Head of Christ
Artist
Georges Rouault
(French, 1871-1958)
Date1905
MediumOil on paper, mounted on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 39 x 25 1/4 in. (99.1 x 64.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 48 1/8 x 34 1/8 x 2 3/4 in. (122.2 x 86.7 x 7 cm)
Overall, Frame: 48 1/8 x 34 1/8 x 2 3/4 in. (122.2 x 86.7 x 7 cm)
ClassificationsModern art
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.519
Terms
- Jesus Christ
- Religion
- Jesus
- Christ
- Blue
- Black
- Mauve
- Red
- Yellow
On View
On viewLabel TextGeorges Rouault French (1871-1958) Head of Christ, 1905 Oil on paper, mounted on canvas Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.519 While most artists in early twentieth-century Paris devoted themselves to secular subjects, Rouault, an ardent Catholic, produced intensely emotional religious images and genre paintings that mirrored the timeless Christian themes of sin and salvation. His blunt and brutal Expressionist style also found few parallels in the French art of his day. He was ultimately hailed as the premier devotional artist of the early twentieth century, "the monk of modern art." In the 1905 Head of Christ, the Man of Sorrows-his face streaked with blood and his great, pain-filled eyes seemingly melting into tears-bears anguished witness to the sin and cruelty of humankind. Rouault initially trained in Paris as a stained glass maker, and in paintings such as this one, he was clearly influenced by the structure and hues of medieval glass windows, by their broad, flat fields of color and thick, leaded contours.
Jan Philips van Thielen
1651
