The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 12, 2024

Head of a Bearded Man Gazing to His Left

Head of a Bearded Man Gazing to His Left

1859
(British, 1786–1863)
England, 19th century
pen and brown ink
Sheet: 22.6 x 18.4 cm (8 7/8 x 7 1/4 in.); Secondary Support: 28.1 x 24 cm (11 1/16 x 9 7/16 in.)
Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz 2013.241
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This instantly recognizable model was the subject of at least one other drawing, titled Head of an Old Man, in the collection of Tate Britain today.

Description

For William Mulready, drawing was a lifelong preoccupation. This sheet was drawn from a model in the Royal Academy’s life school when the artist was 73. He was one of the Academy’s most devoted teachers, positioning the model for his students and then drawing alongside them. Closely observed and meticulously crafted, the work attests to Mulready’s consummate skill as a draftsman, and the weather-beaten face of the male model is as arresting today as it was in Victorian London.
  • William Drummond, London
    1984
    (Shepherd Gallery, New York)
    ?-2013
    Helen and Albert Borowitz, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    2013-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Mentioned: pp. 108-111, 147, no. 36b; Reproduced: p. 111
  • British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).
  • {{cite web|title=Head of a Bearded Man Gazing to His Left|url=false|author=William Mulready|year=1859|access-date=12 September 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.241