The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 24, 2024
Sketches of Heads (verso, left); Two Women (verso, right)
c. 1770–75
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.- British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).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=Sketches of Heads (verso, left); Two Women (verso, right)|url=false|author=John Brown|year=c. 1770–75|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.28.b