# Study of a Woman's Head [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [WATTEAU, Antoine]() - Date: 1701-1750 - Technique: Black, white and red chalk on light brown paper, 330 x 230 mm ## Commentary Study of a Woman's Head 1710s Black, white and red chalk on light brown paper, 330 x 230 mm The Hermitage, St. Petersburg In his paintings Watteau avoids excessive individualisation, preferring vivid character and the nuances of shifting mood over precise features. His drawings leave no doubt that the reason has nothing to do with a lack of firmness in his hand. If he had not discovered an inclination for gallant scenes, with their theatrical volatility, we would certainly have lost the Watteau we know but might possibly have gained a perspicacious portraitist, the like of which 18th-century France never produced. ## Related artworks - [A Halt During the Chase]() - [A Seated Woman]() - [Actors from the Comédie Française]() - [Actors of the Comédie-Française]() - [An Embarrassing Proposal \(detail\)]() - [An Embarrassing Proposal]() - [Back of Woman]() - [Cajoler]() - [Ceres \(Summer\)]() - [Chinese Musician and Chinese Woman]() - [Chinese Woman of Kouei Tchéou]() - [Diana at her Bath]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()