Studies of Grotesque Heads
A shouting man, a wreathed old man and other caricatured profiles
The sheet is crowded with grotesque bust-length heads in pen and reddish ink. At upper left a man with a hooked nose throws his head back with mouth agape, propping his heavy chin on a striped collar; at upper right an old man in a soft cap turns in dignified profile. Below, a shouting head in a pointed cap faces a knot of confronting profiles, one of them crowned with a leafy wreath, while a curly-haired bearded man in profile is set at the lower centre; no text accompanies the drawings.
On this page
Upper heads: a shouting man and an old man
At upper left a man tilts his head back with open, laughing or shouting mouth, his exaggerated nose and jaw resting above a ribbed collar. Opposite, an old man in a folded cap is drawn in restrained profile, his lined face a foil to the caricature beside him.
Confronting profiles and a wreathed head
In the lower half a bald man in a tall pointed cap opens his mouth toward a cluster of aged faces pressed close together, one crowned with a leafy wreath. The tightly packed profiles play grotesque physiognomies off one another.
Bearded head at the lower centre
A curly-haired man with a full beard is drawn in profile at the bottom of the sheet, gazing toward the left. His comparatively naturalistic head anchors the lower edge of the crowded composition.