The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Woman Standing among the Friars (recto)

Woman Standing among the Friars (recto)

c. 1770–75
(British, 1752–1787)
England, 18th century
graphite and gray and black wash with point of brush
Image: 25.8 x 36.9 cm (10 3/16 x 14 1/2 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1969.28.a
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

John Brown meant for the dark background of this drawing to evoke the potential danger of Italian nights; the writer Johann Joachim Winckelmann had been murdered in Trieste in 1768, in the most conspicuous example of the period's widespread violence.

Description

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.
  • 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
  • Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Cat 4, pg 28-29
    Bowron, Edgar Peters, and Joseph J. Rishel. Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, in association with Merrell, 2000. exh. cat. no. 323, p. 480
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 194 archive.org
  • British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).
    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).
    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).
  • {{cite web|title=Woman Standing among the Friars (recto)|url=false|author=John Brown|year=c. 1770–75|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.28.a