Artwork preview

A Profile and Four Shapes; Sketch of a Man's Head [recto]

Paul Gauguin

National Gallery of Art

The image shows an abstract arrangement of shapes and lines. There are angular forms, freehand sketches, jagged lines resembling a human profile, triangles resembling folded paper or a mountain range, parallel lines with scattered numbers resembling a list or data chart, and vertical lines resembling a stylized human figure or furniture. The composition invites connections to everyday objects like faces, hills, or lists.

Artwork Details

Date
1884-1888
Medium
crayon, graphite, and pen and brown ink on wove paper
Dimensions
3474 × 2717 px
Public Domain
Yes
Museum Record
View original