Artwork Page for Head of a Boy Singing (Study for Music)

Details / Information for Head of a Boy Singing (Study for Music)

Head of a Boy Singing (Study for Music)

c. 1898

Luc-Olivier Merson

(French, 1846–1920)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
black, white, and red chalk with stumping, pricked for transfer
Support
Light brown wove paper
Measurements
Sheet: 39.6 x 27.2 cm (15 9/16 x 10 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.394
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

The face of the boy in this drawing is pricked extensively so that the image could be transferred directly to the final painting for which it was a study. The two works differ only in the addition of a hat on the boy's head in the final work.

Description

This sheet was a preparatory study for the face of a singing boy who appears near the center of Music, a mural decorating the left grand staircase at the Théâtre National de l’Opéra-Comique in Paris. Drawn from life with exquisite naturalism, Luc-Olivier Merson captured the sitter’s youthful beauty with such clarity that the purity of the boy’s voice seems to emanate from the drawing.
A vertically oriented portrait in black and white chalk on tan paper depicts the head of a boy with medium skin tone, tilted upward and to our right. His eyes are closed and mouth held wide open. Short dark hair with wispy strokes frames his face. Soft white highlights define his nose and lower lip, while dark shading provides depth. The initials L.O.M. appear in the lower right against the mottled paper.

Head of a Boy Singing (Study for Music)

c. 1898

Luc-Olivier Merson

(French, 1846–1920)
France, 19th century

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