Head of a Woman: Study for "The Happy Mother" (L'Heureuse mère) Gm-00045001

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (French, 1758–1823) A nearly life-sized woman in antique dress gazes fondly at something held in her unfinished right arm. With her exposed breast, this ideal woman mingles dream and sensuality, anticipating Romanticism. The broad masses of light and shadow enhance the dreamlike effect.

At the height of his career, Pierre-Paul Prud'hon made this nearly life-sized drawing as a model for a painting by his mistress and professional associate, Constance Mayer. The woman in the painting, titled The Happy Mother, gazes adoringly at her nursing infant. Following the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who popularized and glorified maternity as a natural physical and emotional bond, both artists portrayed feminine tenderness. Such emotion set Prud'hon's imagery apart from his Neoclassical contemporaries. Prud'hon preferred to draw with powdery applications of black and white chalk on blue or gray paper. Instead of using lines, he indicated contours of forms by stumping. Building up form by gradations of light created with white chalk, he explored the play of light on flesh.

High Quality Wood Framed Print using museum quality paper and archival inks with a mat for a contemporary look. Comes with Acrylite glazing and hanging hardware. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.

Stretched Canvas is stretched over 1.25" thick pine bars and printed on heavy cotton poly matte finish canvas. Comes with mounting brackets. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.

Giclee Prints are printed on 250 gsm Matte Paper with the finest archival inks. Each print carries a white border around the perimeter. The listed size refers to the overall paper dimensions. The image is printed proportionally within this paper size and includes a small white border. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.

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Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea.