Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Head of a Young Man

Jean-Baptiste Greuze
1725-1805

Head of a Young Man

15 x 12 3/16 inches (382 x 310 mm)
Red chalk on paper.
I, 286

Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.

Notes
Greuze made more than one version of this study which, while related to his painting of 1777, "The Return of the Prodigal Son", now in the collection of The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, is not really preparatory for it, but rather a "tête d'expression", a study intended to represent a particular emotional condition.
Inscriptions/Markings
Inscribed in pencil at lower right, "Greuze".
Associated names
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Bibliography
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : Drawings by the Old Masters Formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, I, 286, repr.
Denison, Cara D. French Drawings, 1550-1825. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984, no. 66.
Denison, Cara D. French Master Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1993, no. 66, repr.
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Department