Head of a Child (Emmanuel)

Description

The typical relationship between light and dark is reversed in this drawing. A bright, crawling infant, leaning its weight on its forearms, seems to emerge from the shadows. This technique, wherein individual marks give way to a broader, atmospheric effect, was indebted to Georges Seurat, whom Angrand knew well. Although he made his name in Paris, after the death of his father Angrand retreated to his hometown of Saint-Laurent-en-Caux to care for his mother in 1896. This work comes from that period. Angrand explained that in his drawings, “animals, objects, and people . . . appear in simple shapes, summarizing the observer’s [own] feelings.”

Provenance

Pierre Angrand, to at least 1966. Sold, Sotheby’s, London, March 28, 1973, lot 103, to Ian Woodner; by descent to his daughters, Dian and Andrea Woodner; sold, Christie’s, New York, May 13, 1993, lot 102, to Dorothy Braude Edinburg, Brookline, MA.; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2013.

Head of a Child (Emmanuel)

Charles Angrand

1898

Accession Number

185811

Medium

Black Conté crayon on ivory laid paper, ruled in blue pencil at edges

Dimensions

62.5 × 47.8 cm (24 5/8 × 18 7/8 in.)

Classification

prints and drawing

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection