Gaetano Gandolfi
(San Matteo della Decima, 1734 – Bologna, 1802)
Studies of Oriental Heads and Profiles (or Studies of Character Heads)
Pen and black ink on paper.
156 mm x 224 mm – 6 1/8 x 8 13/16 in.
Exhibition: Biennale del Disegno. Profili del mondo, Museo della Città di Rimini, April 23 – July 10, 2016, no. 35.
Bibliography: Profili del mondo. Il racconto naturale e umano nel paesaggio, Museo di Rimini, Modugrafica Forlivese, Forlì, 2016, no. 35, ill. 35.
Gaetano Gandolfi is one of the most important masters of the 18th-century Bolognese School. Trained at the Accademia Clementina in Bologna, he traveled to Venice in 1760, where he was influenced by Giambattista Tiepolo and Venetian painting. Considered one of the great draftsmen of his time, he is renowned for his technical mastery, his incisive penwork, and his famous “character heads,” inspired by the tradition of Rembrandt and the Venetian masters.
This drawing perfectly illustrates the artist’s virtuosity in the art of pen-and-ink drawing, where the network of parallel and crisscrossing hatching creates, with great precision, the volumes, the textures of the hairstyles and clothing, as well as the contrasts of light.
It is a study of facial expressions featuring several busts and profiles. Notable among them are figures of Eastern inspiration wearing turbans adorned with feathers, alongside distinctive faces with mustaches and delicate feminine profiles adorned with pearls. These studies of heads served both to prepare larger compositions and to stand as independent works sought after by passionate collectors.
Similar works and “character heads” by Gaetano Gandolfi are housed in major public collections, notably at the Museo Civico d’Arte Antica in Bologna, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe at the Uffizi Galleries in Florence.
Condition Report: In magnificent condition.
