Jacob de Gheyn
1565-1629
Three Clusters of Grotesque Heads; Head of an Old Woman
7 5/8 x 6 11/16 inches (193 x 169 mm)
Pen and brown ink, gray-brown wash over black chalk, on laid paper.
III, 158
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
Notes
Watermark: fragment of a fleur-de-lis within a shield (cf. Heawood 1768-69).
Toward the end of his life, de Gheyn made a series of drawings of grotesque heads, which were later turned into etchings by his son. The point of departure for the series seems to have been the head of an old woman in the lower half of this sheet. Her exaggerated features are echoed in the intricately drawn details of the ghoulish, rootlike clusters above. -- Exhibition Label, from "Life Lines: Portrait Drawings from Dürer to Picasso."
Toward the end of his life, de Gheyn made a series of drawings of grotesque heads, which were later turned into etchings by his son. The point of departure for the series seems to have been the head of an old woman in the lower half of this sheet. Her exaggerated features are echoed in the intricately drawn details of the ghoulish, rootlike clusters above. -- Exhibition Label, from "Life Lines: Portrait Drawings from Dürer to Picasso."
Associated names
Hove, Marten ten, 1683-1759, former owner.
Tourton, Jean François, 1688-1751, former owner.
Woodburn, Samuel, 1785 or 1786-1853 former owner.
Mayor, William, 1826-1892, former owner.
Lantsheer, W. N., former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Tourton, Jean François, 1688-1751, former owner.
Woodburn, Samuel, 1785 or 1786-1853 former owner.
Mayor, William, 1826-1892, former owner.
Lantsheer, W. N., former owner.
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, 158.
Stampfle, Felice. Rubens and Rembrandt in Their Century : Flemish and Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century from The Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1979, no. 60, repr.
Stampfle, Felice, with the assistance of Ruth S. Kraemer and Jane Shoaf Turner. Netherlandish Drawings of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries and Flemish Drawings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1991, p. 37, no. 63.
Stampfle, Felice. Rubens and Rembrandt in Their Century : Flemish and Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century from The Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1979, no. 60, repr.
Stampfle, Felice, with the assistance of Ruth S. Kraemer and Jane Shoaf Turner. Netherlandish Drawings of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries and Flemish Drawings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1991, p. 37, no. 63.
Artist
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Century Drawings
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