Têtes d’expression can be individual art pieces in and of themselves, but they are also often studies for other, larger paintings. When this happens, the people in the studies are described as ‘walk-ons,’ meaning they become characters that could appear in multiple different paintings by the same artist. This creates a fascinating phenomenon because the character’s meaning and role in the narrative of the story they are a part of changes depending on the painting they are placed in. Jean-Baptiste Greuze is a perfect example of this style of art. Greuze was particularly interested in têtes d’expression, and is often praised for his ability to capture human emotion in his work. He would use his têtes d’expression as studies for other, larger paintings, and as a result there are often characters that appear in multiple of his paintings. This will be shown and explored through the artworks below.
Perhaps one of Greuze’s most famous têtes d’expression, Study of a Woman’s Head is also one his most highly-finished studies. We see a woman, looking out over her left shoulder, dressed in silky, silvery white and navy blue fabric that folds and catches the light. A yellow-cream shawl wraps loosely around her neck, and a thin, blue-lilac scarf is tied around her reddish-brown hair. But all the details of her clothes pale in comparison to the vivid depiction of raw human emotion captured in her expression. It is anxious, questioning, hurt, angry, and distressed. Greuze artfully illustrates partially opened lips, turned down in a frown, furrowed brows, and dark, sorrowful eyes. We are pulled in, moved by sympathy towards this woman and led to curiosity about her story. As an individual piece of art, it is captivating; as a study, it is full of potential.
Head of an Old Woman Looking Up, unlike Study of a Woman’s Head, is better interpreted as a study than as an individual piece of work. It isn’t highly finished, and has a rougher quality to it, as if Greuze was trying to capture a gesture instead of spending a lot of time refining details. The most finished part of this piece is the woman’s face, since her clothes are made up of quick, gestural lines. This is intentional, because Greuze is placing particular emphasis on her expression. The old woman looks up, putting half of her face in shadow. Her expression is sorrowful and questioning, and, much like with Study of a Woman’s Head, we are moved to sympathy. Once again, as a study, this piece is full of potential.
Of the three in this collection, this study is the most gestural. Quick, sweeping chalk strokes capture rounded cheeks, sorrowful eyes, and wisps of curly hair. The boy, much like the women in the other two studies, looks sad, hurt, and almost reproachful. He looks out past the limits of the penned-in frame, and we can almost continue the drawing to imagine his body shying away from whoever it is he is looking at. Greuze, by capturing some of the same emotions in all three of these studies, calls attention to the way they manifest themselves differently in the faces of different people. He is demonstrating his skill as an artist, but also, perhaps unintentionally, his broader understanding of human emotion.
This dramatic genre painting, which Greuze invites us into, depicts a young man deserting his family to join the army. It is full of emotion; the father angrily reaches for his son, barely held back by a young woman, presumably his daughter. The mother implores her son to stay; eyes sorrowfully turned to his face. Sisters and brothers plead silently. It is here, after looking carefully, that we find the woman from Study of a Woman’s Head and the little boy from Head of a Young Boy. Placed in this narrative, they are given context and character traits. Here, the woman becomes an anxious sister, pleading with her brother to reconsider his decision. The little boy becomes a baby brother, desperately hanging on to the fringe of the young man’s vest in a futile attempt to stop him. Greuze gives us context for their pain, asking us to enter into it and respond with empathy.
The Drunkard’s Return is another genre painting, this one depicting a very different scene than The Father’s Curse. Nevertheless, it is still wrought with emotion and tension, albeit a very different kind. In this scene, the main character is returning home, not leaving. He is drunk and disheveled, apparently unresponsive to his family’s cries of distress. Even the dog, tucked away in the bottom left corner, appears concerned. We once again recognize the woman from Study of a Woman’s Head. This time, she is a mother, and this shift in character completely changes how we interpret and understand her. Her hands rest on both of her children, creating an off-balanced triangle with her face at the apex. She appears angry and questioning, her expression a mix of frustration and hopelessness as she turns an imploring gaze to her husband. Once again, Greuze is asking us as viewers to extend sympathy to her, and to imagine and step into her distress.
The scene in La Belle-mère comes from a story Greuze overheard about a harsh stepmother who refused to feed a child anything but teeth-breakingly stale bread. In the piece, we see the harsh stepmother shoving a piece of stale bread in a girl’s face, who leans away from her, extending a protective arm over her young son. The mother’s gloating daughter glares at the girl’s grandmother, who casts her gaze heavenward in anguish. Here, we recognize the people from all three of the character studies we have been looking at. The woman from Head of an Old Woman Looking Up is the wailing grandmother, the little boy from Head of a Young Boy is the pleading son, and, perhaps most shockingly, the woman from Study of a Woman’s Head is the evil stepmother. She has taken on a drastic character shift, which, arguably, adds to her complexity and gives us as viewers more to respond to.
References
Lang, Alastair. Review of Jean-Baptiste Greuze et ses têtes d’expression: La fortune d’une genre, by Yuriko Jackall. The Burlington Magazine, May, 2023.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Jean-Baptiste Greuze | Study of a Woman’s Head | the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” January 1, 1780. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436583.
Thompson, James, and Everett Fahy. 1989. “Jean-Baptiste Greuze.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 47 (3): 1–1.
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