Description
A bearded head tilts down toward the right in Paul Cézanne’s Head of Silenus, drawn after Peter Paul Rubens. Curled hair and the shifting shadows of the face create a dense texture, while the surrounding paper leaves the head closely isolated. The image makes a mythological subject feel immediate through the concentrated study of facial form rather than a larger narrative scene.
Black chalk and light brown wash give the study more than one way to define its forms. The drawn marks can establish edges and darker emphasis, while the brushed tone lets areas of the face share a broader modeling. Cézanne’s response does not require the drawing to imitate a painting’s material surface. Instead, it allows the head to be reconsidered in another medium, making attentive observation and artistic interpretation equally important to the sheet.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Paul Cézanne collection.
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