Four Studies of the Head of a Young Italian Woman — About This Work
Edgar Degas, 1856
About the Work
Four studies follow a young woman's head through related positions and expressions. The repetition makes small changes consequential, as a turn or inclination alters the relationship between profile, gaze and the surrounding paper.
Degas drew the sheet during his first visit to Italy in 1856. The museum reads the expressions in terms of suffering, a reminder that the page studies emotional appearance alongside the physical structure of the head.
Graphite holds the separate studies together without merging them into one scene. At the scale of the original sheet, their differences can be compared closely, preserving the drawing's character as a series of investigations.
The Work
Artist: Edgar Degas
Title: Four Studies of the Head of a Young Italian Woman
Date: 1856
Medium: Graphite
Recorded dimensions: 30.5 × 46 cm (W × H)
Collection: Cleveland Museum of Art
Accession number: 2008.388
Print & Presentation
Palatine presentation: 40 × 50 cm Classic Frame, portrait.
The complete artwork is reproduced at its recorded scale, subject only to negligible whole-pixel rounding, without enlargement, reduction, cropping or distortion. The surrounding white presentation area accommodates the artwork within the framed presentation and is incorporated into the print rather than added as a separate mount.
Frame finishes: Black, White or Natural.
Paper & glazing: Enhanced Matte + Perspex; or Enhanced Matte + Moth-Eye.
Why Original Scale?
Most art-print shops offer the same image in a choice of Small, Medium and Large sizes. We take a different approach. For each edition, we begin with the recorded dimensions of the original work and reproduce the complete image at that scale, preserving its proportions and avoiding enlargement, reduction, cropping or distortion.
Source: Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0. Bequest of Muriel Butkin. 2008.388.
Care: Display in a dry interior away from prolonged direct sunlight and sources of moisture.
Notes from Palatine
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