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Head of a Female Figure in Profile, Turned to the Right
About the Artwork
Like the sheet shown nearby by Greuze, this drawing belongs to a type of work known as an expressive head (tête d'expression). Capturing the representation of a specific emotion on the human face became a standard exercise for artists in France and was especially popular during the second half of the 1700s. In 1758, a special prize for drawing the expressive head was established at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Although we have no documentation regarding the specific emotion Taraval wanted to capture here, the work may represent admiration or adoration.
Inscriptions
signed, lower right, in charcoal or black chalk: Taraval; verso of secondary support, center, in brown ink: No 2; center, in graphite: 144 [circled]; lower right, in graphite: R + S / 5985; lower right, in graphite: 1240 [underlined] / hu77
Exhibition history
French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001); Dahesh Museum of Art (February 19-May 18, 2002).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Hughes Taraval (French, 1729–1785)
- Date
- c. 1763–1770?
- Medium
- charcoal with red and white chalk and stumping
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 37.4 x 26.2 cm (14 3/4 x 10 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Bequest of Muriel Butkin
- Accession no.
- 2008.363
Provenance
Michelangelo Pacetti (Lugt 2057, lower left, in black inka); [Walter Schatzki, New York]; purchased in 1975. a. Because a touch of red has been added over this mark, it might easily be confused with Lugt 2057 (also a "P"), which appears in red ink. However, the shape of the letter here matches the Pacetti mark, and under magnification the black ink with which it was applied becomes apparent.
More by Hughes Taraval in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011565
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