Sketch of a Woman

Jean-Louis Forain

National Gallery of Art

This drawing depicts a woman's head and neck in two overlapping sketches, with one that is upside-down, like a reflection. The top sketch of the woman has her face looking towards us. She has pale, white-blue skin and dark brown hair in a bun at the top of her head. Her facial features are outlined in pale gray, making them hard to see against her skin, but she appears to have round eyes, a small nose, and lips set in a neutral expression. The upside-down portrait shows her head turned in profile, with her hair down, cascading over one shoulder. Hints of fingers can be seen near this hair, and it overlaps with the upright face. Surrounding these overlapping portraits are lines of white, green, and gray on the pale-yellow background.