Woman's Head
c. 1930s
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
pastel on wove paper
Dimensions
sheet: 35.56 × 28.26 cm (14 × 11 1/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Bequest of George Biddle)
Accession Number
2015.19.2538
Art Historical Context
Abraham Walkowitz's *Woman's Head* (c. 1930s) is a delicate pastel drawing on wove paper, measuring 14 × 11 1/8 inches, now housed in the National Gallery of as part of the Corcor Collection (Bequest of Biddle). The Russian-born American artist, who immigrated to New York in 1890, was a key figure in early 20th-century modernism. Deeply inspired by modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan—whom he sketched thousands of times—Walkowitz developed a distinctive style of fluid, rhythmic lines that evoked movement and emotion, bridging realism and abstraction. Rendered in pastel, a medium prized for its...
About the Artist
Abraham Walkowitz
Abraham Walkowitz (1878–1965) was a Russian-born American artist who became one of the pioneering figures of modernist abstraction in the United States during the early twentieth century. Born in Tyumen, Siberia, he emigrated to New York as a child and later studied at the National Academy of Design. A transformative period in Paris around 1906–1907 exposed him to the Fauves, Cézanne, and the emer...