Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011184Sketches of Heads (verso, left); Two Women (verso, right)
by John Brown
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.
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). British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).
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
- left: graphite; right: gray and black wash with point of brush and graphite
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 25.7 x 18.6 cm (10 1/8 x 7 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Dudley P. Allen Fund
- Accession no.
- 1969.28.b
More by John Brown in museum collections
Woman Standing among the Friars (recto) Sketches of Heads (verso, left); Two Women (verso, right)
John Brownc. 1770–75 · Drawing
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011013
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011092
Open-access museum record · AT-00011184
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