French School, second half of the 19th century

Study of a man turning his head

Oil on paper, affixed to canvas

41.6 x 34.1 cm. (16 ½ x 13 ½ in.)

This striking depiction of a bouffant-haired male model turning his head dates to the second half of the 19^thcentury, possibly from the 1850s or 1860s, and is executed in the academic style expected of a classically trained French artist of that time. That said, the work is quite unusual in that, rather than a neutral countenance, the model turns around to look at the spectator with a fierce glare on his face. In this way, the depiction is somewhere between an academic study and a tête d’expression, a traditional exercise dating back to the mid-18^th century in which the face of the sitter evokes a particular state of mind, in this case perhaps pride.

Though têtes d’expressions experienced their heyday in the late 18^th century, learning to render emotions through facial expressions continued to be an essential part of the training of Beaux-Arts students throughout the 19^th century too. This work may therefore be part of that tradition, with its combination of dynamic movement and palpable emotion, executed by a young artist in training, perhaps at the Académie Royale. Certain artists did continue to practise these types of heads well beyond their academy days, however, for example Théodore Géricault, whose oeuvre is replete with such works (fig. 1).

Fig. 1, Théodore Géricault, Head of a youth, oil on canvas,

46 x 38 cm, Art Gallery of South Australia