Study of a Female Head
Medium
Yellow, red, and green pastel with fabricated black crayon on red paper
Dimensions
14 13/16 x 10 9/16 in. (37.6 x 26.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.879
Tags
Art Historical Context
Sir Edward Burne-Jones created this intimate “Study of a Female Head” in 1890, near the height of his career. The drawing reveals his lifelong fascination with the female face as a vehicle for quiet emotion and idealized beauty. Though modest in scale, such studies formed the foundation for many of his large-scale paintings and stained-glass designs. Executed in yellow, red, and green pastel with black crayon on red paper, the work exploits the warm ground to heighten the luminous quality of the layered colors. The soft, velvety medium allows Burne-Jones to model delicate transitions of light...
About the Artist
Sir Edward Burne-Jones · 1833–1898
Edward Coley Burne-Jones was born on 28 August 1833 in Birmingham, the son of a frame-maker, and lost his mother within a week of his birth. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School and the Birmingham School of Art before proceeding to Exeter College, Oxford, in 1852, intending to study theology. At Oxford he formed a lifelong friendship with William Morris, and the two young men became intoxicat...