Head of an Old Man
1826 to 1850
Medium
black chalk
Dimensions
Overall (approximate): 24.7 x 19.7 cm (9 3/4 x 7 3/4 in.) support: 27.2 x 21.5 cm (10 11/16 x 8 7/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.5523
Art Historical Context
In the tranquil confines of the National Gallery of's Rosenwald Collection,phonse Legros' *Head of an Old Man (ca. 1826–1850) invites visitors to contemplate the quiet dignity of age. This intimate drawing, rendered in black chalk on a modest support measuring 27.2 x 21.5 cm, captures textured lines of an elderly face with remarkable sensitivity. Legros, a French artist who bridged Realism and the etching revival, favored such monochromatic studies to explore human character, drawing from 17th-century masters like Rembrandt in his nuanced handling of light and shadow. Black chalk, the medium'...
About the Artist
Alphonse Legros · 1837–1911
Alphonse Legros (1837–1911) was born in Dijon, France, and trained in Paris at the drawing school of Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran, whose unconventional teaching method — which emphasised memory drawing and acute observation over academic convention — would leave a lasting mark on Legros's practice. At Lecoq's school he formed friendships with Jules Dalou and Auguste Rodin that endured throughout hi...