Woman Standing among the Friars (recto)

About the Artwork

John Brown is known for a small group of monochromatic drawings imbued with sinister overtones. At the age of 20, the Scottish artist traveled to Italy where he spent the next 12 years. This drawing exemplifies his Roman street scenes which often depict women dressed in spectacular, billowing costumes. Here, a figure with bare ankles and plunging décolletage is surrounded by a crowd of men who leer at her. The reverse of the sketchbook sheet includes two independent drawings: a study of faces in fierce and intense expressions, and a pair of women wearing swirling gowns. One figure raises her hand in a mysterious gesture, either beckoning or forewarning the viewer.

Provenance

John Brown (1752-1787) William Young Ottley, London, England Sir Thomas Lawrence, London, England June 17, 1830: (Christie's), purchased by Russell Russell Private Collection, Paris, France ?-1969: (E.V. Thaw and Co., New York, NY), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH January 22, 1969-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

The Poetical Circle: Fuseli and the British. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (April 24-May 27, 1979); Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Austria (June 5-July 29, 1979); Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (organizer) (September 1-27, 1979); Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand (October 24-November 25, 1979). Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (organizer) (February 27-May 21, 2000); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (June 17-September 17, 2000). British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013). Imagination in the Age of Reason. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 28, 2024-March 2, 2025).

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.

Quick Overview

Artist: John Brown (British, 1752–1787)
Date: c. 1770–75
Medium: graphite and gray and black wash with point of brush
Dimensions: Image: 25.8 x 36.9 cm (10 3/16 x 14 1/2 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: Dudley P. Allen Fund
Accession no.: 1969.28.a

More by John Brown in museum collections

Woman Standing among the Friars (recto) Sketches of Heads (verso, left); Two Women (verso, right)
John Brown
c. 1770–75 · Drawing
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011013
Sketches of Heads (verso, left); Two Women (verso, right)
John Brown
c. 1770–75 · Drawing
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011184