Seated Woman Searching for Fleas
Medium
red chalk over black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink
Dimensions
sheet: 18.4 × 23.4 cm · secondary support: 18.4 × 23.4 cm
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1966.239
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
male
About this artwork
Born into a prominent family of Dutch marine painters, Adriaen van de Velde was admired as a landscape painter. He specialized in atmospheric pastoral scenes that feature livestock and rustic figures drawn from life. This intimate study of a shepherdess searching for fleas exemplifies the artist’s skilled use of red chalk to capture the effects of light and shade.