id: 170719 accession number: 2013.241 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2013.241 updated: 2023-03-22 03:04:57.402000 Head of a Bearded Man Gazing to His Left, 1859. William Mulready (British, 1786–1863). Pen and brown ink; sheet: 22.6 x 18.4 cm (8 7/8 x 7 1/4 in.); secondary support: 28.1 x 24 cm (11 1/16 x 9 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz 2013.241 title: Head of a Bearded Man Gazing to His Left title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1859 creation date earliest: 1859 creation date latest: 1859 current location: creditline: Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz copyright: --- culture: England, 19th century technique: pen and brown ink department: Drawings collection: DR - British type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * William Mulready (British, 1786–1863) - artist --- measurements: Sheet: 22.6 x 18.4 cm (8 7/8 x 7 1/4 in.); Secondary Support: 28.1 x 24 cm (11 1/16 x 9 7/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: wove paper lined with antique laid paper watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: inscribed, in brown ink, at lower left: R Academy / 24 June 1859 / W.M.; inscribed, in graphite, at lower left corner: 156 translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2013-02-10T00:00:00 British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE William Drummond, London date: footnotes: citations: (Shepherd Gallery, New York) date: 1984 footnotes: citations: Helen and Albert Borowitz, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: ?-2013 footnotes: citations: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2013- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: This instantly recognizable model was the subject of at least one other drawing, titled Head of an Old Man, in the collection of Tate Britain today. digital description: For William Mulready, drawing was a lifelong preoccupation. This sheet was drawn from a model in the Royal Academy’s life school when the artist was 73. He was one of the Academy’s most devoted teachers, positioning the model for his students and then drawing alongside them. Closely observed and meticulously crafted, the work attests to Mulready’s consummate skill as a draftsman, and the weather-beaten face of the male model is as arresting today as it was in Victorian London. wall description: For Mulready, drawing was a lifelong preoccupation. These two sheets were drawn from models in the Royal Academy’s life school when the artist was 73. He was one of the Academy’s most devoted teachers, positioning the model for his students and then drawing alongside them. Closely observed and meticulously crafted, both drawings attest to Mulready’s consummate skill as a draftsman. The sensuality of the female nude and the weather-beaten face of the male model are as arresting today as they were in Victorian London. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. page number: Mentioned: pp. 108-111, 147, no. 36b; Reproduced: p. 111 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.241/2013.241_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.241/2013.241_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.241/2013.241_full.tif