—was the second of four sons who displayed an early passion for art. After initial apprenticeship under local painter Jacques-Albert Gérin, he moved to Paris around 1702, working in workshops copying Flemish and Dutch genre scenes. By 1705, he entered the studio of Claude Gillot, ab...